Arab writer converts to Catholicism

Italy’s most prominent Muslim commentator, a journalist with iconoclastic views such as support for Israel, converted to Roman Catholicism with the pope baptizing him at an Easter service.

As a choir sang, Pope Benedict XVI poured holy water over Magdi Allam’s head and said a brief prayer in Latin.

Vatican television zoomed in on Allam, who sat in the front row of St. Peter’s Basilica along with six other candidates for baptism. Allam later received his first Communion.

The Egyptian-born Allam, 55, who is married to a Catholic, has infuriated some Muslims with his criticism of extremism and support for the Jewish state.