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VATICAN CITY — Italy’s most prominent Muslim commentator, a journalist with iconoclastic views such as support for Israel, converted to Roman Catholicism on Saturday when the pope baptized him at an Easter service.
An Egyptian-born, nonpracticing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam often writes on Muslim and Arab affairs and has infuriated some Muslims with his criticism of extremism and support for the Jewish state.
The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, which Allam has frequently criticized as having links to Hamas, said the baptism was his own decision. “He is an adult, free to make his personal choice,” the Apcom news agency quoted the group’s spokesman, Issedin El Zir, as saying.
