A Muslim scholar who participated in recent Vatican talks to improve Catholic-Muslim relations yesterday criticised Pope Benedict XVI's baptism of a convert from Islam as a “provocative act”. In an Easter vigil service on Saturday night in St Peter's Basilica, the Pope baptised Egyptian-born Magdi Allam, a TV and newspaper commentator in Italy who has denounced what he calls the inherent violence in Islam.
Aref Ali Nayed, the director of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Amman, Jordan, denounced what he called “the Vatican's deliberate and provocative act of baptising Mr Allam on such a special occasion and in such a spectacular way.”
Mr Nayed said: “It is sad that the personal act of a religious conversion is made into a triumphalist tool for scoring points.”
He added that the baptism came “at a most unfortunate time when sincere Muslims and Catholics are working very hard to mend ruptures between the two communities.”
The Vatican has been working to mend relations with moderate Islam through dialogue.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce