High-profile convert from Islam says pope was instrumental in his decision

ROME -- Commentator Magdi Allam infuriated some fellow Muslims by denouncing extremism, then surprised many by converting to Catholicism.

He said Sunday that he had decided to convert with the help and attention of another figure who has drawn the ire of militant Islam -- Pope Benedict XVI.

Allam, a top editor for the Corriere della Sera newspaper, praised the pontiff on Easter, a day after his unexpected baptism by the pope during an Easter vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

Italy already provides Allam, 55, with a security escort after Hamas militants marked him for death for criticizing Palestinian suicide bombings. Allam predicted his conversion would lead to an "even graver condemnation to death for apostasy," or renunciation of religious faith.

Under a widespread interpretation of Islamic legal doctrine, converting from Islam is apostasy and punishable by death -- though killings are rare.

Allam was born a Muslim in Egypt, but was educated by Catholics and says he has never been a practicing Muslim.

In a front-page letter in Corriere, he described how Benedict helped in his decision to break with Islam, a process which included support from a Vatican cardinal and several prelates close to the Vatican.

"Undoubtedly the most extraordinary and significant encounter in the decision to convert was that with Pope Benedict XVI," Allam said. He said he admired the pope for his skill in laying out the relationship "between faith and reason as the basis of authentic religion and human civilization."

The pope himself has come under verbal attack from Islamic militants.

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in a new audio message posted last week, accused Benedict of playing a role in what he called a "new Crusade" against Islam. The Vatican has described the accusation as baseless.

The Vatican is still trying to repair relations with the Muslim world after Benedict in a 2006 speech about faith and reason cited a medieval text that described some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly the command to spread the faith "by the sword."

The pope later expressed regret that his remarks angered Muslims.

Benedict made no specific mention of Allam's conversion, but at an Easter Sunday Mass in a downpour at St. Peter's Square, the pope hailed conversions to Christianity as a "miracle."

The faithful were celebrating their belief in the resurrection of Jesus after he was crucified. Thanks to the apostles' preaching about the resurrection, "thousands and thousands of persons converted to Christianity," Benedict said.

The Vatican cardinal in charge of inter-religious dialogue appeared to dismiss any flap over Allam's conversion.

"To whoever knocks, the door of the Church is always open," Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran was quoted by the Apcom news agency as saying. "Freedom of conscience is a fundamental right."

The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy -- which Allam has frequently criticized as having links to Hamas -- was quoted as describing the baptism as a personal choice.

An Italian Muslim leader, Yahya Pallavicini, who has been involved with Vatican-Muslim dialogue, expressed perplexity.

"As a European Muslim, there was no reason to deny his religion of origin in order to love better or more the Christ figure or Christianity," Pallavicini told Italy's SKY TG24.