{"id":2382,"date":"2008-03-28T09:57:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-28T09:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/03\/magdi-christian-allams-next-sacrament-marriage.html"},"modified":"2008-03-28T09:57:00","modified_gmt":"2008-03-28T09:57:00","slug":"magdi-christian-allams-next-sacrament-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/03\/magdi-christian-allams-next-sacrament-marriage.html","title":{"rendered":"Magdi Christian Allam’s next sacrament: marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The astonishing story of the Muslim who was baptized by the Pope<\/a> at the Easter Vigil now has another interesting twist<\/a>. He will be married in the Church next month: <\/p>\n

<\/a>The Muslim journalist Magdi Allam, who was received into the Church during the Easter Vigil by Pope Benedict XVI, plans to marry Valentina Colombo in the Church on April 22, according to the Italian daily Libero.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s son, Davide, who is nine months old, was baptized a month ago, when Allam\u2019s journey to the Catholic faith was in its final phase.<\/p>\n

Allam is 55 and is associate director of the newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. During the last five years he has lived under police protection due to death threats over his conversion to Christianity and his positions against Islamic fundamentalism.<\/p>\n

During the interview, Allam said he is not afraid of death and that he will continue moving \u201cforward\u201d on \u201cthe road of truth, freedom and affirmation of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

His baptism has been criticized by both Islamic fundamentalists and Islamic moderates, including the Muslim intellectuals who attended a meeting at the Vatican this month to promote inter-religious dialogue.<\/p>\n

The director of L\u2019Osservatore Romano, Gian Maria Vian, said yesterday in an editorial that Magdi Allam\u2019s baptism was \u201cnot intended to be hostile towards the great Islamic religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allam took this step \u201cafter a long personal search and the necessary preparation for taking this step,\u201d Vian said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBenedict XVI\u2019s gesture has important meaning because it affirms religious freedom in a humble and clear way\u201d and shows that \u201canyone who requests baptism without constrictions has the right to receive it,\u201d he emphasized. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The astonishing story of the Muslim who was baptized by the Pope at the Easter Vigil now has another interesting twist. He will be married in the Church next month: The Muslim journalist Magdi Allam, who was received into the Church during the Easter Vigil by Pope Benedict XVI, plans to marry Valentina Colombo in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sacraments","category-the-pope-and-bishops"],"yoast_head":"\nMagdi Christian Allam's next sacrament: marriage - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/03\/magdi-christian-allams-next-sacrament-marriage.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Magdi Christian Allam's next sacrament: marriage - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The astonishing story of the Muslim who was baptized by the Pope at the Easter Vigil now has another interesting twist. 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