This is a footnote to my earlier piece on Mr. Allam’s conversion. In a moving profession of Faith in which he traces his path to baptism, the new convert says how he will hold his head up high in the face of the renewed death sentence imposed upon him for his apostasy from Islam. After proclaiming that he will be “standing upright and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of his faith,” Allam praises the Holy Father:
And I will be more so after the courageous and historical gesture of the Pope, who, as soon has he knew of my desire, immediately agreed to personally impart the Christian sacraments of initiation to me. His Holiness has sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in the conversion of Muslims, abstaining from proselytizing in majority Muslim countries and keeping quiet about the reality of converts in Christian countries. Out of fear. The fear of not being able to protect converts in the face of their being condemned to death for apostasy and fear of reprisals against Christians living in Islamic countries. Well, today Benedict XVI, with his witness, tells us that we must overcome fear and not be afraid to affirm the truth of Jesus even with Muslims. [Full article]
