So, now that a prominent former-Muslim has been baptized Catholic, the Vatican is having to do damage control and distance itself from what the convert says.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Benedict XVI welcomed into the Catholic Church a Muslim-born journalist often critical of Islam, it was not a sign that the pope accepts everything the journalist believes, said the Vatican spokesman.

The Italian journalist, Magdi Allam, “has the right to express his own ideas. They remain his personal opinions without in any way becoming the official expression of the positions of the pope or the Holy See,” said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi.

Basically, the “Muslim world” is saying that the Pope shouldn’t have publically baptized this guy, because he is guilty of hate speech against Islam.

Nayed questioned the pope’s decision to baptize Allam March 22 during the globally televised Easter Vigil from St. Peter’s Basilica.

“It is sad that the intimate and personal act of a religious conversion is made into a triumphalist tool for scoring points,” Nayed said.

“It is sad that the particular person chosen for such a highly public gesture has a history of generating, and continues to generate, hateful discourse,” he added.

Naturally, one must remember that hate speech against Islam means disagreeing with Islam. The man has every right to make the comments he makes, because essentially there’s a price on his head. The Vatican’s being accused of not recognizing human dignity and freedom of choice somehow by publicly baptizing the man…fortunately, the Vatican spokesman got a dig in about that too:

Father Lombardi said the Catholic Church today does not deserve an accusation that it lacks respect for human dignity and freedom, but there are many situations in the world where such respect is lacking and which need attention.

“Maybe this is why the pope accepted the risk of this baptism: to affirm the freedom of religious choice which derives from the dignity of the human person,” he said.

more