The Easter Vigil

After sundown on Holy Saturday, Pope Benedict celebrated the Easter Vigil Mass.

Catholics all over the world attend this beautiful first Mass of Easter, celebrating Jesus' Resurrection.

Whether in Rome or in Wisconsin, the Easter Vigil is the same -- the universal Church.

The nighttime Easter vigil service at St. Peter's Basilica marked the period between Good Friday, which commemorates Jesus' crucifixion, and Easter Sunday, which marks his resurrection.

Benedict opened by blessing a white candle, which he then carried down the main aisle of the darkened basilica. Slowly, the pews began to light up as his flame was shared with candles carried by the faithful, until the whole basilica twinkled and the main lights came on.

Just like at St. Peter's Basilica, the Easter Vigil at my church begins in the dark, symbolizing the darkness of the world without Jesus. The priest lights the Paschal candle and that flame is passed from person to person, candle to candle, until the church is glowing with light -- hope.

Out of darkness, light.

In addition to the fire, there is the water of baptism, in which sins are washed away, new members are baptized into the Church and the faithful renew their baptismal vows.

Then, catechumens are confirmed.

They receive the Holy Eucharist for the first time.

It's a moving celebration of initiation, rebirth, and life.

Out of the sadness and death of Good Friday, comes Easter joy. It's a profound faith experience.

This year, the Easter Vigil at the Vatican is getting extra attention because Pope Benedict XVI baptized Magdi Allam at the service.

Who is Magdi Allam?

Italy's most prominent Muslim, an iconoclastic writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, converted to Catholicism Saturday in a baptism by the pope at a Vatican Easter service.

An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book "Long Live Israel."

As a choir sang, Pope Benedict XVI poured holy water over Allam's head and said a brief prayer in Latin.

"We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another," Benedict said in a homily reflecting on the meaning of baptism. "Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have become close."

Vatican Television zoomed in on Allam, who sat in the front row of the basilica along with six other candidates for baptism. He later received his first Communion.

Allam, 55, told the newspaper Il Giornale in a December interview that his criticism of Palestinian suicide bombing provoked threats on his life in 2003, prompting the Italian government to provide him with a sizable security detail.

The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy — which Allam has frequently criticized as having links to Hamas — said the baptism was his own decision.

"He is an adult, free to make his personal choice," the Apcom news agency quoted the group's spokesman, Issedin El Zir, as saying.

Yahya Pallavicini, vice president of Coreis, the Islamic religious community in Italy, said he respected Allam's choice but said he was "perplexed" by the symbolic and high-profile way in which he chose to convert.

"If Allam truly was compelled by a strong spiritual inspiration, perhaps it would have been better to do it delicately, maybe with a priest from Viterbo where he lives," the ANSA news agency quoted Pallavicini as saying.

...There is no overarching Muslim law on conversion. But under a widespread interpretation of Islamic legal doctrine, converting from Islam is apostasy and punishable by death — though killings are rare.

Egypt's highest Islamic cleric, the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, wrote last year against the killing of apostates, saying there is no worldly retribution for Muslims who abandon their religion and that punishment would come in the afterlife.

On Wednesday, a new audio message from Osama bin Laden accused the pope of playing a "large and lengthy role" in a "new Crusade" against Islam that included the publication of drawings of the Prophet Muhammad that many Muslims found insulting.

Because Allam is considered Italy's "most prominent Muslim" and his life has been threatened in the past for criticizing Palestinian suicide bombers, his baptism by the Pope is a dramatic event.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi explained that the Pope baptizes "without making any 'difference of people,' that is, considering all equally important before the love of God and welcoming all in the community of the Church."

Although Allam was baptized by the Pope and his rite of initiation took place on a world stage, his experience is not unlike other new members being welcomed into the Church at Easter Vigil services everywhere. All are God's children.