Magdi Allam
Dear Editor, what I am going to report regards my choice of religious faith and personal life is not meant in any way involve the Courier della Sera, of which I am proud to be part of 2003 with the rank of vice-director ad personam. I am writing therefore to be the protagonist of the story as a private citizen. Yesterday evening I converted to the Christian Catholic religion, renouncing my previous Islamic faith. Thus finally seen the light, by divine grace, the healthy and mature fruit of a long gestation lived in suffering and joy, between the deep and intimate reflection and conscious and manifest externalization. I am particularly grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has given me the sacraments of Christian initiation, Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica during the solemn celebration of the Easter Vigil. And I took the simplest and most explicit Christian name: "Cristiano."
since yesterday so I call 'Magdi Cristiano Allam' . For me it's the most beautiful day of life. To acquire the gift of Christian faith on the anniversary of the Resurrection of Christ by the Holy Father is, a believer, an incomparable privilege and an invaluable asset. At almost 56 years, in my small, is a historical fact, exceptional and unforgettable experience, which marks a radical and definitive than in the past. The miracle of the resurrection of Christ reverberated in my soul, freeing it from the shadows of a preaching where hate and intolerance towards the "different," uncritically condemned as "enemy," stand out on the love and respect of "neighbor" which is always a "person", as well as my mind has been freed from the obscurantism of an ideology which legitimates lying and dissimulation, violent death that leads to murder and suicide, blind submission and tyranny, allowing me to join the authentic religion of Truth, Life and Freedom. In my first Easter as a Christian I have not only discovered Jesus, I discovered for the first time the true and only God, who is the God of Faith and Reason.
The landing point
My conversion to Catholicism is the haunt of a gradual and profound interior meditation that I could not escape, given that five years have forced an armored life with guarding the home and the escort of policemen in my every move, because of threats and death sentences inflittemi by extremists and Islamic terrorists, both those resident in Italy and those working abroad. I had to wonder about the attitude of those who have publicly issued fatwas, Islamic juridical of responses, complaints and that I was Muslim, as an "enemy of Islam," "hypocrite because he is a Coptic Christian who pretends to be a Muslim for damage 'Islam', 'liar and defamer of Islam, "thus legitimating my death sentence. I wondered how it was possible that someone like me, he fought strenuously and with conviction for a "moderate Islam", taking responsibility to take a public person in the complaint of extremism and Islamic terrorism, is finite then be sentenced to death in the name of Islam and on the basis of a Koranic legitimization. So I had to acknowledge that, beyond the contingency that registers over the phenomenon of extremists and Islamist terrorism worldwide, the root of evil is innate in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictual.
parallel Providence me meet people practicing Catholics of good will who, by virtue of their witness and their friendship, as they have become a benchmark in terms of the certainty of truth and the solidity of values. Starting with many friends from Communion and Liberation, led by Don Julian Carròn; a simple religious such as Father Gabriele Mangiarotti, Sister Maria Gloria Riva, Father Carlo Maurizi and Father Yohannis Lahzi Gaid, the rediscovery of the Salesians thanks to Father Angelo Tengattini and Don Maurizio Verlezza culminated in a renewed friendship with the Rector Major Fr Pascual Chavez Villanueva; up to the embrace of high prelates of great humanity like Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Monsignor Luigi Negri, Giancarlo Vecerrica, Gino Romanazzi and, above all, Monsignor Rino Fisichella me personally follow the spiritual path of acceptance of the Christian faith. But undoubtedly encounter more extraordinary and significant in the decision to convert was that with Pope Benedict XVI, whom I admired and defended as a Muslim for his mastery in setting the indissoluble link between faith and reason as a basis for authentic religion and human civilization, and to which I adhere fully as a Christian to inspire me with new light in fulfilling the mission that God has given me.
choice and threats
Dear Director, you asked me if I do not fear for my life , in the awareness that conversion to Christianity will certainly procure me yet another, and far more severe sentence death for apostasy. You're absolutely right. I know what I meeting but will face my fate with head high, back straight and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of their faith. And I will be even more so after the courageous and historical gesture of the Pope, from the first moment where you became aware of my desire, immediately agreed to personally impart the Christian sacraments of initiation. His Holiness has launched an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in converting Muslims, abstaining from proselytizing in majority Muslim countries and keeping silent about the reality of converts in Christian countries. For fear. The fear of not being able to protect converts in the face of their death sentence 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.
Enough with the violence
For my part I say it is time to end arbitrariness and violence of Muslims who do not respect the freedom of religious choice. In Italy there are thousands of converts to Islam who peacefully live their new faith. But there are also thousands of Muslim converts to Christianity who are forced to hide their new faith for fear of being assassinated by Islamic extremists who lurk among us. By one of those "cases" that evoke the discreet hand of the Lord, my first article written on September 3, 2003 Courier was titled "The new Catacombs of Islamic Converts." Was an investigation of some neo-Christians in Italy denounced their profound spiritual and human solitude, in the face of absconding state institutions that fail to protect their safety and the silence of the Church. Well I hope that the Pope's historical gesture and my testimony to derive the belief that it is time to get out of the darkness of the catacombs and to publicly state their will be fully themselves. If we can not here in Italy, the cradle of Catholicism, our home, to guarantee full religious freedom to all, how could we ever be credible when we denounce the violation of this freedom elsewhere in the world? I pray God that this special Easter gifts, the resurrection of the spirit to all the faithful in Christ who have until now been subjugated by fear.
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