VATICAN CITY, March 22 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI Saturday baptized one of the most prominent Italian Muslims into the Catholic Church in a ceremony at the Vatican. The pope performed the baptism for Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born journalist and author, at St. Peter's Basilica , the Italian news agency Ansa reported. Allam grew up in Cairo , where his mother sent him to a Catholic school. He moved to Italy where he earned a degree from LaSapienza University in Rome. He has been a vocal opponent of radical Islam. His books include "Viva Israele," or "Long Live Israel ," and works on Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. In his Easter homily, the pope said the baptized become one with Jesus Christ and with each other. "Continents , cultures , social structures or even historical distances may separate us ," he said. "But when we meet, we know one another on the basis of the same Lord, the same faith , the same hope , the same love , which form us."

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