Thank you all for your insightful comments. Like many of you, I too have pondered this at great length. The Pope is the only one today who has challenged the Muslims to come to the table for a frank discussion. Those meetings will begin shortly. This pope is not a showman and must have carefully weighed the impact of Allam's Baptism on worldwide television.
The real question is how did Magdi Allam arrive at this faith conversion. When asked that by a group of reporters, he replied:
"Undoubtedly the most extraordinary and significant encounter in the decision to convert was that with Pope Benedict XVI,'' Allam said. He said he admired the pope for his skill in laying out the relationship "between faith and reason as the basis of authentic religion and human civilization.''
It should be interesting to see how the conferences with the 142 Muslim clerics progress. If not Pope Benedict XVI, who?
The conference with the 142 muslim clerics will collpase when they don’t get their way.
Is Benedict XVI to radical Islam what John Paul II was to Communism?