Pope Benedict calls for peace in Tibet, Iraq

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI denounced injustice and violence as scourges of humanity and singled out the Middle East and Tibet among places needing peace in his Easter Sunday message to the world.

In an Easter Mass celebrated on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica to mark Catholicism’s most important day, he praised conversions to Christianity, only hours after he baptised a prominent Muslim.A white canopy on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica protected the 80-year-old pontiff from a violent rainstorm while thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans braved thunder and wind-whipped rain with umbrellas.The faithful were celebrating their belief in the resurrection of Jesus after he was crucified.Thanks to preaching about the resurrection, “thousands and thousands of persons converted to Christianity”, Benedict told the crowd.”And this is a miracle which renews itself even today,” the pope said.Hours earlier, in a Saturday night Easter vigil service, he baptised seven adults.The converts included Magdi Allam, a prominent journalist in Italy who has received death threats for his denunciations of Islamic fanaticism.Allam (55), deputy editor of Corriere della Sera newspaper, was born a Muslim in Egypt, but was educated by Catholics and says he has never been a practising Muslim.He described Benedict as instrumental in his decision to leave Islam.Benedict’s baptising him, in a ceremony televised from St.Peter’s Basilica Saturday night around the world, “was a historic and courageous gesture”, Allam wrote in Sunday’s Corriere.Allam has had a security escort since 2003 after he criticised Palestinian suicide bombings, and Hamas singled him out for death.The Vatican appeared to be at pains to head off criticism from the Islamic world about the conversion of Allam, who defended the pope in 2006 when the pontiff made a speech that many Muslims perceived as depicting Islam as a violent faith.”Conversion is a private matter, a personal thing and we hope that the baptism will not be interpreted negatively by Islam,” Cardinal Giovanni Re told an Italian newspaper.Still, Allam’s highly public baptism by the pope shocked Italy’s Muslim community, with some leaders openly questioning why the Vatican chose to shine such a big spotlight it.”What amazes me is the high profile the Vatican has given this conversion,” Yaha Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community, told Reuters.”Why could he have not done this in his local parish?” The pope himself has come under verbal attack from Islamic militants.Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a new audio message posted last week, accused Benedict of playing a role in what he called a “new Crusade” against Islam.The Vatican has described the accusation as baseless.At the end of Mass, Benedict recalled the suffering in Darfur and Somalia and in “the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon and finally Tibet, all of which I encourage to seek solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good”.Benedict is trying to improve relations with China, where Catholics loyal to the pope risk harassment and some clergy have been jailed.In voicing his concerns about Tibet, the pontiff did not cite China by name.In his twice-yearly ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the city and the world) message delivered after the Mass, the pope decried “the many wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day” – “selfishness, injustice, hatred and violence” between individuals and peoples.”These are the scourges of humanity, open and festering in every corner of the planet, although they are often ignored and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters,” the pontiff said, speaking over the sound of rain pounding the cobblestones in the square.He called for “an active commitment to justice …in areas bloodied by conflict and wherever the dignity of the human person continues to be scorned and trampled,” mentioning Darfur, Somalia, the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon and Tibet.He then wished the world a happy Easter in 63 languages.Hymns and prayers competed with sharp thunderclaps throughout the ceremony.Nampa-AP-ReutersPeter’s Basilica to mark Catholicism’s most important day, he praised conversions to Christianity, only hours after he baptised a prominent Muslim.A white canopy on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica protected the 80-year-old pontiff from a violent rainstorm while thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans braved thunder and wind-whipped rain with umbrellas.The faithful were celebrating their belief in the resurrection of Jesus after he was crucified.Thanks to preaching about the resurrection, “thousands and thousands of persons converted to Christianity”, Benedict told the crowd.”And this is a miracle which renews itself even today,” the pope said.Hours earlier, in a Saturday night Easter vigil service, he baptised seven adults.The converts included Magdi Allam, a prominent journalist in Italy who has received death threats for his denunciations of Islamic fanaticism.Allam (55), deputy editor of Corriere della Sera newspaper, was born a Muslim in Egypt, but was educated by Catholics and says he has never been a practising Muslim.He described Benedict as instrumental in his decision to leave Islam.Benedict’s baptising him, in a ceremony televised from St.Peter’s Basilica Saturday night around the world, “was a historic and courageous gesture”, Allam wrote in Sunday’s Corriere.Allam has had a security escort since 2003 after he criticised Palestinian suicide bombings, and Hamas singled him out for death.The Vatican appeared to be at pains to head off criticism from the Islamic world about the conversion of Allam, who defended the pope in 2006 when the pontiff made a speech that many Muslims perceived as depicting Islam as a violent faith.”Conversion is a private matter, a personal thing and we hope that the baptism will not be interpreted negatively by Islam,” Cardinal Giovanni Re told an Italian newspaper.Still, Allam’s highly public baptism by the pope shocked Italy’s Muslim community, with some leaders openly questioning why the Vatican chose to shine such a big spotlight it.”What amazes me is the high profile the Vatican has given this conversion,” Yaha Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community, told Reuters.”Why could he have not done this in his local parish?” The pope himself has come under verbal attack from Islamic militants.Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a new audio message posted last week, accused Benedict of playing a role in what he called a “new Crusade” against Islam.The Vatican has described the accusation as baseless.At the end of Mass, Benedict recalled the suffering in Darfur and Somalia and in “the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon and finally Tibet, all of which I encourage to seek solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good”.Benedict is trying to improve relations with China, where Catholics loyal to the pope risk harassment and some clergy have been jailed.In voicing his concerns about Tibet, the pontiff did not cite China by name.In his twice-yearly ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the city and the world) message delivered after the Mass, the pope decried “the many wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day” – “selfishness, injustice, hatred and violence” between individuals and peoples.”These are the scourges of humanity, open and festering in every corner of the planet, although they are often ignored and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters,” the pontiff said, speaking over the sound of rain pounding the cobblestones in the square.He called for “an active commitment to justice …in areas bloodied by conflict and wherever the dignity of the human person continues to be scorned and trampled,” mentioning Darfur, Somalia, the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon and Tibet.He then wished the world a happy Easter in 63 languages.Hymns and prayers competed with sharp thunderclaps throughout the ceremony.Nampa-AP-Reuters