Chiesa on the Allam Baptism

The Chiesa website has an informative series of articles on the significance of the baptism and the buzz surrounding it.

...A comment on the part of the Vatican appeared in "L'Osservatore Romano," in a note by director Giovanni Maria Vian:

"The gesture by Benedict XVI affirms religious freedom in a humble and clear way. This is also the freedom to change religion, as in 1948 was emphasized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (even if after this, unfortunately, the declaration was scaled back precisely in this regard). So anyone who without coercion asks for baptism has the right to receive it. And just as this event has not been unduly emphasized, so also there is no hostile intention toward a great religion like Islam."

By coincidence, in the same issue of the pope's newspaper, there was a long article dedicated to the Easter liturgy and to the very ancient tradition of celebrating the sacraments of Christian initiation within it, entitled "The intimate bond between baptism and martyrdom."

This is a bond that Benedict XVI emphasized on Easter Monday, when – at the midday "Regina Coeli" – he invited the faithful to pray for the bishops, priests, religious, and laity killed in 2007 while carrying out their service in missionary countries:

"In the light of the risen Christ, the annual day of prayer for missionary martyrs, which is commemorated today, takes on a particular value." ...