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Pope Benedict XVI baptized an Egyptian-born Muslim convert to Christianity over the weekend. The move is one of many signals that could presage a renewed conflict between the Vatican and Islam.

Pope Benedict XVI baptized Magdi Allam on March 22 as part of an Easter vigil service. Allam is an Egyptian-born convert from Islam to Christianity, and is a prominent outspoken critic of radical Islamism. Only days before, on March 19, an Internet posting of an audio message purporting to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused the pope specifically of fomenting a “new Crusade” against Islam.

The papacy is a unique geopolitical entity. It was once literally a kingmaker, crowning the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. Before the rise of the international system as we know it today, it orchestrated more than a dozen religious crusades to Jerusalem (then held by Muslims) and encouraged a doomed Spanish expedition to take the British Isles from a Protestant English monarch. Today, the Vatican’s role on the world stage is considerably smaller.

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