Pope Benedict XVI, who turns 81 next month, celebrated Easter Sunday Mass in heavy rain in St Peter's Square. In his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the world he said there are “many wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day” and called for an “active commitment to justice” worldwide.

 The Pontiff urged reconciliation in territories like Darfur, Somalia, the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon and Tibet, mentioning that these are the regions where “gestures of moderation and forgiveness will increase.”

“How can we fail to remember certain African regions, such as Darfur and Somalia, 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 XVI declared.

As it is a tradition to baptize adult converts to Catholicism on Easter eve, in a surprise move, the Pope baptized Magdi Allam, a well-known journalist born in Egypt in the Muslim faith. Allam’s conversion to Christianity was kept secret until Vatican revealed it just an hour before the Saturday night vigil service began.

Allam lives under police protection, as there were many threats against him, especially after he criticized Iran's position on Israel. “... The root of evil is innate in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictual,” he wrote in the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The Vatican statement on Allam's conversion was: “For the Catholic Church, each person who asks to receive Baptism after a deep personal search, a fully free choice and adequate preparation, has a right to receive it.”

The baptism, called by Allam “the happiest day of my life,” came just two days after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden blamed the pope of conspiring of a "new crusade" against Muslim.