Pope Benedict XVI publicly baptized on Monday an Egyptian-born Muslim journalist, known for his renunciation of Islamic beliefs. The traditional Easter vigil service held on Monday at St. Peter's Basilica, marked the beginning of 55-year-old Magdi Allam's life as a Roman Catholic, after he admitted that he has been a non-practicing Muslim all his adult life. Taking "Christian" for his middle name, Allam, a deputy director for the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, wrote in an article, "I had to do this. Beyond extremists and Islamist terrorism at the global level, the root of evil is inherent in a physiologically violent and historically conflictual Islam. "

Almost 50 people reportedly lost their sight after staring at the sky in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rumored image of the Virgin Mary. Officials of India's Kottayam district reported a total of 48 individuals experiencing the condition, after medical examinations determined that their retinas were burned from staring at the sun. The cases had reportedly been constantly coming in since Friday last week.

The Old North Church, Boston's 285-year-old beacon of the American Revolution, has gone high-tech with the installation of light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. Ed Pignone, executive director of the Old North Foundation of Boston, said energy-efficient lights now illuminate ceiling vaults inside the church, whose steeple was used by Paul Revere to display two lanterns as a signal about British troop movements on April 18, 1775- the night described in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous poem, which included the line: "One if by land, and two if by sea. "

Desperately wanting to see his flock increased by at least three-fold, a German priest has started offering money to his parishioners in exchange for attending mass. Instead of passing out collection trays during church services, Father Burkhard Westphal doles out five-euro notes in envelopes to everyone who attends Sunday mass at his church in Collinghorst, Germany.

An archbishop held a Sunday worship service sans crown, after the item was stolen from his car Friday night. Bishop Metropolitan Isaiah of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America commented on his appearance without his crown, noting it to have been the first time since 1985 that he led a Sunday service without it.