The latest episode in Pope Benedict’s tumultuous relationship with the Muslim world is controversy over the conversion to Catholicism of Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Allam, an outspoken critic of his former faith whom Benedict personally baptized at the Vatican on the day before Easter.

Among those criticizing the high-profile baptismal ceremony was one of the 138 Muslim scholars and clerics who last year signed an open letter seeking better relations with the Christian world. In response to that letter, Benedict invited a group of signatories to meet with him at the Vatican, a meeting for which preparations are now in the works.