Pope set to celebrate Easter mass

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VATICAN CITY, Mar 23 (AFP): Pope Benedict XVI was set to celebrate Sunday an open-air Easter mass in St Peter's Square, followed by his traditional "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing.
The mass and blessing beginning at 0930 GMT were due to be broadcast live in 57 countries.
On Saturday, Benedict baptised a former Muslim among seven converts to Roman Catholicism during an Easter vigil mass at St Peter's Basilica.
Saturday night's observance symbolises the passage of Jesus Christ from death to resurrection and is traditionally marked by adult baptisms.
Magdi Allam, a 55-year-old Italian journalist of Egyptian origin, is an editorial writer and deputy publisher of the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
He was long described as a moderate Muslim before he decided to convert to Catholicism.
"People who are baptised and believers are never strangers to each other," the pope said in his homily. "Continents, cultures, social structures and historical distances cannot separate us.