Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Allam, whose Easter-vigil baptism by none other than Pope Benedict XVI grabbed headlines back in March, has written a book about his experience.

Thank You Jesus. My Conversion from Islam to Christianity comes out today in Italy, and Allam’s newspaper Corriere della Sera has published an excerpt in Engish translation. The author recounts the papal ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica and some of the background to it:

“As I slowly walked down the nave at the rear of the procession, my mind at once went back to the key event that started me on the route of interior spirituality at the age of four, and would more than half a century later culminate in my conversion to Christ. …” (Read more.)