Christian Wilke lives in Falkenstein, Germany. He is a nurse who works in a prison, and is a Cooperator of Opus Dei.

I was born and grew up in a part of Germany with a Lutheran tradition. On April 19, 2005, my uncle mentioned to me that a German had just been elected Pope and, out of curiosity, since I had never been interested in Catholicism, I turned on the television.

From that moment on, I couldn’t stop thinking about what the Pope had said and I began reflecting on the faith and the Church. I bought the Catechism of the Catholic Church and rapidly found answers to questions that had always unsettled me. One day, looking at the website of a big publisher, a book entitled The Way drew my attention. On reading it I knew that my place was in the Catholic Church.

I contacted the local parish and in 2007 received the sacrament of Confirmation. I bought more books by St. Josemaría and obtained information about Opus Dei via the internet. I found out about a public launch of a biography of St. Josemaría that was to take place in Cologne, and decided to go there with my father.

Afterwards I started to attend various activities of formation. I saw that they enriched my life, particularly the recollections. For me, they are like a gas station where I can go to recharge my soul in order to go forward in daily life. I soon felt the need to do more for Opus Dei, and after talking it over with the friends I had made there I decided to become a Cooperator.