Despite having grown up in a non-religious household, belief in God was Christopher’s default position.
Having been named by his grandmother, who wanted him to have a saint’s name, it seemed a relationship with God would one day be inevitable for the Sydney teenager.
“I had scripture classes in school and I believed that Jesus was God,” he told The Catholic Weekly.
“But it wasn’t something I thought about a lot, it was just how things were, because I hadn’t been exposed to anything else.”
However, at 12, Christopher began asking deeper questions – one of which led him on a journey of rigorous research into the theology and philosophy of different faiths, including Catholicism.
“What is the true God? Do I have the right idea of him? It was something I thought about whenever I had the chance, so I’d look into it bit by bit,” he said.
Beginning broadly, he explored a range of religions to see whether any faith apart from Christianity could be true. Christianity soon stood out.
“It was just clear,” he said. “All these other ones are clearly wrong… Christianity clearly stands out.” But his journey did not end there.
“One day I was scrolling on Instagram and came across a Catholic video explaining the difference between Protestants and Catholics,” he explained.
“So I went down that rabbit hole and watched a lot of debates, which is where I really got into theology more deeply.
“I looked into the apostles and early church history. Then I realised the truth about the Eucharist and looked at chapter 6 of St John’s Gospel.
“I saw that the Eucharist was clearly the body and blood of Jesus Christ. So it was like, okay, I need to find a church that has this.”
At that point, Christopher had to decide between Orthodoxy and Catholicism.
Without a clear answer at first, his decision ultimately came down to unity, the universality of the Catholic Church, and the Nicene Creed. At 14, he entered RCIA – still unsure, but open.
“I said I’d give it a shot.”
With the guidance and support of Fr Dariusz Basiaga SDS and the parishioners at St Luke’s Parish in Revesby, Christopher received the Sacraments of Initiation on Divine Mercy Sunday and chose St Augustine as his confirmation saint.
“I wanted someone to look up to, and I felt such a connection to him – it just felt like I was meant to be with him,” he said.
Reflecting on receiving the Eucharist for the first time, he said he was struck by how different it felt from communion in other churches.
“My body felt different,” he said.
Christopher now hopes to live out his faith more deeply and become the best Catholic he can be.
For others his age searching for truth, he offers simple advice: “Just do it – trust God. There will be a time when God makes the path clear. He will say, ‘Come here,’ because it is the true church.”
