“Strive to do good” is the hope expressed by the Archbishop of Moscow Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz to the children meeting near Kaliningrad for the “Holiday with God” project that brings children together for a short holiday with the emphasis on spirituality. The meeting with the archbishop took place in the form of an “interview”, conducted by a ten-year-old girl who would like to be a journalist when she grows up. The questions she put to the archbishop included: Why does the bishop wear a purple skullcap? How is a vocation recognized? In replying, the archbishop said that “the encounter with God radically changes man’s life; it leads him to overcome his own selfishness and to do good to his neighbour”. In the mass that concluded his visit to Kalinigrad the archbishop asked the faithful to pray fervently for vocations in Russia because the Catholic Church in the country particularly feels a need for them. “The laity too have a fundamental task in the proclamation of the Gospel – said Kondrusiewicz -, especially in our time when hedonism and consumerism are spreading. In contrast to religious, laypeople can bear witness to the Gospel at work, in schools, and on holiday. If we decide to play a sport – added the archbishop, who was an enthusiastic sportsman in his youth – we don’t choose the rules of the game. The same goes for religion: as Christians – concluded the Archbishop of Moscow – we are obliged to respect the rules of the Gospel that guarantee the final victory – the crown of eternal bliss”.
