“Today the social culture does not support the development of the culture of life and of faith: it does not support faith itself”, declared the Archbishop of Moscow Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, addressing a conference on the Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II Familiaris Consortio in recent days. Held in the Catholic cathedral of the Russian capital on the 25th anniversary of the document (published on 22 November 1981), the meeting was attended, among others, by Father A. Stekewicz, director of the family centre of the archdiocese of Our Lady, and Father I. Pavlus of Kaliningrad. In the first part of the conference the delegates examined the problems of the family in contemporary society and analysed John Paul II’s commitment to the family. In the second part the delegates split up into four work groups on: formation of the person, service to life, contribution to social development, and participation in the mission of the Church. According to Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, “Russian Catholics ought to help people to understand that faith can only be maintained through the family”. Father Pavlus described the pastoral activity of John Paul II after the Second World War, and, citing his words, declared: “In our life there is space for darkness and for light. It is good when darkness is transformed into light. Today it is very important for people to seek the light”. Archbishop Kondrusiewicz lastly expressed the hope that “God may help believers to turn their families into small domestic churches”.
