On Sunday, August 4, the 5th Tomsk Catholic Festival of Ignatius of Loyola took place in the Jesuit parish in Tomsk, Siberia, organized by the joint efforts of the parishioners, who had been meeting regularly for three months to prepare everything and divide the responsibilities. Volunteers, donors and sponsors rushed to help.

Our festival once began as a family parish festival, but it has grown into a city event, which is attended by many Tomsk residents and guests from outside the city every year – we read on the parish profile on the social networking site "W kontakt".

When entering the "party," participants had to buy a ticket and exchange rubles for the currency of the festival - "loyolki." One could learn about the life of the founder of the Jesuits, the history of Catholicism, and recall how many distinguished Russians were Catholics. Tables full of traditional dishes from all over the world were waiting for everyone, and despite the rain, everyone survived until the raffle that ended the festival.

In addition to the wealth of entertainment prepared for them, children also participated in a toy-making course. They could also take a picture with Pope Francis and ride in the Popemobile. Adults also had fun reminiscing about their own childhoods (the Popemobile is in the main photo).

The parish priest, Fr. Wojciech Ziółek SJ, recalled the three basic goals of the festival: to show the figure of St. Ignatius to the “city and the world”, to raise money for the major renovation of the church built in 1833 by the November insurgents exiled here, and to introduce the Catholic Church to the residents of Tomsk.