Dear Friends:

The reestablished Jesuit School in Kaunas is gradually strengthening its position not only as an educational institution important to Kaunas, but as a center of Catholic formation as well. This center for Catholic education is now becoming known in Lithuania and abroad.

I am very grateful to all who have made a contribution to the restoration and development of the Kaunas School by their work, organizational talents and gifts, and, finally, by their trust and patience. It is a long task which demands constant effort and which will take longer than several years, or even longer than one decade, to accomplish. I am very glad that our old (and at the same time young) School has close and heartfelt relationships with the community of parents, with the leaders of the Jesuit order, and with our friends here in Lithuania and abroad. Without their constant aid and support, our School would not have been able to grow, develop and reestablish itself so rapidly. The need felt by the community of parents, and their organizational ability, as well as their ability to find the material resources for the development of the School, show the maturity of our Christian society.

I sincerely congratulate all the participants of 350th anniversary of the Jesuit School in Kaunas - pupils, parents, our guests from other countries, teachers - and all in Kaunas who are involved in the teaching of the pupils. May the sharing of this solemn celebration make our community come together more closely, strengthen the relationship between generations, help us to renew ourselves from within and with this renewed spirit, cross the threshold of the Third Millennium, to labor for the creation of a tolerant, hospitable, socially progressive, and mature Christian society.

Gintaras Vitkus SJ
Headmaster of the Jesuit School in Kaunas