A church for the

next generation

The New Zentrum Johannes Paul II.

Creating a platform for Church renewal in Central Europe.

A missionary church

Everything we do is geared toward the transformation of people through an encounter with Jesus Christ. Because we believe that Christ is the answer to the deepest longings of the human person. We believe that societies and structures are transformed through people deeply transformed by the Gospel – transformed people transform people. We believe that the local Church is the ideal place where this transformation and the realization of Christ´s great commission to make disciples of all nations can happen practically. We believe that secularized Europe is in urgent need of vibrant church communities, authentic homes for encounter with God, discipleship formation, and Gospel proclamation. We want to raise up a house of prayer, a place of encounter, a wellspring of growth, a movement of Church revitalization. We want to capacitate the unchurched for missionary discipleship and assist other Catholic communities (above all parishes) to do the same. A former hotel becomes the new home for the John Paul II. Center and the platform and hub for further revitalizing efforts.

New life, not just for an old house

We believe in the power of God´s Spirit to renew his Church.

The John Paul II. Center continues to grow since its inception in 2015. A first remodelling to create more space took place in 2016. Finally, after a 3 year search and two years of planning, we were ready to build the new facility. The Ukrainian crisis and inflation has increased costs by more than 60%. And our costs are now approximately 22 Million EUR in order to complete the project. The ground breaking ceremony took place in November. We have been very blessed in finding support. In order to finish financing of the builing and cover our operating costs, we are looking for approximately another 2 Million EUR until the end of 2025. This is a major milestone on our journey of building a platform for Church renewal. We continue to look for strategic investors in Europe`s future, that share our vision for revitalization of Church life and want to partner with us to make that vision come true.

„Ask and it will be given to you.“ This trust in God’s providence has already led us this far. And we know that He gives what is needed in due time. If you feel a call to partner with us in this mission of reaching the unchurched for Christ in Europe today and contribute towards parish revitalization, donate through our website today! If you are considering a major gift, please feel free to contact Fr. George Elsbett in order to schedule a meeting and explore possibilities.

A Message from Fr. James Mallon to the Zentrum Johannes Paul II.

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Public area

Open doors, open heart

Prayer, the relationship with Christ, precedes and gives life to every missionary activity. Accordingly, the centerpiece of the new location is the two-story chapel. Our Masses or Eucharistic Celebrations (Roman Catholic worship services) are the heart of the Center. Each weekend there are four opportunities for different audiences to attend Mass. However, the church doors should be open at all times for those seeking God.

A home takes shape

We are planning an inviting café in the entrance area. The café is intended to be a meeting place for people with different backgrounds and views, inviting them to go deeper. Precondition for all evangelization efforts is an honest and sincere interest in and for people. Our Café wants to be a place of encounter, for making new friends, a place where people meet in a casual setting to discuss and get to know each other.

Church for the next generation

„The future of humanity passes through the family.“ (John Paul II) Sometimes it gets quite noisy in the Center: then it is probably Sunday morning and the first children trickle in with their parents. The Family Mass has been a fixed part of the Center since the beginning. Special attention is given here to the Kids Ministry – faith and discipleship training, as well as fellowship for our youngest members.

A space for growth

The music rehearsal room is closely related to an important component of our mission, „Music Ministry.“ In our experience as a growing Congregations, we have been witness to the important role played by music. A pool of 40 musicians help to form our worship services and Eucharistic Celebrations. Worship leaders from the Congregation are requested for large diocesan events, worship conferences, and television masses. In the new center we want to create even more space to make music together, to learn from each other and to offer a sound training for worship leaders.

Advanced training and discipleship

„Forming apostles to transform the world“ is more than just a motto for us. This vision permeates all of the Center’s activities. It begins with the worldwide proven Alpha faith courses, through our Leadership Academy to the „Living Love“ marriage preparation seminars. Each course or workshop we offer is designed for personal growth, to make the content of faith understandable, to relate it to one’s own life and to enable people to pass on their own experiences. According to the biblical principle: sow – grow – multiply.

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Office area

Space for development

When a congregation grows, one has to make sure that an inefficient organizational structure does not begin to stifle this very growth. We are happy that our staff team is growing with the congregation. Many are volunteering, but some key positions are held by full-time staff. In order to be able to expand our missionary activities and to be financially sustainable in the medium and long term, we are introducing the so-called „MPD“ (Mission Partner Development) model, whereby staff members build up their own circle of sponsors, but at the same time receive institutional employment through the Center.

Mission online & offline

As a young church, the John Paul II Center has been thinking digitally since the beginning. Sermons are available online, talks are published as podcasts, there is an organic social media activity – and the live streams of the services were already established as missionary impulses even before this was no longer an option. We see the digital world as a place of proclamation, and we know the importance of a well thought-out web presence. We are happy to be able to set up a real studio in the new building to make our work in this area even more professional.

Living together, growing together

Whether young people find a way to Church often depends on whether other young people are there. The experience of not being alone in faith plays a role that should not be underestimated. It has always been important for us to give young people enough freedom and a safe space where they can develop and try things out. The BeFree Saturday evening Mass plays an important role here. Other events such as community celebrations, small groups etc. are geared towards promoting healthy friendships and relationships.

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Q&A

The ZJPII is a

– a Roman Catholic local Church community or missionary outpost, established according to the diocesan „APG2.1 Process“ within the Archdiocese of Vienna

– It serves and functions as a milieau specific parish focussed on the unchurched, not having „territorial borders“ (see Cardinal Schönborn, pastoral letter apg focus 3 & 4).

– a local Church community founded by an ecclesial locality, that is, under the responsibility of the religious community of the Legionaries of Christ and the apostolate movement Regnum Christi (since 2019 the LC are part of the RC Federation approved by the Holy See, so where the LC are, there is also the RC).

The center aims to help the unchurched encounter Jesus Christ and his Church, empowering them for missionary discipleship, while helping other church communities (above all parishes) do the same. „Forming apostles to transform the world.“

The Archdiocese of Vienna website describes the goal of the Acts 2.1 diocesan development process as „Aiming to enthuse more people for Christ. Therefore, it´s focus will be on discipleship and mission, as well as a new structure of parishes and ministries that enables this focus.“

So it’s about discipleship and mission, and structures that enable and support discipleship and mission. These are precisely the three aspects of the diocesan process that we have made our own. We want to invite people who are unchurched to embark on a journey of discipleship, to empower them in it, so that they themselves become – to use Pope Francis‘ phrase in his document on Gospel Proclamation (Evangelii Gaudium) – „missionary disciples.“ By „discipleship“ we mean the striving to put the Good News of Jesus Christ into practice in 5 areas:

in one’s relationship with God
in the life of community
in continuing faith formation
in service to others
in passing on the faith.

With „missional discipleship“ we take up a basic idea of Pope Francis that discipleship is always „missional“ in the sense that striving to put the Good News into practice in one’s own life also always entails being „light of the world and salt of the earth,“ giving joyful witness to one’s faith and empowering others to do the same.

We want to set up our structures as a congregation so that both discipleship and mission are possible and fostered through these structures. Pope Francis does not separate the two concepts of discipleship and mission because sooner or later every disciple also becomes „missionary.“ That is, enthusiasm for Christ becomes contagious. Francis had this in mind when he called his document on mission „of the joy of the Gospel,“ because it is about sharing with others a joy that has been given to oneself.

We make our own the command of Jesus: „Go out into all the world and make disciples,“ which the diocesan development process has adopted Acts 2:1. We want to inspire people for this journey with Jesus. But we also know that we cannot bring this about ourselves. Because we believe that it is God who touches hearts. But we also experience again and again that this is exactly what happens. God changes hearts, we dont. Jesus Christ is the center, the standard and the model.

The ZJPII is a place of encounter, sharing, prayer and deepening of faith. Whoever comes is welcome because God loves unconditionally. The ZJPII creates a framework in which a path of discipleship is made possible. How does this happen practically?

– We dwell with God in worship. Prayer is the foundation and source of strength for our ministries. We are a praying church and organize 24/1 and 24/7 adorations. One day we want to establish perpetual adoration –  24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. But it’s not just about adoration, it’s about a culture where prayer in general is very important and is the foundation of everything we do.

– We see ourselves as a „participatory church“ and promote a culture of leadership and taking responsibility. This happens, for example, in our ministry areas such as the „Music Ministry“, „Technology Ministry“ „Kids Mnistry“ or in the so-called „Service Teams“ that organize the weekend Masses and the what goes on around them, or in the production of podcasts, or even in ministry areas such as „Living Love“.

– We want to create a setting on the weekends for those who don’t know Jesus Christ – especially with the BeFree Mass on Saturday evening, the Family Mass on Sunday, and the Young Professionals Mass on Sunday evening.

– We are looking for new ways to make faith present – in a society that, it seems, no longer needs faith. For example, through „Shut up – it’s Christmas!“ Alpha courses, or, for example, „Adventure & Faith.“

– We spend a lot of time on pastoral, spiritual accompaniment for individuals, small groups and families, pastoral care in our parish. The priests of ZJPII. take a lot of time for people. But it’s not just the priests. We try to foster a culture of empowerment, wherein someone who has responsibility in a ministry area looks at how they can invest in individuals and help them become a better version of themselves.

– We work in small groups to build friendships. There, we try to accept all people as they are. This is to help them have an experience of God, because God is like that: He doesn’t expect anything and doesn’t put conditions on anything. In these groups, everyone should be able to discover and contribute their talents and gifts – and then also take on joint responsibility.

We try to accept all people as they are, so that they can become what they should be. This should help them to have an experience of God, because God is like that: structures and different programs should serve people. Unfortunately, it can easily happen that in organizations the structures become independent and no longer serve the people, but rather the maintenance of structures. To avoid this, we work proactively to shape our culture.
The culture is shaped by four core values: openness, empowerment, zeal (commitment) and service.
In small groups, people accompany each other; there, everyone can discover and contribute their talents and gifts, be inspired, share and grow in faith – and then also take on co-responsibility.

This is not so much a strategy, but a question of „what do we need to do to be fruitful?“ We believe that by focusing on the following five areas, we are laying a foundation to be fruitful:

1. Promote a strong culture of prayer. Prayer is the foundation and source of strength for our ministries.

2. Create spaces for purposeful relationships. God is relationship: we want to live relationships that are honest and healthy, that is, purposeless. God loves everyone just as they are in order that they might become what they could and should be. This is a prerequisite for any growth in the life of faith and at the same time the space where this can take place.

3. An orientation towards mission: every baptized person is a mission. Mission is and always has been the identity of the Church. Our Church is missionary by its very nature. Every baptized Christian shares in the mission of Christ, as all the recent popes, from Paul VI to Francis, remind us. It is a matter of bearing witness to the joy of the Gospel and offering others the possibility of knowing something of that joy.
Pope Francis says, „When we experience the power of God’s love, when we recognize his paternal presence in our personal and community lives, we cannot help but proclaim and pass on what we have seen and heard.“  Every member of the Church, then, is also a missionary disciple, he writes in Evangelii Gaudium: „Every baptized person, regardless of his or her function in the Church and the level of formation of his or her faith, is an active agent of evangelization. […] The new evangelization must include a new understanding of the carrying role of each baptized person. This conviction becomes an immediate call to every Christian that no one desist from his commitment to evangelization; for if one has truly experienced the love of God that saves him, he does not need much preparation time to set out and proclaim it; (…) And we, what are we waiting for?“ (EG 120)

How does this happen practically with us? Primarily by creating places where we can invite those who are unchurched to have an experience – first of all the „weekend“ (Holy Masses and the trappings), but also Alpha & other programs like Adventure & Faith.

4. Facilitate a clear path of discipleship. We want to follow Jesus Christ and be his disciples – that is, to witness to Christ, to pass on his love, but first of all to make room for his work in our own lives. For us, this means concretely to strive for and accompany a path of growth in five areas: Prayer, Community, Continuing Education, Service to Others, and Passing on the Faith.

Jesus gathers people around him, trains them, teaches them, shapes them, forms and lives community, sends them out. Discipleship, then, begins where one encounters Jesus Christ.

In response to the current challenges of the Church, Pope Francis desires a new evangelization as a path of discipleship in response to love for the one who first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:19); a path, then, that makes possible a faith lived, experienced, celebrated and witnessed with joy. „Evangelization leads us to recover the joy of the Gospel, the joy of being Christians.“

5. Supporting other (parish or quasi-parish) communities. We see ourselves as an active part of the local Church. We bring our small contribution to how the future of the Church can be shaped. Because the old recipes no longer work. Being able to bear witness and support other parishes in their work is something that has grown more and more in recent years and something we continue to focus on.

Because we currently no longer have enough space to carry out pastoral activity that meets the basic pastoral needs of the community. As a result, some things are suffering at the moment, especially our pastoral care for children and youth. Moreover, looking at the growth of the last few years, we believe we can have hope that in the future even more people will come here and we will be able to reach them, especially those who have lost or never had access to the Church, that with more and larger spaces we will be able to create a better welcoming atmosphere and a programs more suited to the needs of those that come.
The one who fills us with hope is God. We put everything in his hands.

Around 90 people have taken on roles of responsibility, 30 of whom have a leadership role (for example, as leader of a small group). The leadership team of the center consists of 5 members.
Up to 200 people join in celebrating Holy Masses each weekend.
In total, the center community numbers an estimated 350 people (but there are no accurate records or membership lists). The tendency is one of growth.

We definitely wanted to stay close to our downtown location so that the community could „move along“ and remain in its entirety and structure. We want to continue to build – at a location in one of the outer districts we would have had to (re)start from scratch and we would not have the reach that we have where we are now. Our diocesan consultants have also asked us to stay in the inner city, especially because of our increasing role as a resource Church for other parish communities.

The Archdiocese has encouraged us at every stage. There has been a very good collaboration for many years. We have been given the opportunity to collaborate in different projects with different staff offices of the Archdiocese, for example with the Episcopal Vicar Dariusz Schutzki, the Vicar General Nikolaus Krasa, the Pastoral Office and the staff office Apg 2.1.

Exclusively from donations, we have to finance the project entirely ourselves, there is no money from the Order. The project is only made possible by the generosity of many people who feel connected to the center and the religious community in Austria.