St. John Paul II University Parish and Campus Ministry is a faith based center that serves The University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University Students, Alumni, Faculty and the Greater Denton community. The combined student population of these two public universities is currently 52,000.
Our center was founded in the 1980’s and became known as The Catholic Center, or the "C" for short. On July 1, 2012, the now former bishop of the Diocese of Ft. Worth, Kevin Vann, granted and therefore expanded our center into a full parish. What was formerly known as The Catholic Center has now become an ever growing parish now known as St. John Paul II University Parish. At the time of our elevation on a campus center to a parish, we were graced with the presence of Fr. Kyle Walterscheid, then the Vocations Director for the diocese, as our pastor.
The responsibilities of becoming a parish has included an increase of student outreach, investment of land for expansion of our center and availability of faith-based classes for students. By far the biggest change that happened once we became a parish is the opportunity available for our community to grow deeper in the sacraments. Daily mass, more confession times and Eucharistic Adoration are huge blessings to our parish! We also have four Sunday Mass times!
Parish life is very lively with different activities for university students, alumni, university faculty & staff, and local residents. Our parish is growing every year!