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In the beginning, there was no St John Paul II community. Within months of Bishop Thomas arriving at the Diocese of Las Vegas and seeing the projected growth in West Henderson, especially the Inspirada area, it was obvious that a new parish should be planned in order to be prepared for this growth. It was a few years later that St. John Paul II Parish was established. It is the first new parish to open since Las Vegas was elevated to an ArchDiocese by Pope Francis in May of 2023.
In the choosing the name of the parish both Archbishop Thomas and Fr. Shawn took it to prayer. They both felt the new parish should be named St. John Paul II because of St. John Paul's appeal to so many, and his honor as a contemporary saint.
The next task was to find a place to celebrate Masses. That task was completed, and Fr. Shawn Dresden celebrated the first Mass on March 3, 2024 at the theater of Liberty High School (Henderson NV). As Fr. Shawn emphasized at that Mass, the physical location of our worship is not really essential. “The heart of my message is that we’re not necessarily building a building, we’re building a community,” Fr. Shawn shared. “I’m a firm believer in providence, and whether it’s three years or fifteen years before we get a building, the important thing is the people, the community that we’re going to build, and the message of the Gospel that we’re going to share.”
St. John Paul II Parish continues to grow and we now have about four hundred parishioners, which Fr. Shawn said, “is a wonderful start.” With the growth of the area, it is projected our parish family could grow to 3,500 families by the time a building is constructed. The timeframe for breaking ground on the building has yet to be determined.