Youth-Centered ‘Zimzum Festival’ in Augsburg Misleads Souls

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Youth-Centered ‘Zimzum Festival’ in Augsburg Misleads Souls

Since the Vatican II religion offers nothing genuinely satisfying to hungry souls, especially not in its liturgy, every so often the powers that be in Novus Ordo Land feel the need to engage the youth in some kind of exciting ‘faith adventure’ to rouse their interest in religion and administer another dose of pseudo-spirituality to them to keep them going for a while longer.

What could be more conducive to that end than a charismatic festival that is not just for ‘Catholics’ but also for people from all kinds of other churches/denominations?

This is where the so-called Zimzum Festival comes in, the first of which was just held in the city of Augsburg, Germany, part of the diocese by that name. It ran from Jan. 3-6, 2025, in the city’s expo center. The event was geared towards youth aged 13-25, regardless of religious affiliation, although it seems that being a self-professed ‘Christian’ was necessary or at least preferred.

The three days consisted of the usual mix at such events: music, dancing, prayer/worship, workshops, seminars, leisurely activities, and so forth. Even “spontaneous morning praise” was on the program one day.

The following video recaps the first day of the festival and provides enough of a preview to know what sort of event this was:

Here are some photos to show what went on at the Zimzum Festival:

To be clear: We are not trying to find fault with or blame these poor hapless youths, who do not know any better. They are the victims in this, not the perpetrators. Their confusion and ignorance is the fault of the Vatican II Sect.

How much the Augsburg diocese stands behind the Zimzum Festival can be gleaned from the fact that auxiliary ‘Bp.’ Florian Wörner presided over the Novus Ordo worship service on Sunday morning. We don’t want to imagine what distribution of ‘Holy Communion’ must have looked like:

How far removed from any Catholic intention this jamboree was can be gleaned from the name alone: Zimzum. What is that? Zimzum, also spelled tzimtzum or tsimtsum, is a Hebrew word meaning ‘contraction’. It is an erroneous theological concept of the Jewish Kabbalistic mystical tradition that originated with Isaac Luria (1534-1572). It refers to a supposed contraction on the part of God in order to ‘make room’ for creation.

Now why would some charismatic youth conference want to name itself Zimzum? If the organizers of the festival meant that God was being shoved aside, so to speak, in order to make room for man, the title may just be fitting, actually. In any case, they could have picked from a myriad of unobjectionable names, but they simply chose not to because they are not interested in promoting authentic Catholicism. Perhaps they desired to pay tribute to apostate Jewish mysticism as well, but certainly their chief aim was producing, in Protestant-Modernist fashion, a certain personal experience of God in each individual — you know, ‘encounter’ — in which emotional highs are mistaken for spiritual food and singing/dancing/celebrating are mistaken for authentic religious worship. But, as our Blessed Lord Himself taught, “God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:24).

The man behind this Zimzum frenzy is Johannes Hartl (b. 1979), pictured above, a ‘Catholic theologian’ in the diocese of Augsburg. Hartl is also the founder of Augsburg Gebetshaus (‘House of Prayer’), which is essentially a Protestant worship space in which people gather to pray, sing, listen to talks, and jam to ‘worship music’ played by a band. The idea behind Hartl’s Gebetshaus is to have some kind of trans-denominational prayer being offered around the clock, 24/7, in one location. For Hartl, it doesn’t matter if you’re Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, or Presbyterian, as long as you have that ‘personal relationship’ with Jesus Christ. It is pure Protestantism.

A boatload of additional Zimzum images can be found here, by the way, if you’re brave enough.

Oh, and fair warning: The next Zimzum Festival has been announced for 2027.

Image sources: official Zimzum Festival and Gebetshaus social media channels
Licenses: fair use