Current Events and News
From the Diocese
Christmas TV Show
Proclaim! TV is celebrating the glory of Christmas with a television special, “Joy to the World: Christmas in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.”Hosted and produced by Tony DeGol, Diocesan Director of Communications, the two-hour show will highlight...
God Saves
Christmas just won’t be the same this year. How many of us have heard those words lately? As a result of an invisible virus, people will not be getting together with extended family and friends to celebrate Christmas. Who would have thought that shoppers would be more...
Diocese to Broadcast Christmas Masses and Christmas TV Special
As part of its continuing efforts to keep local Catholics connected during the coronavirus pandemic, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is pleased to offer expanded television opportunities through its Proclaim! TV Ministry this Christmas.Bishop Mark Bartchak...
Parishes Announce Christmas Mass Schedule
By Justin KirklandProclaim!As Catholics, there is no better way to celebrate and experience God’s presence with us then in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Through the Mass, we are able to deepen our relationship with God, who came to us in the most unlikely way during...
Vaccine Clarification
By Tony DeGolProclaim!Bishop Mark Bartchak is joining other bishops in the United States in clarifying recent confusion regarding the “moral permissibility” of vaccines for COVID-19. According to Bishop Kevin Rhoades and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, vaccines from Pfizer...
What Comes After the Election Season?
A Reflection by Bishop MarkSince Election Day, I have received a few comments and concerns about Catholic Church leaders who have communicated with Joseph Biden. The focus of these concerns are political and religious. The political concern is that communication with...
Bishop Announces Directives for Advent Reconciliation and Christmas Masses
By Tony DeGolProclaim!In most parishes, the first vigil Mass on Christmas Eve usually attracts a ton of people with hardly an empty seat in the church. It is a challenging situation under normal circumstances, but especially worrisome during a pandemic. To help...
Advent Reconciliation Opportunities
By Justin KirklandProclaim!The Church celebrates Advent as a time that we may prepare our souls for the birth of Christ. Traditionally, before every major feast, time was taken by the faithful to prepare their hearts, through prayer, fasting, and penance. Christ came...
What Did Pope Francis Say?
A Message from Bishop MarkOctober 23, 2020What did Pope Francis say? I have been asked that question this week since it has been reported that Pope Francis may have just changed the Church’s teaching about marriage. That conclusion was based on something the Holy...
Update on Diocesan Directives for Health and Safety During the Coronavirus Pandemic
A Message from Bishop Mark – August 6, 2020By now you have heard about a person who tested positive for the Coronavirus and attended Mass last weekend at Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Johnstown. Public notice was made with due regard for the teaching and discipline...
Saint of the Day
St. Agnes: Saint of the Day for Thursday, January 21, 2021
St. Agnes of Rome was born in 291 AD and raised in a Christian family. Agnes was very beautiful and belonged to a wealthy family. Her hand in marriage was highly sought after, and she had many high ranking men chasing after her. However, Agnes made a promise to God...
St. Fabian: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Eusebius, born just a few years after Fabian's death, tells us how Fabian came to Rome after Pope Anteros died in 236. A layperson, and not a very important one, he may have come for the same reason many still come to Rome today during a papal election: concern for...
St. Fillan: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Fillan, son of Feriach and St. Kentigerna, was also known as Foelan. He became a monk in his youth and accompanied his mother from Ireland to Scotland where he lived as a hermit near St. Andrew's monastery for many years, and then was elected abbot. He later resigned...
St. Volusian: Saint of the Day for Monday, January 18, 2021
Bishop of Tours, France. A senator at Tours, he was initially married, supposedly to a most unpleasant wife. Named bishop of the city in 488, he was forced to leave the see in 496 by the Arian Visigoths, and went to Spain. He died perhaps in Toulouse, or in Spain,...
St. Anthony the Abbot: Saint of the Day for Sunday, January 17, 2021
Two Greek philosophers ventured out into the Egyptian desert to the mountain where Anthony lived. When they got there, Anthony asked them why they had come to talk to such a foolish man? He had reason to say that -- they saw before them a man who wore a skin, who...
St. Fursey: Saint of the Day for Saturday, January 16, 2021
Irish monastic founder, the brother of Sts. Foillan and Ulan, praised by St. Bede. Fursey was born on the island of Inisguia en Lough Carri, IreÂland, as a noble. He founded Rathmat Abbey, now probably Killursa. In 630 Fursey and his friends went to East Anglia,...
St. Paul the Hermit: Saint of the Day for Friday, January 15, 2021
Also known as Paul the First Hermit and Paul of Thebes, an Egyptian hermit and friend of St. Jerome. Born in Lower The baid, Egypt, he was left an orphan at about the age of fifteen and hid during the persecution of the Church under Emperor Traj anus Decius. At the...
St. Felix of Nola: Saint of the Day for Thursday, January 14, 2021
Felix was the son of Hermias, a Syrian who had been a Roman soldier. He was born on his father's estate at Nola near Naples, Italy. On the death of his father, Felix distributed his inheritance to the poor, was ordained by Bishop St. Maximus of Nola, and became his...
St. Hilary of Poitiers: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, January 13, 2021
"They didn't know who they were." This is how Hilary summed up the problem with the Arian heretics of the fourth century. Hilary, on the other hand, knew very well who he was -- a child of a loving God who had inherited eternal life through belief in the Son of God....
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Marguerite had survived many threats in the twenty-six years she had been in wilderness of Canada. She had lived through Iroquois attacks, a fire that destroyed her small village, plagues on the ships that she took back and forth to France, but nothing threatened her...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Thursday, January 21, 2021
Reading 1, Hebrews 7:25--8:6 25 It follows, then, that his power to save those who come to God through him is absolute, since he lives for ever to intercede for them.26 Such is the high priest that met our need, holy, innocent and uncontaminated, set apart from...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Daily Reading for Wednesday January 20, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 110:1, 2, 3, 4Gospel, Mark 3:1-6 To all our readers, Please don't scroll past this. Today, we humbly ask you to defend Catholic Online's independence. 98% of our...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Daily Reading for Tuesday January 19, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 6:10-20Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 111:1-2, 4-5, 9-10Gospel, Mark 2:23-28 Reading 1, Hebrews 6:10-20 10 God would not be so unjust as to forget all you have done, the love that you have for his name or the...
Daily Readings for Monday, January 18, 2021
Daily Reading for Monday January 18, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 5:1-10Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 110:1, 2, 3, 4Gospel, Mark 2:18-22 Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already...
Daily Readings for Sunday, January 17, 2021
Daily Reading for Sunday January 17, 2021 Reading 1, First Samuel 3:3-10, 19Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10Gospel, John 1:35-42Reading 2, First Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20 To all our readers, Please don't scroll past this. Today, we humbly ask you to...
Daily Readings for Saturday, January 16, 2021
Daily Reading for Saturday January 16, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 4:12-16Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 15Gospel, Mark 2:13-17 Reading 1, Hebrews 4:12-16 12 The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts more incisively than any two-edged sword: it can...
Daily Readings for Friday, January 15, 2021
Daily Reading for Friday January 15, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 4:1-5, 11Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 78:3, 4, 6-7, 8Gospel, Mark 2:1-12 To all our readers, Please don't scroll past this. Today, we humbly ask you to defend Catholic Online's independence. 98% of our readers...
Daily Readings for Thursday, January 14, 2021
Daily Reading for Thursday January 14, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 3:7-14Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 95:6-7, 8-9, 10-11Gospel, Mark 1:40-45 Reading 1, Hebrews 3:7-14 7 That is why, as the Holy Spirit says: If only you would listen to him today!8 Do not harden your hearts,...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Daily Reading for Wednesday January 13, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 2:14-18Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9Gospel, Mark 1:29-39 FREE Catholic Classes Pick a class, you can learn anything Reading 1, Hebrews 2:14-18 14 Since all the children share the same...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Daily Reading for Tuesday January 12, 2021 Reading 1, Hebrews 2:5-12Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 8:2, 5, 6-7, 8-9Gospel, Mark 1:21-28 Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have...