Current Events and News
From the Diocese
Reverend Bernard Tickerhoof, TOR — 1950-2026
Reverend Bernard “Bernie” Francis Tickerhoof, TOR, a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular, Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, was called home to the Lord on May 10, 2026, at the age of 75. Born in Johnstown, PA, Fr. Bernie was preceded...
Diocesan Family Conference 2026
About the Keynote Speaker and Breakout SessionsRenowned Catholic speaker and musician Steve Angrisano will serve as the keynote speaker for the Diocesan Family Conference. Angrisano will share his music and thoughts and reflections on what it means to be the “Body of...
Directives for the Distribution of Ashes
Faithful are invited to Ash Wednesday Masses at parishes throughout the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Click HERE for a schedule of Masses at parishes. This year, because of the pandemic, and as previously announced, Bishop Mark has directed that ashes are to...
Ash Wednesday Mass Times
Faithful are invited to Ash Wednesday Masses at parishes throughout the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. This year, because of the pandemic, and as previously announced, Bishop Mark has directed that ashes are to be sprinkled on the heads of those who approach. This is a...
Reconciliation Opportunities
Bishop Mark has asked pastors to make various opportunities for Confession available at their parishes throughout Lent. The Bishop has instructed the clergy to not sponsor the usual Communal Penance Services because of the continuing pandemic.The Diocese of...
Take-Out Fish Lunches/Dinners
Bishop Mark is permitting parishes to sponsor fish lunches/dinners this Lent, but only in the format of take-out service. There is to be no indoor dining, according to his directives, and anyone who assists in food preparation and serving must be screened by...
Catholic Schools Week Message from Bishop Mark
Will Hegemann loves school and attending Mass every week with his classmates. Even at his young age, the first grader at Saint Michael School in Loretto realizes how lucky he is to be in a learning environment in which Jesus Christ is the center of everything. Will is...
Bishop’s Directives for the Blessing of Throats
January 2021The current pandemic is a sufficient pastoral reason to avoid the blessing of individuals in the usual manner of touching the throat of each person with crossed candles while saying the words of the blessing. Among the challenges is the sanitizing of the...
Bishop’s Directives for Distribution of Ashes
January 2021During this time of Pandemic, the Holy See has modified the method of distributing ashes as contained in the following Note from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued January 12, 2021: NOTE ON ASH...
2021 Plans for RCIA, Confirmation, First Holy Communion
By Tony DeGolProclaim!There is an old saying in entertainment that no matter what happens, the show must go on. Here in the Catholic Church, the sacramental life of our faith communities must go on as well, even in the midst of a pandemic. As the Diocese of...
Saint of the Day
St. Martha: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, July 29, 2026
"Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus." This unique statement in John's gospel tells us of the special relationship Jesus had with Martha, her sister, and her brother. Apparently Jesus was a frequent guest at Martha's home in Bethany, a small village two miles from...
St. Innocent I: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Innocent was born at Albano, Italy. He became Pope, succeeding Pope St. Anastasius I, on December 22, 401. During Innocent's pontificate, he emphasized papal supremacy, commending the bishops of Africa for referring the decrees of their councils at Carthage and...
St. Pantaleon: Saint of the Day for Monday, July 27, 2026
St Pantaleon came from Nicomedia, near the Black Sea, in Asia. He was such a famous doctor that the Emperor himself chose him for his own doctor. Pantaleon was a Christian, but the bad influence from the pagan court caused him to give up his Christian faith entirely....
Sts. Joachim and Anne: Saint of the Day for Sunday, July 26, 2026
Saints Joachim (sometimes spelled "Joaquin," pronounced "wal-keem") and Anne, are the parents of the Virgin Mary. There are no mentions of them in the Bible or Gospels, what we know comes from Catholic legend and the Gospel of James, which is an unsanctioned,...
St. James the Greater: Saint of the Day for Saturday, July 25, 2026
Nothing is known of St. James the Greater's early life, though it has been established that he is the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of John the disciple. The title "the Greater" was added to St. James' name to help distinguish him from the Apostle James "the...
St. John Boste: Saint of the Day for Friday, July 24, 2026
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born at Dufton, at Westmoreland, England, and studied at Oxford. Becoming a Catholic in 1576, he went to Reims and received ordination in 1581. John went back to England where he worked in the northern parts of the...
St. Bridget of Sweden: Saint of the Day for Thursday, July 23, 2026
Saint Birgitta was the daughter of Uppland�s Lagman, Birger Petersson and his wife, Ingeborg, who was a member of the same clan as the reigning family. Birgitta�s family was pious; her father went to confession every Friday and made long and arduous...
St. Mary Magdalene: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, July 22, 2026
St. Mary Magdalene is one of the greatest saints of the Bible and a legendary example of God's mercy and grace. The precise dates of her birth and death are unknown, but we do know she was present with Christ during his public ministry, death and resurrection. She is...
St. Lawrence of Brindisi: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Caesare de Rossi was born at Brandisi, kingdom of Naples, on July 22nd. He was educated by the conventual Franciscans there and by his uncle at St. Mark's in Venice. When sixteen, he joined the Capuchins at Verona, taking the name Lawrence. He pursued his higher...
St. Margaret of Antioch: Saint of the Day for Monday, July 20, 2026
Nothing certain is known of her, but according to her untrustworthy legend, she was the daughter of a pagan priest at Antioch in Pisidia. Also known as Marina, she was converted to Christianity, whereupon she was driven from home by her father. She became a...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21 10 A disaster for me, mother, that you bore me to be a man of strife and dissension for the whole country. I neither lend nor borrow, yet all of them curse me.16 When your words came, I devoured them: your word was my delight and the...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 14:17-22 17 'So say this word to them: May my eyes shed tears night and day, unceasingly, since the daughter of my people has sustained a fearsome wound, a crippling injury.18 If I go into the countryside, there lie those killed by the sword; if I...
Daily Readings for Monday, July 27, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 13:1-11 1 Yahweh said this to me, 'Go and buy a linen waistcloth and put it round your waist. But do not dip it in water.'2 And so, as Yahweh had ordered, I bought a waistcloth and put it round my waist.3 A second time the word of Yahweh came to...
Daily Readings for Sunday, July 26, 2026
Daily Reading for Sunday July 26, 2026 Reading 1, First Kings 3:5, 7-12Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130Gospel, Matthew 13:44-52Reading 2, Romans 8:28-30 Printable PDF of Today's Reading Past / Future Daily Readings Reading 1, First Kings...
Daily Readings for Saturday, July 25, 2026
Reading 1, Second Corinthians 4:7-15 7 But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God's and not our own.8 We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair;9 we are...
Daily Readings for Friday, July 24, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 3:14-17 14 "Come back, disloyal children, Yahweh declares, for I alone am your Master, and I will take you, one from a town, two from a family, and bring you to Zion.15 I shall give you shepherds after my own heart, who will pasture you wisely and...
Daily Readings for Thursday, July 23, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,2 'Go and shout this in Jerusalem's ears: 'Yahweh says this: "I remember your faithful love, the affection of your bridal days, when you followed me through the desert, through a land...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Reading 1, Second Corinthians 5:14-17 14 For the love of Christ overwhelms us when we consider that if one man died for all, then all have died;15 his purpose in dying for all humanity was that those who live should live not any more for themselves, but for him who...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Reading 1, Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 14 With shepherd's crook lead your people to pasture, the flock that is your heritage, living confined in a forest with meadow land all round. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old!15 As in the days when you came out...
Daily Readings for Monday, July 20, 2026
Reading 1, Micah 6:1-4, 6-8 1 Now listen to what Yahweh says: 'Stand up, state your case to the mountains and let the hills hear what you have to say!'2 Listen, mountains, to the case as Yahweh puts it, give ear, you foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has a case...