Current Events and News
From the Diocese
Vaccine Q&A
From the United States Conference of Catholic BishopsJanuary 2021The development of vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has received much public attention and raised several ethical questions related to their development and use. This document is intended to...
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...
Saint of the Day
St. Catherine Laboure: Saint of the Day for Thursday, November 28, 2024
St. Catherine Labouré was born in France on May 2, 1806 as the ninth of 11 children to Pierre and Madeleine Labouré. In 1815, Catherine's mother passed away, leaving her 9-year-old daughter with the responsibility of caring for the household. After her mother's...
St. James Intercisus: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, November 27, 2024
James was a favorite of King Yezdigerd I of Persia and a Christian. He abandoned his religion when Yesdigerd launched a persecution of the Christians. When the king died, James repented of his apostasy and declared himself to be a Christian to the new king, Bahram....
St. John Berchmans: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Eldest son of a shoemaker, John was born at Diest, Brabant. He early wanted to be a priest, and when thirteen became a servant in the household of one of the Cathedral canons at Malines, John Froymont. In 1615, he entered the newly founded Jesuit College at Malines,...
St. Catherine of Alexandria: Saint of the Day for Monday, November 25, 2024
Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a canonized saint in the Catholic Church who, per Christian tradition, was martyred around 305 in Alexandria, Egypt. Of course, the Church of the first Millennium was undivided. She is also recognized as the Great Martyr and Saint by...
St. Andrew Dung Lac: Saint of the Day for Sunday, November 24, 2024
Through the missionary efforts of various religious families beginning in the sixteenth century and continuing until 1866, the Vietnamese people heard the message of the gospel, and many accepted it despite persecution and even death. On June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul...
Bl. Miguel Pro: Saint of the Day for Saturday, November 23, 2024
Born on January 13, 1891 in Guadalupe, Mexico, Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez was the eldest son of Miguel Pro and Josefa Juarez. Miguelito, as his doting family called him, was, from an early age, intensely spiritual and equally intense in hi mischievousness, frequently...
St. Cecilia: Saint of the Day for Friday, November 22, 2024
In the fourth century a Greek religious romance on the Loves of Cecilia and Valerian was written in glorification of virginal life with the purpose of taking the place of then-popular sensual romances. Consequently, until better evidence is produced, we must conclude...
St. Gelasius: Saint of the Day for Thursday, November 21, 2024
St. Gelasius I, Pope (Feast day - November 21) Gelasius was born in Rome, in the fifth century, the son of an African named Valerius. Later, ordained a priest, he was elected Pope on March 1st, 492. Gelasius had a reputation for learning, justice, holiness, and...
St. Edmund Rich: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Archbishop of Canterbury England, who battled for discipline and justice, also called Edmund of Abingdon. Born in Abingdon, on November 30, 1180. he studied at Oxford, England, and in Paris, France. He taught art and mathematics at Oxford and was ordained. He spent...
St. Nerses the Great: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Bishop and martyr, the father of St. Isaac the Great. A native of Armenia, he studied in Cappadocia and wed a princess who gave birth to Isaac. After she died, he served as a chamber lain in the court of King Arshak of Armenia. In 353 he was made Catholicos of the...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Thursday, November 28, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9 1 After this, I saw another angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth shone with his glory.2 At the top of his voice he shouted, 'Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 15:1-4 1 And I saw in heaven another sign, great and wonderful: seven angels were bringing the seven plagues that are the last of all, because they exhaust the anger of God.2 I seemed to be looking at a sea of crystal suffused with fire, and...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 14:14-19 14 Now in my vision I saw a white cloud and, sitting on it, one like a son of man with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.15 Then another angel came out of the sanctuary and shouted at the top of his voice to the one...
Daily Readings for Monday, November 25, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 14:1-3, 4-5 1 Next in my vision I saw Mount Zion, and standing on it the Lamb who had with him a hundred and forty-four thousand people, all with his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.2 I heard a sound coming out of heaven...
Daily Readings for Sunday, November 24, 2024
Reading 1, Daniel 7:13-14 13 I was gazing into the visions of the night, when I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, as it were a son of man. He came to the One most venerable and was led into his presence.14 On him was conferred rule, honour and kingship, and all...
Daily Readings for Saturday, November 23, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 11:4-12 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lamps in attendance on the Lord of the world.5 Fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies if anyone tries to harm them; and anyone who tries to harm them will certainly be killed in...
Daily Readings for Friday, November 22, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 10:8-11 8 Then I heard the voice I had heard from heaven speaking to me again. 'Go', it said, 'and take that open scroll from the hand of the angel standing on sea and land.'9 I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll, and he...
Daily Readings for Thursday, November 21, 2024
Reading 1: Revelation 5:1-10, Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 149:9, Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 149:1-6, Gospel: Luke 9:41-44 Excellent content provided by https://www.catholic.org/.
Daily Readings for Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 4:1-11 1 Then, in my vision, I saw a door open in heaven and heard the same voice speaking to me, the voice like a trumpet, saying, 'Come up here: I will show you what is to take place in the future.'2 With that, I fell into ecstasy and I saw a...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22 1 'Write to the angel of the church in Sardis and say, "Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know about your behaviour: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead.2 Wake up;...