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. Joseph of Cupertino: Saint of the Day for Monday, September 18, 2023
St. Joseph was born in 1603 at Cupertino, in the diocese of Nardo in the Kingdom of Naples. After spending his childhood and adolescence in simplicity and innocence, he finally joined the Franciscan Friars Minor Conventual. After his ordination to the holy priesthood,...
St. Robert Bellarmine: Saint of the Day for Sunday, September 17, 2023
Born at Montepulciano, Italy, October 4, 1542, St. Robert Bellarmine was the third of ten children. His mother, Cinzia Cervini, a niece of Pope Marcellus II, was dedicated to almsgiving, prayer, meditation, fasting, and mortification of the body. Robert entered the...
St. Cornelius: Saint of the Day for Saturday, September 16, 2023
Cornelius whose feast day is September 16th. A Roman priest, Cornelius was elected Pope to succeed Fabian in an election delayed fourteen months by Decius' persecution of the Christians. The main issue of his pontificate was the treatment to be accorded Christians who...
St. Valerian: Saint of the Day for Friday, September 15, 2023
The massacre of the martyrs of Lyons with their bishop, St. Pothinus, took place during the persecutions of Marcus Aurelius in the year 177. Marcellus, a priest, we are told, by Divine intervention, managed to escape to Chalon-sur-Saone, where he was given shelter....
St. Notburga: Saint of the Day for Thursday, September 14, 2023
Patroness of poor peasants and servants in the Tyrol. Born in Rattenberg, in the Tyrol, she was the daughter of peasants. At eighteen she became a servant in the household of Count Henry of Rattenberg When Notburga repeatedly gave food to the poor, she was dismissed...
St. John Chrysostom: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, September 13, 2023
St. John, named Chrysostom (golden-mouthed) on account of his eloquence, came into the world of Christian parents, about the year 344, in the city of Antioch. His mother, at the age of 20, was a model of virtue. He studied rhetoric under Libanius, a pagan, the most...
St. Ailbhe: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Bishop and preacher, one of the saints whose life has been woven into the myths and legends of Ireland. He was a known disciple of St. Patrick, and is called Albeus in some records. What is known about Ailbhe is that he was a missionary in Ireland, perhaps sponsored...
St. Paphnutius: Saint of the Day for Monday, September 11, 2023
The holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian who, after having spent several years in the desert under the direction of the great St. Antony, was made bishop in the Upper Thebaid. He was one of those confessors who under the Emperor Maximinus lost the right eye, were...
St. Salvius of Albi: Saint of the Day for Sunday, September 10, 2023
Bishop of Albi and a friend of Pope St. Gregory I the Great. Also called Sauve, he was a native of Albi and, originally a lawyer, he entered a monastery and served for a time as a monk before receiving election as abbot. Then, after, hying as a hermit, he became a...
St. Peter Claver: Saint of the Day for Saturday, September 09, 2023
St. Peter Claver was born at Verdu, Catalonia, Spain, in 1580, of impoverished parents descended from ancient and distinguished families. He studied at the Jesuit college of Barcelona, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tarragona in 1602 and took his final vows on August...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Monday, September 18, 2023
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. 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 donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations...
Daily Readings for Sunday, September 17, 2023
Reading 1, Sirach 27:30-28:7 30 Resentment and anger, these are foul things too, and a sinner is a master at them both.1 Whoever exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord, who keeps strict account of sin.2 Pardon your neighbour any wrongs done to you,...
Daily Readings for Saturday, September 16, 2023
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. 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 donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations...
Daily Readings for Friday, September 15, 2023
Reading 1, Hebrews 5:7-9 7 During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, with loud cries and with tears, to the one who had the power to save him from death, and, winning a hearing by his reverence,8 he learnt obedience, Son though he was, through his...
Daily Readings for Thursday, September 14, 2023
Reading 1, Numbers 21:4-9 4 They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience.5 They spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Reading 1, Colossians 3:1-11 1 Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand.2 Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth,3 because you have...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Reading 1, Colossians 2:6-15 6 So then, as you received Jesus as Lord and Christ, now live your lives in him,7 be rooted in him and built up on him, held firm by the faith you have been taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving.8 Make sure that no one captivates you...
Daily Readings for Monday, September 11, 2023
Reading 1, Colossians 1:24-2:3 24 It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church,25 of which I was made a servant with the responsibility...
Daily Readings for Sunday, September 10, 2023
Reading 1, Ezekiel 33:7-9 7 'Son of man I have appointed you as watchman for the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them from me.8 If I say to someone wicked, "Evil- doer, you are to die," and you do not speak to warn the wicked person to...
Daily Readings for Saturday, September 09, 2023
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. 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 donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations...