Current Events and News
From the Diocese
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...
Individual Who Was Present at Local Mass Tests Positive for COVID-19
An individual who attended Mass at a parish in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has tested positive for COVID-19.The person attended the 4:00 p.m. Mass at Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Johnstown on Saturday, August 1. Weekend Masses at Saint Francis of Assisi have...
A Message from Bishop Mark
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Someone recently told me that she could hear the sigh of relief recently as restrictions were lifted that allowed for our churches to reopen. Numerous people have remarked how grateful they are to attend Sunday Mass and receive the...
Welcome Back to Sunday Mass!
As Sunday and Weekday Masses are now being celebrated, there has been a steady increase in the number of people who are attending. So far, there has been a positive response to the precautions of placing donations in the basket at the end of Mass, using face masks and...
Summer Missionary Cooperative Program
[Description of program] To search for your local summer missionary, simply click on the name of your parish (separated by city) below, and you will be redirected. Alternatively, click here to jump to the full list of summer missionaries. If you wish to make a...
A Special Message from Bishop Mark
Young people in our diocese have frequently heard me tell them that the foundational principle of Catholic social teaching is the following: Every human person is made in the image and likeness of God. Period. It’s in the Sacred Scriptures (Genesis 1:27). No further...
New Directive Regarding Mass Atttendance
Bishop Mark has issued a new directive regarding the celebration of public Masses that lifts an earlier directive that would have limited the number of people permitted at each Mass to 25. When public Masses resume beginning the weekend of June 13-14, 2020, all are...
Parishes Announce Reconciliation Opportunities
Bishop Mark Bartchak has announced that the public celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation may resume at parishes beginning on May 23, 2020. Click HERE for a county-by-county schedule of upcoming Reconciliation opportunities at various parishes in the Diocese...
Dates for Public Confessions, Masses Announced
Bishop Mark has announced dates to resume the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the distribution of Holy Communion and the public celebration of Mass in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. According to the Bishop’s directives, issued on May 20, 2020, priests may resume the...
Saint of the Day
St. Francis Caracciolo: Saint of the Day for Thursday, June 04, 2026
Founder of the Minor Clerks Regular with St. John Augustine Adorno. He was born in 1563, a member of a noble Neapolitan family. Though he had a rare skin disease, much like leprosy, Francis became a priest, at which time his skin disease disappeared. In 1588, he...
St. Charles Lwanga and Companions: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, June 03, 2026
For those of us who think that the faith and zeal of the early Christians died out as the Church grew more safe and powerful through the centuries, the martyrs of Uganda are a reminder that persecution of Christians continues in modern times, even to the present day....
Sts. Marcellinus and Peter: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, June 02, 2026
Though we know very little about these two martyrs under Diocletian, there is no question that the early church venerated them. Evidence of the respect in which they were held are the basilica Constantine built over their tombs and the presence of their names in the...
St. Justin Martyr: Saint of the Day for Monday, June 01, 2026
Christian apologist, born at Flavia Neapolis, about A.D. 100, converted to Christianity about A.D. 130, taught and defended the Christian religion in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165. Two "Apologies" bearing his name and his...
St. Joan of Arc: Saint of the Day for Saturday, May 30, 2026
St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France. On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class in the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she was said to have heard the...
St. Maximinus of Trier: Saint of the Day for Friday, May 29, 2026
Bishop of Trier, Germany, from 332, and a miracle worker. He was probably born at Silly, France, and succeeded St. Agritus as bishop of Trier, giving refuge to St. Athanasius in 336. St. Paul, the patriarch of Constantinople, was also given Maximinus� protection....
Bl. Margaret Pole: Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 28, 2026
Martyr of England. She was born Margaret Plantagenet, the niece of Edward IV and RichĂ?Âard III. She married Sir Reginald Pole about 1491 and bore five sons, including Reginald Cardinal Pole. Margaret was widowed, named countess of Salisbury, and appointed governess...
St. Augustine of Canterbury: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, May 27, 2026
At the end of the sixth century anyone would have said that Augustine had found his niche in life. Looking at this respected prior of a monastery, almost anyone would have predicted he would spend his last days there, instructing, governing, and settling even further...
St. Philip Neri: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, May 26, 2026
St. Philip Neri was a Christian missionary and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, a community of Catholic priests and lay brothers. He was born in Florence on July 21, 1515 as one of four children to Francesco Neri. From a very young age, Philip was known for...
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi: Saint of the Day for Monday, May 25, 2026
It would be easy to concentrate on the mystical experiences God gave this saint, rather than on her life. In fact, it would be difficult to do differently, so overwhelming were those gifts from God. The temptation for many modern readers (including the author) would...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Wednesday, June 03, 2026
Reading 1, Second Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12 1 From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God in accordance with his promise of life in Christ Jesus,2 to Timothy, dear son of mine. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.3 Night...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, June 02, 2026
Reading 1, Second Peter 3:12-15, 17-18 12 while you wait for the Day of God to come, and try to hasten its coming: on that Day the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat.13 What we are waiting for, relying on his promises, is the new heavens and...
Daily Readings for Monday, June 01, 2026
Reading 1, Second Peter 1:2-7 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of our Lord.3 By his divine power, he has lavished on us all the things we need for life and for true devotion, through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory...
Daily Readings for Sunday, May 31, 2026
Reading 1, Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first and, with the two tablets of stone in his hands, Moses went up Mount Sinai in the early morning as Yahweh had ordered.5 And Yahweh descended in a cloud and stood with him there and...
Daily Readings for Saturday, May 30, 2026
Reading 1, Jude 1:17, 20-25 17 But remember, my dear friends, what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.20 But you, my dear friends, must build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit;21 keep yourselves within the...
Daily Readings for Friday, May 29, 2026
Reading 1, First Peter 4:7-13 7 The end of all things is near, so keep your minds calm and sober for prayer.8 Above all preserve an intense love for each other, since love covers over many a sin.9 Welcome each other into your houses without grumbling.10 Each one of...
Daily Readings for Thursday, May 28, 2026
Reading 1, First Peter 2:2-5, 9-12 2 Like new-born babies all your longing should be for milk -- the unadulterated spiritual milk -- which will help you to grow up to salvation,3 at any rate if you have tasted that the Lord is good .4 He is the living stone, rejected...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Reading 1, First Peter 1:18-25 18 For you know that the price of your ransom from the futile way of life handed down from your ancestors was paid, not in anything perishable like silver or gold,19 but in precious blood as of a blameless and spotless lamb, Christ.20 He...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Reading 1, First Peter 1:10-16 10 This salvation was the subject of the search and investigation of the prophets who spoke of the grace you were to receive,11 searching out the time and circumstances for which the Spirit of Christ, bearing witness in them, was...
Daily Readings for Monday, May 25, 2026
Reading 1, First Peter 1:3-9 3 Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead4 and into a heritage that can never be spoilt or soiled and...