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. Athanasius: Saint of the Day for Saturday, May 02, 2026
St. Athanasius, also known as Athanasius the Great and Athanasius the Confessor, was a bishop and doctor of the church. He is called the "Father of Orthodoxy," the "Pillar of the Church" and "Champion of Christ's Divinity." Athanasius became one of the most dedicated...
St. Marculf: Saint of the Day for Friday, May 01, 2026
Marculf is also known as Marcoul. He was born at Bayeux, Gaul, at noble parents. He was ordained when he was thirty, and did missionary work at Coutances. Desirous of living as a hermit, he was granted land by king Childebert at Nanteuil. He attracted numerous...
St. Pius V, Pope: Saint of the Day for Thursday, April 30, 2026
Pope from 1566-1572 and one of the foremost leaders of the Catholic Reformation. Born Antonio Ghislieri in Bosco, Italy, to a poor family, he labored as a shepherd until the age of fourteen and then joined the Dominicans, being ordained in 1528. Called Brother...
St. Catherine of Siena: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Discover More About St. Catherine of Siena with Journey with the Saints St. Catherine of Siena was born during the outbreak of the plague in Siena, Italy on March 25, 1347. She was the 25th child born to her mother, although half of her brothers and sisters did not...
St. Peter Chanel: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, April 28, 2026
In St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr (Feast day - April 28) The protomartyr of the South Seas, St. Peter Chanel was born in 1803 at Clet in the diocese of Belley, France. His intelligence and simple piety brought him to the attention of the local priest, Father...
St. Zita: Saint of the Day for Monday, April 27, 2026
St. Zita was born into a poor but holy Christian family. Her older sister became a Cistercian nun and her uncle Graziano was a hermit whom the local people regarded as a saint. Zita herself always tried to do God's will obediently whenever it was pointed out to her by...
St. Cletus: Saint of the Day for Sunday, April 26, 2026
St. Cletus was the third bishop of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman mass, (which Bossuet and all others agree...
St. Mark: Saint of the Day for Saturday, April 25, 2026
Discover More About St. Mark with Journey with the Saints Much of what we know about St. Mark, the author of the Second Gospel, comes largely from the New Testament and early Christian traditions. Mark the Evangelist is believed to be the 'John Mark' referred to in...
St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen: Saint of the Day for Friday, April 24, 2026
Franciscan Capuchin martyr. He was born Mark Rey is Sigmaringen, Germany, in 1577. A practicing lawyer, he traveled across Europe as a tutor to aristocrats but then started defending the poor. In 1612, he became a Franciscan Capuchin monk, taking the name of Fidelis....
St. George: Saint of the Day for Thursday, April 23, 2026
It is uncertain when Saint George was born and historians continue to debate to this day. However, his death date is estimated to be April 23, 303 A.D. The first piece of evidence of George's existance appeared within the works of the Bollandists Daniel Papebroch,...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Monday, May 04, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 14:5-18 5 but eventually with the connivance of the authorities a move was made by gentiles as well as Jews to make attacks on them and to stone them.6 When they came to hear of this, they went off for safety to Lycaonia where, in the towns of Lystra...
Daily Readings for Sunday, May 03, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 6:1-7 1 About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked.2 So the Twelve called a full meeting of the disciples and...
Daily Readings for Saturday, May 02, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 13:44-52 44 The next Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God.45 When they saw the crowds, the Jews, filled with jealousy, used blasphemies to contradict everything Paul said.46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. 'We...
Daily Readings for Friday, May 01, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 13:26-33 26 'My brothers, sons of Abraham's race, and all you godfearers, this message of salvation is meant for you.27 What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on...
Daily Readings for Thursday, April 30, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 13:13-25 13 Paul and his companions went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem.14 The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the Sabbath and took...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 12:24-13:5 24 The word of God continued to spread and to gain followers.25 Barnabas and Saul completed their task at Jerusalem and came back, bringing John Mark with them.1 In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas,...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 11:19-26 19 Those who had scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they proclaimed the message only to Jews.20 Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to...
Daily Readings for Monday, April 27, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 11:1-18 1 The apostles and the brothers in Judaea heard that gentiles too had accepted the word of God,2 and when Peter came up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers protested to him3 and said, 'So you have been visiting the uncircumcised and eating...
Daily Readings for Sunday, April 26, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 2:14, 36-41 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed them in a loud voice: 'Men of Judaea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, make no mistake about this, but listen carefully to what I say.36 'For this reason the whole House of Israel can...
Daily Readings for Saturday, April 25, 2026
Reading 1, First Peter 5:5-14 5 In the same way, younger people, be subject to the elders. Humility towards one another must be the garment you all wear constantly, because God opposes the proud but accords his favour to the humble.6 Bow down, then, before the power...