Current Events and News
From the Diocese
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...
Bishop Announces Plan to Reopen Churches
The following is a message from Bishop Mark to all people of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown on May 13, 2020. Specific directives are being finalized and will be available prior the the reopening of church buildings on Saturday, May 16, which marks the...
Saint of the Day
St. Adrian: Saint of the Day for Friday, September 08, 2023
According to legend Adrian was a pagan officer at the imperial court of Nicomedia. Impressed by the courage of a group of Christians who were being tortured, he declared himself a Christian and was imprisoned with them and suffered excruciating tortures before he was...
St. Cloud: Saint of the Day for Thursday, September 07, 2023
On the death of Clovis, King of the Franks, in the year 511 his kingdom was divided between his four sons, of whom the second was Clodomir. Thirteen years later he was killed fighting against his cousin, Gondomar, leaving three sons to share his dominions. The...
St. Eleutherius: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, September 06, 2023
A wonderful simplicity and spirit of compunction were the distinguishing virtues of this holy man. He was chosen abbot of St. Mark's near Spoleto, and favored by God with the gift of miracles. A child who was possessed by the devil, being delivered by being educated...
St. Teresa of Calcutta: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, September 05, 2023
The remarkable woman who would be known as Mother Teresa began life named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, she was the youngest child born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu. Receiving her First Communion at the age of five, she was confirmed in...
St. Rosalia: Saint of the Day for Monday, September 04, 2023
St. Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, was a descendant of the great Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo in Sicily. In her youth, her heart turned from earthly vanities to God. She left her home and took up her abode in a cave, on the walls...
Pope Saint Gregory the Great: Saint of the Day for Sunday, September 03, 2023
Pope Saint Gregory I, also known as the Great, was the Pope of the Catholic Church between 590 and 604 AD. Gregory was born around 540 in Rome. The exact date of his birth is unknown. Although the Western Roman Empire had collapsed long before his birth, many ancient...
St. Ingrid of Sweden: Saint of the Day for Saturday, September 02, 2023
Born in Skänninge, Sweden, in the 13th century, St. Ingrid lived under the spiritual direction of Peter of Dacia, a Dominican priest. She was the first Dominican nun in Sweden and in 1281 she founded the first Dominican cloister there, called St. Martin's in...
St. Giles, Abbot: Saint of the Day for Friday, September 01, 2023
St. Giles, Abbot (Patron of Physically Disabled) Feast day - September 1 St. Giles is said to have been a seventh century Athenian of noble birth. His piety and learning made him so conspicuous and an object of such admiration in his own country that, dreading praise...
St. Raymond Nonnatus: Saint of the Day for Thursday, August 31, 2023
Raymond was born at Portella, Catalonia, Spain. He was delivered by caesarean operation when his mother died in childbirth. Hence his name non natus (not born). He joined the Mercedarians under St. Peter Nolasco at Barcelona. He succeeded Peter as chief ransomer and...
St. Rumon: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, August 30, 2023
St. Rumon, also known as Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of Bishop St. Tudwal of Trequier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he was probably an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in England were named after him. Some...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Friday, September 08, 2023
Reading 1, Romans 8:28-30 28 We are well aware that God works with those who love him, those who have been called in accordance with his purpose, and turns everything to their good.29 He decided beforehand who were the ones destined to be moulded to the pattern of his...
Daily Readings for Thursday, September 07, 2023
Reading 1, Colossians 1:9-14 9 That is why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed to remember you in our prayers and ask that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will10 and so be able to lead a...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, September 06, 2023
Reading 1, Colossians 1:1-8 1 From Paul, by the will of God an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy2 to God's holy people in Colossae, our faithful brothers in Christ. Grace and peace to you from God our Father.3 We give thanks for you to God, the...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, September 05, 2023
Reading 1, First Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11 1 About times and dates, brothers, there is no need to write to you2 for you are well aware in any case that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night.3 It is when people are saying, 'How quiet and...
Daily Readings for Monday, September 04, 2023
Reading 1, First Thessalonians 4:13-18 13 We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, to make sure that you do not grieve for them, as others do who have no hope.14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that in the same way...
Daily Readings for Sunday, September 03, 2023
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Daily Readings for Saturday, September 02, 2023
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Daily Readings for Friday, September 01, 2023
Reading 1, First Thessalonians 4:1-8 1 Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus; we instructed you how to live in the way that pleases God, and you are so living; but make more progress still.2 You are well aware of the instructions we gave...
Daily Readings for Thursday, August 31, 2023
Reading 1, First Thessalonians 3:7-13 7 And so, brothers, your faith has been a great encouragement to us in the middle of our own distress and hardship;8 now we can breathe again, as you are holding firm in the Lord.9 How can we thank God enough for you, for all the...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Reading 1, First Thessalonians 2:9-13 9 You remember, brothers, with what unsparing energy we used to work, slaving night and day so as not to be a burden on any one of you while we were proclaiming the gospel of God to you.10 You are witnesses, and so is God, that...