Current Events and News
From the Diocese
Catholic Schools Week Message from Bishop Mark
Will Hegemann loves school and attending Mass every week with his classmates. Even at his young age, the first grader at Saint Michael School in Loretto realizes how lucky he is to be in a learning environment in which Jesus Christ is the center of everything. Will is...
Bishop’s Directives for the Blessing of Throats
January 2021The current pandemic is a sufficient pastoral reason to avoid the blessing of individuals in the usual manner of touching the throat of each person with crossed candles while saying the words of the blessing. Among the challenges is the sanitizing of the...
Bishop’s Directives for Distribution of Ashes
January 2021During this time of Pandemic, the Holy See has modified the method of distributing ashes as contained in the following Note from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued January 12, 2021: NOTE ON ASH...
2021 Plans for RCIA, Confirmation, First Holy Communion
By Tony DeGolProclaim!There is an old saying in entertainment that no matter what happens, the show must go on. Here in the Catholic Church, the sacramental life of our faith communities must go on as well, even in the midst of a pandemic. As the Diocese of...
Bishop’s Directives for Parish Lenten Fish Dinners
January 2021Ash Wednesday, February 17, marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. It is also the starting date for annual Fish Dinners in parishes throughout the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. In many of those places it is a regular fundraiser to support parish...
Bishop’s Directives for Distribution of Palms
January 2021Ample instructions for the Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem are found in the Roman Missal for the celebration of Palm Sunday. Three Forms are provided for this observance. Given the circumstances of the COVID pandemic, and in order to...
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...
Saint of the Day
St. Helena: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, August 18, 2026
St. Helena was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great and an Empress of the Roman Empire. Very little is known about Helena's early life, but it is believed she is from Drepanum (later known as Helenopolis) in Asia Minor and born into a poor family and lower...
St. Clare of Montefalco: Saint of the Day for Monday, August 17, 2026
Clare was born at Montefalco, Italy, around 1268. As a young woman she joined a convent of Franciscan tertiaries. This group established Holy Cross Convent at Montefalco in 1290, adopting the Rule of St. Augustine. Clare's sister Joan was the abbess of this community,...
St. Stephen the Great: Saint of the Day for Sunday, August 16, 2026
St. Stephen the Great (977-1038), was the son of the Magyar chieftain Geza, Stephen succeeded him as leader in 997. Already raised a Christian, in 996 he wed the daughter of Duke Henry II of Bavaria and devoted much of his reign to the promotion of the Christian...
St. Alipius: Saint of the Day for Saturday, August 15, 2026
Bishop and companion of St. Augustine. He was born in Tagaste, North Africa, and was raised as a friend of St. Augustine. He went to Rome to study law and became a magistrate there. When Augustine arrived in Rome, Alipius resigned his post and accompanied him to...
St. Maximilian Kolbe: Saint of the Day for Friday, August 14, 2026
St. Maximilian Kolbe was born as Raymund Kolbe on January 8, 1894, in the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. He was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar and a martyr in the German death Camp of Auschwitz during World War II. St. Maximilian Kolbe was very...
St. Hippolytus: Saint of the Day for Thursday, August 13, 2026
Martyr of Rome, with Concordia and other companions, he is a controversial figure who censured Pope St. Callistus I. Hippolytus was slain in Sardinia where he had been exiled for being elected as an antipope, the first in the history of the Church. He was reconciled...
St. Michael My: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Martyr of Vietnam. He was the mayor of a town in Vietnam when the persecution of Christians started. Michael was martyred with Blessed Anthony Dich, his son-in-law, and with St. James Nam. He was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II. Excellent content provided by...
St. Clare of Assisi: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, August 11, 2026
St. Clare of Assisi was born in Assisi on July 16, 1194, as Chiara Offreduccio, the beautiful eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, Count of Sasso-Rosso and his wife Ortolana. Tradition says her father was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family and her...
St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr: Saint of the Day for Monday, August 10, 2026
The year was 258 A.D. It was a difficult beginning for what would become the First Christian Millennium. Hostility against the early followers of Jesus Christ was growing. The barbarism and severity of pagan Rome had begun to reach a fever pitch. It would soon lead to...
St. Edith Stein: Saint of the Day for Sunday, August 09, 2026
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)Virgin and Martyr Edith Stein, born in 1891 in Breslau, Poland, was the youngest child of a large Jewish family. She was an outstanding student and was well versed in philosophy with a particular interest in...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Reading 1, Ezekiel 28:1-10 1 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,2 'Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, "The Lord Yahweh says this: Because your heart has grown proud, you thought: I am a god; I am divinely enthroned far out to sea. Though you are...
Daily Readings for Monday, August 17, 2026
Reading 1, Ezekiel 24:15-24 15 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,16 'Son of man, at a blow I am about to deprive you of the delight of your eyes. But you are not to lament, not to weep, not to let your tears run down.17 Groan in silence, do not go into...
Daily Readings for Sunday, August 16, 2026
Daily Reading for Sunday August 16, 2026 Reading 1, Isaiah 56:1, 6-7Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8Gospel, Matthew 15:21-28Reading 2, Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 Printable PDF of Today's Reading Past / Future Daily Readings Reading 1, Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 1 Thus...
Daily Readings for Saturday, August 15, 2026
Reading 1, Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10 19 Then the sanctuary of God in heaven opened, and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it. Then came flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and an earthquake and violent hail.1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a...
Daily Readings for Friday, August 14, 2026
Reading 1, Ezekiel 16:59-63 59 "For the Lord Yahweh says this: I shall treat you as you have deserved for making light of an oath and breaking a covenant,60 but I shall remember my covenant with you when you were a girl and shall conclude a covenant with you that will...
Daily Readings for Thursday, August 13, 2026
Reading 1, Ezekiel 12:1-12 1 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,2 'Son of man, you are living among a tribe of rebels who have eyes and never see, they have ears and never hear, because they are a tribe of rebels.3 So, son of man, pack an exile's bundle...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Reading 1, Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22 1 Then he shouted loudly for me to hear, 'The scourges of the city are approaching, each carrying his weapon of destruction!'2 Immediately six men advanced from the upper north gate, each holding a deadly weapon. Among them was a man...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Daily Reading for Tuesday August 11, 2026 Reading 1, Ezekiel 2:8-3:4Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131Gospel, Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 Printable PDF of Today's Reading Past / Future Daily Readings Reading 1, Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 8 But you, son of...
Daily Readings for Monday, August 10, 2026
Reading 1, Second Corinthians 9:6-10 6 But remember: anyone who sows sparsely will reap sparsely as well -- and anyone who sows generously will reap generously as well.7 Each one should give as much as he has decided on his own initiative, not reluctantly or under...
Daily Readings for Sunday, August 09, 2026
Reading 1, First Kings 19:9, 11-13 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night there. Then the word of Yahweh came to him saying, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'11 Then he was told, 'Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.' For at that moment Yahweh was...