Current Events and News
From the Diocese
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...
Diocese to Livestream Triduum Services
The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has announced plans to livestream Triduum services with Bishop Mark Bartchak as presider and homilist, in addition to the regularly scheduled television broadcast of the Bishop’s Easter Sunday Mass. The following is a schedule: Holy...
Closure of Churches and Discontinuation of Services
Memo from: Bishop Mark To: All Clergy Date: April 1, 2020 Re: Closure of Churches and Discontinuation of Services Today, state health officials today announced 962 new COVID-19 cases as the statewide total jumped to almost 6,000. Pennsylvania’s death toll climbed to...
New Directives
As part of a continuing effort to protect the health and safety of parishioners, clergy, and staff, Bishop Mark L. Bartchak has issued new directives, which include closing all church buildings to the public and prohibiting outdoor activities on parish properties...
Holy Week Resources
Palm Sunday Proclaim! at 10:30 a.m. on WATM ABC 23Bishop Mark explains ways to engage in the solemnity of Holy Week at homeClergy offer messages of hope during these challenging times Mass with Bishop Mark11:00 a.m. on WATM ABC 239:00 p.m. on Atlantic Broadband...
Saint of the Day
St. Lea: Saint of the Day for Monday, March 22, 2021
A letter which St. Jerome wrote to St. Marcella provides the only information we have about St. Lea, a devout fourth century widow. Upon the death of her husband, she retired to a Roman monastery and ultimately became its Superior. Since his correspondence was...
St. Enda: Saint of the Day for Sunday, March 21, 2021
Legend has him an Irishman noted for his military feats who was convinced by his sister St. Fanchea to renounce his warring activities and marry. When he found his fiancee dead, he decided to become a monk and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he was ordained. He...
Bl. John of Parma: Saint of the Day for Saturday, March 20, 2021
John Buralli, the seventh minister general of the Franciscans, was born at Parma in the year 1209, and he was already teaching logic there when at the age of twenty-five, he joined the Franciscans. He was sent to Paris to study and, after he had been ordained, to...
St. Joseph: Saint of the Day for Friday, March 19, 2021
Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him. We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this...
St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Saint of the Day for Thursday, March 18, 2021
"Make your fold with the sheep; flee from the wolves: depart not from the Church," Cyril admonished catechumens surrounded by heresy. These were prophetic words for Cyril was to be hounded by enemies and heretics for most of his life, and although they could exile him...
St. Patrick: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, March 17, 2021
St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints. He was born in Roman Britain and when he was fourteen or so, he was captured by Irish pirates during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. At the time, Ireland was a...
St. Abban: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Abbot and Irish missionary. An Irish prince, Abban was the son of King Cormac of Leinster. He is listed as the nephew of St. Ibar. Abban founded many churches in the old district of Ui Cennselaigh, in modern County Wexford and Ferns. His main monastery is...
St. Louise de Marillac: Saint of the Day for Monday, March 15, 2021
Louise de Marillac was born probably at Ferrieres-en-Brie near Meux, France, on August 12, 1591. She was educated by the Dominican nuns at Poissy. She desired to become a nun but on the advice of her confessor, she married Antony LeGras, an official in the Queen's...
St. Matilda: Saint of the Day for Sunday, March 14, 2021
Matilda was the daughter of Count Dietrich of Westphalia and Reinhild of Denmark. She was also known as Mechtildis and Maud. She was raised by her grandmother, the Abbess of Eufurt convent. Matilda married Henry the Fowler, son of Duke Otto of Saxony, in the year 909....
Bl. Agnello of Pisa: Saint of the Day for Saturday, March 13, 2021
The founder of the English Franciscan province, Blessed Agnello, was admitted into the Order by St. Francis himself on the occasion of his sojourn in Pisa. He was sent to the Friary in Paris, of which he became the guardian, and in 1224, St. Francis appointed him to...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Monday, March 22, 2021
Reading 1, Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 1 In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim.2 He was married to a woman called Susanna daughter of Hilkiah, a woman of great beauty; and she was God-fearing, for3 her parents were worthy people and had instructed their...
Daily Readings for Sunday, March 21, 2021
Daily Reading for Sunday March 21, 2021 Reading 1, Jeremiah 31:31-34Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15Gospel, John 12:20-33Reading 2, Hebrews 5:7-9 FREE Catholic Classes Pick a class, you can learn anything Reading 1, Jeremiah 31:31-34 31 'Look, the days...
Daily Readings for Saturday, March 20, 2021
Daily Reading for Saturday March 20, 2021 Reading 1, Jeremiah 11:18-20Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 7:2-3, 9-10, 11-12Gospel, John 7:40-53 Reading 1, Jeremiah 11:18-20 18 Yahweh informed me and I knew it; you then revealed their scheming to me.19 I for my part was like a...
Daily Readings for Friday, March 19, 2021
Daily Reading for Friday March 19, 2021 Reading 1, Second Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29Gospel, Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24Reading 2, Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 To all our readers, Please don't scroll past this. Today, we humbly ask you...
Daily Readings for Thursday, March 18, 2021
Daily Reading for Thursday March 18, 2021 Reading 1, Exodus 32:7-14Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 106:19-20, 21-22, 23Gospel, John 5:31-47 FREE Catholic Classes Pick a class, you can learn anything Reading 1, Exodus 32:7-14 7 Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go down at once,...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Daily Reading for Wednesday March 17, 2021 Reading 1, Isaiah 49:8-15Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 145:8-9, 13-14, 17-18Gospel, John 5:17-30 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...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Daily Reading for Tuesday March 16, 2021 Reading 1, Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9Gospel, John 5:1-3, 5-16 Reading 1, Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 1 He brought me back to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream flowed eastwards from under the...
Daily Readings for Monday, March 15, 2021
Daily Reading for Monday March 15, 2021 Reading 1, Isaiah 65:17-21Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-13Gospel, John 4:43-54 Reading 1, Isaiah 65:17-21 17 For look, I am going to create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered and will...
Daily Readings for Sunday, March 14, 2021
Daily Reading for Sunday March 14, 2021 Reading 1, Second Chronicles 36:14-17, 19-23Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6Gospel, John 3:14-21Reading 2, Ephesians 2:4-10 Reading 1, Second Chronicles 36:14-17, 19-23 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of Judah, the...
Daily Readings for Saturday, March 13, 2021
Daily Reading for Saturday March 13, 2021 Reading 1, Hosea 6:1-6Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21Gospel, Luke 18:9-14 Reading 1, Hosea 6:1-6 1 Come, let us return to Yahweh. He has rent us and he will heal us; he has struck us and he will bind up our...