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. Andrew the Scot: Saint of the Day for Sunday, August 22, 2021
Archdeacon and companion of St. Donatus. Andrew and his sister, St. Bridget the Younger, were born in Ireland of noble parents.They were educated by St. Donatus, and when Donatus went on a pilgrimage to Italy, Andrew accompanied him. In Fiesole, through a miracle,...
St. Pius X: Saint of the Day for Saturday, August 21, 2021
On June 2, 1835, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto saw the light of earth at Riesi, Province of Treviso, in Venice; on August 20, 1914, he saw the light of heaven; and on May 29, 1954, he who had become the two hundred fifty-ninth pope was canonized St. Pius X. Two of the...
St. Bernard of Clairvaux: Saint of the Day for Friday, August 20, 2021
St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church St. Bernard was born of noble parentage in Burgundy, France, in the castle of Fontaines near Dijon. Under the care of his pious parents he was sent at an early age to a college at Chatillon, where he was conspicuous for his...
St. John Eudes: Saint of the Day for Thursday, August 19, 2021
John Eudes was born at Ri, Normandy, France, on November 14, 1601, the son of a farmer. He went to the Jesuit college at Caen when he was 14, and despite his parents' wish that he marry, joined the Congregation of the Oratory of France in 1623. He studied at Paris and...
St. Helena: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, August 18, 2021
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 Tuesday, August 17, 2021
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 Monday, August 16, 2021
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 Sunday, August 15, 2021
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 Saturday, August 14, 2021
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 Friday, August 13, 2021
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...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Sunday, August 22, 2021
Daily Reading for Sunday August 22, 2021 Reading 1, Joshua 24:1-2,Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23Gospel, John 6:60-69Reading 2, Ephesians 5:21-32 We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot;...
Daily Readings for Saturday, August 21, 2021
Daily Reading for Saturday August 21, 2021 Reading 1, Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4, 5Gospel, Matthew 23:1-12 Reading 1, Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17 1 Naomi had a kinsman on her husband's side, well-to-do and of Elimelech's clan. His...
Daily Readings for Friday, August 20, 2021
Daily Reading for Friday August 20, 2021 Reading 1, Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14-16, 22Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 146:5-6, 7, 8-9, 9-10Gospel, Matthew 22:34-40 Reading 1, Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14-16, 22 1 In the days when the Judges were governing, a famine occurred in the country and...
Daily Readings for Thursday, August 19, 2021
Daily Reading for Thursday August 19, 2021 Reading 1, Judges 11:29-39Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 40:5, 7-8, 8-9, 10Gospel, Matthew 22:1-14 We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Daily Reading for Wednesday August 18, 2021 Reading 1, Judges 9:6-15Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 21:2-3, 4-5, 6-7Gospel, Matthew 20:1-16 We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Reading 1, Judges 6:11-24 11 The Angel of Yahweh came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah which belonged to Joash of Abiezer. Gideon his son was threshing wheat inside the wine-press, to keep it hidden from Midian,12 and the Angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said,...
Daily Readings for Monday, August 16, 2021
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 106:34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43, 44 11 The Israelites then did what is evil in Yahweh's eyes and served the Baals.12 They deserted Yahweh, God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt, and they followed other gods, from those of the...
Daily Readings for Sunday, August 15, 2021
Daily Reading for Sunday August 15, 2021 Reading 1, Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 45:10, 11, 12, 16Gospel, Luke 1:39-56Reading 2, First Corinthians 15:20-26 Reading 1, Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10 19 Then the sanctuary of God in heaven opened,...
Daily Readings for Saturday, August 14, 2021
Daily Reading for Saturday August 14, 2021 Reading 1, Isaiah 58:6-11Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 1:1-4, 6Gospel, Matthew 25:31-40 Reading 1, Isaiah 58:6-11 6 Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me: to break unjust fetters, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let...
Daily Readings for Friday, August 13, 2021
Daily Reading for Friday August 13, 2021 Reading 1, Joshua 24:1-13Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24Gospel, Matthew 19:3-12 Reading 1, Joshua 24:1-13 1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; he then summoned all the elders of...