Current Events and News
From 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...
Bishop’s Easter Message
It sounds so awkward to say Happy Easter this year. During the past month, people everywhere added new words to their vocabulary: Coronavirus and COVID-19. The dreaded virus that these words represent made us learn another dimension of living as we “shelter in place.”...
Blessed Palm
As parishes and the faithful look ahead to Palm Sunday next weekend, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown continues to be aware of the need for social distancing and other necessary precautions. Bishop Mark has directed parishes to not distribute blessed palm to the...
Governor Wolf extended his “Stay at Home” Order
Dear Brothers in Christ, Earlier today Governor Wolf extended his "Stay at Home" order to include Centre County. In keeping with our protocols announced earlier (March 20), in order to protect the faithful and follow this important restriction put in place by the...
Memo from: Bishop Mark
Memo from: Bishop Mark To: All Clergy Date: March 25, 2020 Re: Celebration of the Liturgies of Holy Week and Especially the Sacred Triduum In this time of need, directives have been issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as...
Saint of the Day
St. Irenaeus: Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 28, 2026
The writings of St. Irenaeus entitle him to a high place among the fathers of the Church, for they not only laid the foundations of Christian theology but, by exposing and refuting the errors of the gnostics, they delivered the Catholic Faith from the real danger of...
St. Cyril of Alexandria: Saint of the Day for Saturday, June 27, 2026
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (June 27) Cyril was born at Alexandria, Egypt. He was nephew of the patriarch of that city, Theophilus. Cyril received a classical and theological education at Alexandria and was ordained by his uncle. He...
St. Anthelm: Saint of the Day for Friday, June 26, 2026
Carthusian monk and bishop, defender of papal authority. Anthelm was born in 1107 in a castle near Chambery, in Savoy, France. He was ordained a priest and visited the Carthusian Charterhouse at Portes, where he entered the Order at the age of thirty. Two years later,...
St. William of Vercelli: Saint of the Day for Thursday, June 25, 2026
William of Vercelli, Saint 1085-1142. founder, born in Vercelli Italy he was brought up as an orphan became a hermit on Monte Vergine, Italy after a pilgrimage to Compostella and attracted so many followers that a monastery was buillt. By 1119 his followers were...
St. John the Baptist: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Discover More About St. John the Baptist with Journey with the Saints John the Baptist was a contemporary of Christ who was known for evangelization and his baptizing of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was born through the intercession of God to Zachariah and...
St. Joseph Cafasso: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Joseph Cafasso was born at Castelnuovo d'Asti in the Piedmont, Italy, of peasant parents. He studied at the seminary at Turin, and was ordained in 1833. He continued his theological studies at the seminary and university at Turin and then at the Institute of St....
St. Thomas More: Saint of the Day for Monday, June 22, 2026
Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478. His father, Sir John More, was a lawyer and judge who rose to prominence during the reign of Edward IV. His connections and wealth would help his son, Thomas, rise in station as a young man. Thomas' mother was Agnes...
St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 21, 2026
St. Aloysius was born in Castiglione, Italy. The first words St. Aloysius spoke were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. He was destined for the military by his father (who was in service to Philip II), but by the age of 9 Aloysius had decided on a religious life, and...
St. Vincent Kaun: Saint of the Day for Saturday, June 20, 2026
Martyr of Japan. A native of Korea, he was brought to Japan in 1591 as a prisoner of war and was subsequently converted to Christianity. Entering the Jesuits, he studied at the Jesuit seminary of Arima and worked for three decades as a catechist in both Japan and...
St. Romuald: Saint of the Day for Friday, June 19, 2026
St. Romuald was born at Ravenna about the year 956. In spite of an infinite desire for virtue and sanctity, his early life was wasted in the service of the world and its pleasures. Then one day, obliged by his father, Sergius, to be present at a duel fought by him, he...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Monday, June 29, 2026
Reading 1, Acts 12:1-11 1 It was about this time that King Herod started persecuting certain members of the church.2 He had James the brother of John beheaded,3 and when he saw that this pleased the Jews he went on to arrest Peter as well.4 As it was during the days...
Daily Readings for Sunday, June 28, 2026
Reading 1, Second Kings 4:8-11, 14-16 8 One day as Elisha was on his way to Shunem, a woman of rank who lived there pressed him to stay and eat there. After this he always broke his journey for a meal when he passed that way.9 She said to her husband, 'Look, I am sure...
Daily Readings for Saturday, June 27, 2026
Reading 1, Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19 2 The Lord pitilessly engulfed all the homes of Jacob; in his fury he tore down the fortresses of the daughter of Judah; he threw to the ground, he desecrated the kingdom and its princes.10 Mute, they sit on the ground, the...
Daily Readings for Friday, June 26, 2026
Reading 1, Second Kings 25:1-12 1 In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem with his entire army; he pitched camp in front of the city and threw up earthworks round it.2 The...
Daily Readings for Thursday, June 25, 2026
Reading 1, Second Kings 24:8-17 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.9 He did what is displeasing to Yahweh, just as his father...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Reading 1, Isaiah 49:1-6 1 Coasts and islands, listen to me, pay attention, distant peoples. Yahweh called me when I was in the womb, before my birth he had pronounced my name.2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, he hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Reading 1, Second Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-35, 36 9 on hearing that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to attack him.10 Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 'Tell Hezekiah king of Judah this, "Do not let your God on whom you are relying deceive you...
Daily Readings for Monday, June 22, 2026
Reading 1, Second Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18 5 The king of Assyria invaded the whole country and, coming to Samaria, laid siege to it for three years.6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled...
Daily Readings for Sunday, June 21, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 20:10-13 10 I heard so many disparaging me, 'Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!' All those who were on good terms with me watched for my downfall, 'Perhaps he will be seduced into error. Then we shall get the better of him and...
Daily Readings for Saturday, June 20, 2026
Reading 1, Second Chronicles 24:17-25 17 After Jehoiada's death the officials of Judah came to pay court to the king, and the king listened to their advice,18 and they abandoned the Temple of Yahweh, God of their ancestors, for the worship of sacred poles and idols....