Current Events and News
From the Diocese
Parishes Announce Christmas Mass Schedule
By Justin KirklandProclaim!As Catholics, there is no better way to celebrate and experience God’s presence with us then in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Through the Mass, we are able to deepen our relationship with God, who came to us in the most unlikely way during...
Vaccine Clarification
By Tony DeGolProclaim!Bishop Mark Bartchak is joining other bishops in the United States in clarifying recent confusion regarding the “moral permissibility” of vaccines for COVID-19. According to Bishop Kevin Rhoades and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, vaccines from Pfizer...
What Comes After the Election Season?
A Reflection by Bishop MarkSince Election Day, I have received a few comments and concerns about Catholic Church leaders who have communicated with Joseph Biden. The focus of these concerns are political and religious. The political concern is that communication with...
Bishop Announces Directives for Advent Reconciliation and Christmas Masses
By Tony DeGolProclaim!In most parishes, the first vigil Mass on Christmas Eve usually attracts a ton of people with hardly an empty seat in the church. It is a challenging situation under normal circumstances, but especially worrisome during a pandemic. To help...
Advent Reconciliation Opportunities
By Justin KirklandProclaim!The Church celebrates Advent as a time that we may prepare our souls for the birth of Christ. Traditionally, before every major feast, time was taken by the faithful to prepare their hearts, through prayer, fasting, and penance. Christ came...
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...
Saint of the Day
St. Dominic: Saint of the Day for Saturday, August 08, 2026
Saint Dominic was born in Caleruega, Spain in 1170. His parents were members of the Spanish nobility and related to the ruling family. His father was Felix Guzman, and was the royal warden of the village. His mother, Bl. Joan of Aza, was a holy woman in her own right....
St. Cajetan: Saint of the Day for Friday, August 07, 2026
In 1523, the Church was in sad shape. People could not get the spiritual nourishment they needed from the large numbers of uneducated and even immoral priests who took their money but returned nothing. When good priests and laypeople turned to the hierarchy for help,...
St. Hormisdas Pope: Saint of the Day for Thursday, August 06, 2026
Pope from 514-523, successor to St. Symmachus, and father of Pope St. Silverius Born in Frosinone, Campagna di Roma, Italy, he was an Italian, although he had a Persian name. Married and widowed prior to ordination, he succeeded St. Symmachus on July 21, 514. One of...
St. Addal: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, August 05, 2026
A disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas to the court of King Abgar the Black, the second century Osroene ruler. Legendary accounts claim Abgar wrote to Christ asking Jesus to cure him of an intolerable and incurable illness. Abgar's court was in Edessa in Asia Minor...
St. John Vianney: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, August 04, 2026
Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, known as John in English, was born May 8, 1786 in Dardilly, France and was baptized the same day. He was the fourth of six children born to Matthieu and Marie Vianney. John was raised in a Catholic home and the family often helped the poor...
St. Lydia Purpuraria: Saint of the Day for Monday, August 03, 2026
Lydia Purpuraria (1st century) was born at Thyatira (Ak-Hissar), a town in Asia Minor, famous for its dye works, (hence, her name which means purple seller). She became Paul's first convert at Philippi. She was baptized with her household, and Paul stayed at her home...
St. Eusebius of Vercelli: Saint of the Day for Sunday, August 02, 2026
Christians who breathed a sigh of relief when Constantine proclaimed Christianity the state religion, believing this would end the bloodshed and martyrdom. But it was all too short a time until they were facing persecution once more -- from others who claimed to be...
St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori: Saint of the Day for Saturday, August 01, 2026
Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. He was born Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori on September 27,1696, at Marianella, near Naples, Italy. Raised in a pious home, Alphonsus went on retreats...
St. Ignatius Loyola: Saint of the Day for Friday, July 31, 2026
Born Inigo Lopez de Loyola in 1491, the man known as Ignatius of Loyola entered the world in Loiola, Spain. At the time, the name of the village was spelled "Loyola," hence the discrepancy. Inigo came of age in Azpeitia, in northern Spain. Loyola is a small village at...
St. Peter Chrysologus: Saint of the Day for Thursday, July 30, 2026
St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Feast-July 30) Born at Imola, Italy in 380, St. Peter was baptized, educated, and ordained a deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of Imola. St. Peter merited being called "Chrysologus" (golden-worded) from his exceptional...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Saturday, August 08, 2026
Reading 1, Habakkuk 1:12-2:4 12 Surely you, Yahweh, are from ancient times, my holy God, who never dies! Yahweh, you have appointed him to execute judgement; O Rock, you have set him firm to punish.13 Your eyes are too pure to rest on evil, you cannot look on at...
Daily Readings for Friday, August 07, 2026
Reading 1, Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 1 To Judah See on the mountains the feet of the herald! 'Peace!' he proclaims. Judah, celebrate your feasts, carry out your vows, for Belial will never pass through you again; he has been utterly destroyed.3 (For Yahweh has restored...
Daily Readings for Thursday, August 06, 2026
Reading 1, Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 9 While I was watching, thrones were set in place and one most venerable took his seat. His robe was white as snow, the hair of his head as pure as wool. His throne was a blaze of flames, its wheels were a burning fire.10 A stream of...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, August 05, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 31:1-7 1 When that time comes, Yahweh declares, I shall be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.2 Yahweh says this: They have found pardon in the desert, those who have survived the sword. Israel is marching to his...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, August 04, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, as follows,2 'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, "Write for yourself in a book all the words I have spoken to you.12 Yes, Yahweh says this: Your wound is incurable, your injury past...
Daily Readings for Monday, August 03, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 28:1-17 1 That same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, a Gibeonite, spoke as follows to Jeremiah in the Temple of Yahweh in the presence of the...
Daily Readings for Sunday, August 02, 2026
Reading 1, Isaiah 55:1-3 1 Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money, free!2 Why spend money on what cannot nourish and your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen carefully to me,...
Daily Readings for Saturday, August 01, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24 11 The priests and prophets then said to the chief men and all the people, 'This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.'12 Jeremiah, however, replied to all the chief men...
Daily Readings for Friday, July 31, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 26:1-9 1 At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh,2 'Yahweh says this, "Stand in the court of the Temple of Yahweh. To all the people from the towns of Judah who come to worship...
Daily Readings for Thursday, July 30, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 18:1-6 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh as follows,2 'Get up and make your way down to the potter's house, and there I shall tell you what I have to say.'3 So I went down to the potter's house; and there he was, working at the wheel.4...