Current Events and News
From the Diocese
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...
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...
Saint of the Day
St. Rumon: Saint of the Day for Sunday, August 30, 2026
St. Rumon, also known as Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of Bishop St. Tudwal of Trequier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he was probably an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in England were named after him. Some...
St. Sabina: Saint of the Day for Saturday, August 29, 2026
St. Sabina's feast day is August 29th. We know St. Sabina only through legend, and there is some question as to it's trustworthiness. Even the century in which she lived is unknown. Supposedly Sabina was converted to Christianity by her Syrian servant Serapia. During...
St. Augustine of Hippo: Saint of the Day for Friday, August 28, 2026
St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions. His complete turnaround has been an inspiration to many who struggle with habits or vices they...
St. Monica: Saint of the Day for Thursday, August 27, 2026
Discover More About St. Monica with Journey with the Saints Saint Monica, also known as Monica of Hippo, is St. Augustine of Hippo's mother. She was born in 331 A.D. in Tagaste, which is present-day Algeria. When she was very young, she was married off to the Roman...
St. Teresa of Jesus Jornet Ibars: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Born in Catalonia, Spain, she overcame many difficulties in her youth and eventually became a teacher at Lerida. Desirous to enter the religious life, she failed to win entry into the convent at the advice of her spiritual...
St. Louis King of France: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, August 25, 2026
St. Louis, King of France, patron of Tertiaries, was the ninth of his name. He was born at Poissy, France, in 1214. His father was Louis VIII, and his mother was Blanche, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castille, surnamed the Conqueror. At the age of twelve he lost his...
St. Bartholomew: Saint of the Day for Monday, August 24, 2026
St. Bartholomew, 1st. century, one of the 12. All that is known of him with certainty is that he is mentioned in the synoptic gospels and Acts as one of the twelve apostles. His name, a patronymic, means "son of Tolomai" and scholars believe he is the same as...
St. Philip Benizi: Saint of the Day for Sunday, August 23, 2026
Servite cardinal and preacher. Born in Florence, Italy, to a noble family, he was educated in Paris and Padua where he earned a doctorate in medicine and philosophy. He practiced medicine for some time, but in 1253 he joined the Servite Order in Florence. He served as...
St. Andrew the Scot: Saint of the Day for Saturday, August 22, 2026
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 Friday, August 21, 2026
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...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Sunday, August 30, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 20:7-9 7 You have seduced me, Yahweh, and I have let myself be seduced; you have overpowered me: you were the stronger. I am a laughing-stock all day long, they all make fun of me.8 For whenever I speak, I have to howl and proclaim, 'Violence and...
Daily Readings for Saturday, August 29, 2026
Reading 1, Jeremiah 1:17-19 17 'As for you, prepare yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you. Have no fear of them and in their presence I will make you fearless.18 For look, today I have made you into a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of...
Daily Readings for Friday, August 28, 2026
Reading 1, First Corinthians 1:17-25 17 After all, Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel; and not by means of wisdom of language, wise words which would make the cross of Christ pointless.18 The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the...
Daily Readings for Thursday, August 27, 2026
Reading 1, First Corinthians 1:1-9 1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Sosthenes, our brother,2 to the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be God's holy people, with all those...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Reading 1, Second Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18 6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge you, brothers, to keep away from any of the brothers who lives an undisciplined life, not in accordance with the tradition you received from us.7 You know how you should take...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Reading 1, Second Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-16 1 About the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers, and our being gathered to him:2 please do not be too easily thrown into confusion or alarmed by any manifestation of the Spirit or any statement or any letter claiming...
Daily Readings for Monday, August 24, 2026
Reading 1, Revelation 21:9-14 9 One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came to speak to me and said, 'Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.'10 In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high...
Daily Readings for Sunday, August 23, 2026
Reading 1, Isaiah 22:15, 19-23 15 The Lord Yahweh Sabaoth says this: Go and find that steward, Shebna, the master of the palace:19 I shall hound you from your office, I shall snatch you from your post20 and, when that day comes, I shall summon my servant Eliakim son...
Daily Readings for Saturday, August 22, 2026
Reading 1, Ezekiel 43:1-7 1 He took me to the gate, the one facing east.2 I saw the glory of the God of Israel approaching from the east. A sound came with him like the sound of the ocean, and the earth shone with his glory.3 This vision was like the one I had seen...
Daily Readings for Friday, August 21, 2026
Reading 1, Ezekiel 37:1-14 1 The hand of Yahweh was on me; he carried me away by the spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the middle of the valley, a valley full of bones.2 He made me walk up and down and all around among them. There were vast quantities of these bones...