Friend of SVA named Bishop of Altoona-Johnstown

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania, JAN. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Mark Bartchak, 56, of the Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, as bishop of Altoona-Johnstown.

The Vatican today announced that Bishop-elect Bartchak will succeed Bishop Joseph Adamec, 75, who retired for reasons of age.

Bishop-elect Bartchak, in a press conference today, noted, "I have been a priest of the Diocese of Erie for nearly 30 years and during that time I have been blessed by the fraternity of priests with whom I have served and by the coworkers in the various assignments that I have been given, especially in the Office of the Tribunal."

He added, "I look forward with anticipation and excitement to meeting and getting to know my new family in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown."

"I know that above all, a bishop is to be a pastor," Bishop-elect Bartchak affirmed. "To be a good pastor, a diocesan bishop especially needs the help of the priests who are so closely connected with God's people in our parishes and schools."

He continued: "I want the priests of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown to know that I understand the blessings and the challenges of the ministry and life to which you have dedicated yourselves since the time of your ordination. I will do my best to help you and support you in that ministry and life we share."

At the press conference, Bishop Adamec noted that his successor is "very well versed in Canon (that is, Church) Law," yet "he is very much a people-person and has a pastoral heart."

The prelate affirmed, "I know that he considers his priesthood to be one that serves God's people in their journey into the Lord's Kingdom."

Bishop-elect Bartchak has served on the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, as a consultant to the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, and as a judge for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

He has been a confessor and spiritual director for Project Rachel, a chaplain for the St. Thomas More Society, and has actively worked in prison ministry as well as the care of refugees including Chaldean Catholics from Iraq who resettled in Erie.

The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese has 107,000 Catholics served by 201 priests, 29 permanent deacons and 154 religious.

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Please keep Bishop-elect Bartchak and the people of Altoona-Johnstown in your prayers during this joyful and exciting time in the history of their diocese.

JPII to be beatified

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is planning to preside over the beatification rite for John Paul II on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday, in the Vatican.

A communiqué from the Congregation for Saints' Causes announced that today the Pope, in an audience with the congregation's prefect, Cardinal Angelo Amato, "authorized the dicastery to promulgate the decree of the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)."

This was the final step in the process preceding the beatification rite, which will be celebrated on Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast day instituted by John Paul II.

The communiqué noted: "It is well known that, by pontifical dispensation, his cause began before the end of the five-year period which the current norms stipulate must pass following the death of a Servant of God.

"This provision was solicited by the great fame of sanctity which Pope John Paul II enjoyed during his life, in his death and after his death.

"In all other ways, the normal canonical dispositions concerning causes of beatification and canonization were observed in full."

The diocesan investigation into the cause for beatification of the Pontiff took place between June 2005 and April 2007. On Dec. 19, 2009, Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree on his predecessor's heroic virtue.

Miracle

The congregation then examined the report of a miraculous healing through the intercession of John Paul II: the cure from Parkinson's disease of Sister Marie Simon Pierre Normand of the Little Sisters of Catholic Motherhood.

The reports of medical and legal experts on the French nun's healing were submitted to the dicastery for scientific examination last Oct. 21.

The congregation noted that its experts, "having studied the depositions and the entire documentation with their customary scrupulousness, expressed their agreement concerning the scientifically inexplicable nature of the healing."

Thus, on Dec. 14, the theological consulters began an evaluation of the case, and "unanimously recognized the unicity, antecedence and choral nature of the invocation made to Servant of God John Paul II, whose intercession was effective in this prodigious healing."

On Tuesday, during the ordinary session of the congregation, the members expressed their "unanimous approval."

The prelates expressed belief in the miraculous nature of the recovery of Sister Marie Simon Pierre, "having been achieved by God in a scientifically inexplicable manner following the intercession of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, trustingly invoked both by Sister Simon herself and by many other faithful." The conclusions were then submitted to Benedict XVI for approval.

Catholic Undergroud 2011

Come see St. Vincent College Senior Diana Petrovich perform this Saturday, January 15th, 2010 at St. Matthew's Parish in Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh Neighborhood). Program begins at 8 PM. MAPQUEST: Saint Matthew's Parish 5322 Carnegie Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Epiphany 2011

Mass at the Vatican