CatholicTV to Air Ordination of Bishop-Elect Mark Bartchak of Altoona-Johnstown Pennsylvania

On April 20th, CatholicTV will air the Ordination and Installation Mass of Bishop-elect Mark Bartchak.

The Mass will air at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV cable outlets at noon (Eastern) and will be rebroadcast at 8PM. After the broadcast, the entire Mass will be viewable anytime at http://www.CatholicTV.com/catholic-television

Bishop-elect Bartchak has held a variety of positions throughout his 29-year-long priesthood.

Some unique ministries he has been involved in include: confessor at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He’s also celebrated Mass each month for the men in the Erie County Prison. He has been a confessor at the Catholic chapel at the largest retail shopping center in northwestern Pennsylvania.

On the day it was announced that Bartchak would be the new bishop, he said, “To be a good pastor, I will certainly need the continued help of God’s grace and the prayers of all the people, so please pray for me. I will do my best to take to heart some advice spoken to me in recent days; to get to know the good people of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and allow them to share Christ with me as much as I am called to share Christ with them.

I know that above all, a bishop is to be a pastor. 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. 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.” He will succeed Bishop Joseph Adamec, who has been the bishop of Altoona-Johnstown since March 12, 1987

Bishop-elect Bartchak’s college studies were at St. Mark Seminary and Gannon University, Erie, PA, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1977. He also studied for the priesthood at Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora, NY, receiving a Master of Arts degree in Theology in 1981. He studied canon law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where he received the Licentiate degree in 1989 and the Doctorate degree in 1992. At the time Bartchak was named the new Bishop, he was Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Erie, PA.

Television Series Hosted By Newly-Named Indianapolis Bishop-Elect Chris Coyne Now Viewable At CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV

CatholicTV.com now offers full episodes of the show “Sacred Time” hosted by Fr. Chris Coyne before he was named as Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis. This show also currently airs each week on CatholicTV cable.

Full episodes can be viewed now by visiting: http://www.catholictv.com/Catholic-church-liturgy

On January 14th, The Vatican named Chris Coyne as the new Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Coyne has hosted several programs on CatholicTV. He was also an instructor at St. John’s Seminary’s Master of Arts in Ministry Program in Brighton, Massachusetts. Several employees of CatholicTV including Bonnie Rodgers, Kevin Nelson, and Jay Fadden had Fr. Coyne as their instructor at St. John’s Seminary.

Bonnie Rodgers said, “Fr. Coyne was one of my first instructors at the St. John’s Seminary Master of Arts in Ministry program. His strong family ties fostered an incredible work ethic. This, coupled with his commitment and energy in sharing the Catholic faith and traditions, made him a great teacher. This will also be a strong foundation as he serves the people of Indianapolis as auxiliary bishop.”

Fr. Robert Reed had this to say about Chris Coyne : “Bishop-elect Chris Coyne has always been so generous with his time and talent to the CatholicTV Network family. As he prepares for his new ministry in Indianapolis, his lived understanding of the Liturgy as the time when we are most the Church, its seasons and sacred space will continue to nourish our viewers for years to come. Our prayers certainly go with him.”

More information about bishop-elect Coyne is available at http://www.catholictv.com/Bishop-Christopher-Coyne

CatholicTV Will Air Episcopal Ordination Mass of David O’Connell of Trenton New Jersey

America Magazine recently wrote that "a gem of a diocese is getting a gem of a new bishop." On July 30th, CatholicTV will air the Episcopal Ordination Mass of Bishop-elect David O’Connell, for the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. The Mass will air at 8PM ET at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV.

Before being consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop, Bishop-elect O’Connell was President of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

The Diocese of Trenton’s Coadjutor Bishop David M. O’Connell was born April 21, 1955, in Philadelphia. Bishop O’Connell, a priest of the Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission, also known as the Vincentians, grew up in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.

Bishop O’Connell prepared for the priesthood in Mary Immaculate Seminary, Northampton, Pennsylvania where he received a master of divinity degree in 1981 and a master’s degree in moral theology in 1983. He pursued studies in canon law at The Catholic University of America, Washington, obtaining a licentiate in 1987 and then a doctorate in canon law in 1990.

In 1990, he joined St. John’s University, New York, where he served as academic dean for the following eight years.

In 1998, then-Father O’Connell was named the 14th president of The Catholic University of America. Among the many highlights of his presidency was the opportunity to serve as a member of the planning committee for Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit to the United States in April 2008, and to host the pope at CUA, where he delivered an address to Catholic educators.