HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Cleveland native with western-Pennsylvania roots will become the eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, outgoing Bishop Joseph V. Adamec said Friday morning.
In a news conference here at Garvey Manor, Adamec introduced the Rev. Monsignor Mark L. Bartchak as the diocese’s bishop-elect. Adamec said that Bartchak, the judicial vicar in the Diocese of Erie, was appointed to his new position earlier Friday at the Vatican.
His new diocese covers eight counties, including the State College area. Bartchak, 56, is scheduled to be installed formally as bishop on April 19 — the Tuesday of Holy Week.
‘We’ll have to figure out how to party during Holy Week,’ Adamec, 75, said during the news conference.
‘Don’t worry,’ Bartchak answered. He said ‘special dispensations’ would be available.
On a more somber note, Adamec said that Bartchak has been ‘chosen for us by the Lord,’ and is ‘respected by priests and bishops from all over the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.’
‘He is very much a people person and has a pastoral heart,’ Adamec said in prepared remarks. ‘I know that he considers his priesthood to be one that serves God’s people in their journey into the Lord’s kingdom. To me, Bishop-elect Bartchak presents an image of a mature, intelligent and balanced churchman who will be the diocesan bishop that we need at this time.’
In the meantime, until April 19, Adamec will serve as the diocesan apostolic administrator. He said he plans to remain in Hollidaysburg upon his retirement. He has been the bishop in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese for nearly 24 years and, he said, recently bought a house in Hollidaysburg.
Adamec said he will serve the Saint Mary’s parish in his retirement and hopes do some reading and writing.
‘I hope I’m going to have the time to get to know the Lord better,’ he said.
Bartchak, appearing with Adamec, expressed gratitude for his predecessor’s support and encouragement. Having grown up in Bradford, he said he is familiar with central Pennsylvania. He said he worked his first years as a priest in Clearfield and Elk counties before moving to the Erie diocese for the past several decades.
‘I know that above all, a bishop is to be a pastor,’ Bartchak said. ‘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 challenges of the ministry and life to which you have dedicated yourselves since the time of your ordination.’
Bartchak also said he will do his best ‘to get to know the good people of the (diocese) and allow them to share Christ with me as much as I am called to share Christ with them.’
According to a biography supplied by the diocese, Bartchak is the fifth of eight children in his family. He graduated from Bradford Central Christian High School in 1973, then went on to St. Mark Seminary and Gannon University.
Bartchak studied for the priesthood at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, N.Y., and studied canon law at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., according to the biography. At The Catholic University, he completed his Licentiate degree in 1989 and his doctoral degree in 1992. He was ordained as a priest in the Erie diocese in 1981.
There, he has served in multiple capacities, including as judicial vicar and as director of the Office of Conciliation and Arbitration. He also has served the Erie diocese as vicar for canonical affairs.
A member of the Knights of Columbus, Bartchak enjoys reading, music, cycling and handyman projects, his biography says.
‘I have heard of the deep faith and generous spirit of the people of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown — the laity of all ages, the women and men in consecrated life, and the priests and deacons,’ Bartchak said Friday. ‘I want to affirm you and assure you of my prayers for you.’
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