News Release

In response to numerous inquiries and requests, Reverend Monsignor Alfred A. Schlert, Administrator of the Diocese of Allentown, will lift for Friday, March 17 only, the obligation of all Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during the penitential season of Lent.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Allentown—which provided vital services for nearly 20,000 individuals and families last year throughout Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill Counties—will hold its Tenth Annual Gala with the goal of increasing fundraising for the less-fortunate in our communities. 

The 10-member Diocese of Allentown College of Consultors, a group of Diocesan priests, met this afternoon (Wednesday) to fulfill its canonical duty of electing a priest of the Diocese to serve as Diocesan Administrator, in the absence of a bishop. The former Bishop of Allentown John Barres was installed as Bishop of Rockville Centre, NY on January 31.

Is religion a private practice, or must we stand up for our faith in public?

A Mass of Thanksgiving and Farewell for the ministry and service of Bishop John Barres during his seven-and-a-half years leading the Diocese of Allentown will be held at the Cathedral of Saint Catharine of Siena in Allentown at 12 noon this coming Sunday, January 22.