Joseph Victor Adamec

Joseph Victor Adamec was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2011.
On March 1, 2016, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane implied that as bishop, Adamec led a major cover-up scandal involving the sexual assault of hundreds of children by Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown priests.

Biography

Joseph Adamec was born on August 13, 1935, in Bannister, Michigan, the son of Michal August Adamec and Alzbeta Eva Ochran Adamec. He attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, from 1953 to 1955. He studied for the priesthood at the Pontifical Nepomucene College in Rome.

Adamec was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Luigi Traglia in the Church of St. Anselm in Rome on July 3, 1960, for the Diocese of Nitra in Slovakia. He earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome in 1961.
Adamec returned to the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, where he served as secretary of the bishop and master of ceremonies, ecclesiastical notary, and chancellor of the diocese. In 1980, he received the "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice" medal which recognized service to the Catholic Church and pope. In 1985, the Vatican elevated Adamec to the rank of prelate of honor. Adamec also served as the national president of the Slovak Catholic Federation, a position he held from 1971 to 1988.

On March 12, 1987, Adamec was named the bishop of Altoona-Johnstown by Pope John Paul II. Adamec was consecrated on May 20, 1987, in the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Altoona by Cardinal Jozef Tomko.
Adamec's retirement and the appointment of his successor were announced by Pope Benedict XVI on January 14, 2011. Mark Leonard Bartchak, of the Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, was named Adamec's successor.Joseph Adamec died in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 2019, at age 83.