U.S. Catholic website takes top award from Catholic Press Association

Publications earn 33 honors from national press associations

Cited for “excellent reporting and writing with candor and humor,” Claretian Publications and U.S. Catholic magazine recently received 33 honors from national press associations. The U.S. Catholic magazine website (www.uscatholic.org) won first-place honors from the Catholic Press Association, and Salt of the Earth Online (salt.claretianpubs.org), a social justice webzine, took home an Award of Merit from the Associated Church Press.

“Claretian Publications and U.S. Catholic magazine are proud to have been recognized by the religious press,” says the Rev. John Molyneux, C.M.F., editor of U.S. Catholic and Claretian Publications. “The CPA, ACP, and RCC represent the best in faith-based publishing, and to be honored by these associations again this year is a testament to the standard of excellence the Claretian Publications staff brings to every piece we publish.”

At the CPA awards banquet May 26 in Nashville, Tennessee, At Home With Our Faith, a newsletter for parents, won first place for General Excellence, Special Interest Newsletter. The CPA awarded U.S. Catholic with second place for General Excellence, General Interest Magazines, describing the magazine as “hard-newsy yet lively” while praising it for its “creative approaches to the important topics of the time.”

U.S. Catholic also won first-place honors from the CPA for best special issue on the papal transition, best website (www.uscatholic.org), and best interview (Justice Anne Burke). Second-place honors went to U.S. Catholic for best feature article, best investigative writing or analysis, and best short story. In the best regular column category, Cathy O’Connell-Cahill took second place for her “Living Faith” column in At Home With Our Faith, while Kevin Clarke took third place for his “Margin Notes” column in U.S. Catholic.

“Inviting on every page” and “smartly designed” is how Associated Church Press judges described At Home With Our Faith, giving it the first-place Award of Excellence at its annual awards banquet April 24 in Orlando, Florida. U.S. Catholic was the Award of Excellence winner for Denominational General Interest Magazine. An ACP Best in Class award also went to Salt of the Earth Online (Award of Merit).

Claretian Publications also won two additional Awards of Excellence, three Awards of Merit, and six Honorable Mentions from the ACP. The Awards of Excellence went to U.S. Catholic for in-depth coverage for its special issue on the papacy and for poetry.

At the DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards Ceremony on March 30 in Dallas, Texas, Claretian Publications won seven awards from the Religion Communicators Council, including four Awards of Excellence and three Certificates of Merit. The Awards of Excellence all went to U.S. Catholic and were given for Periodicals, National Magazine; Magazine Article, Series (“Testaments” scripture column); Illustration, Publication Cover (October 2005); and Photography, black and white series.

For more information or to subscribe to U.S. Catholic or one of our other award winning publications, please visit claretianpubs.org or call 1-800-328-6515.