The Catholic Spirit received eight awards and the Office of Communications received one award for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at the 2024 Catholic Media Conference’s awards ceremony June 21 in Atlanta, which celebrated the 2023 work of Catholic Media Association members.
First place for best news coverage of a regional event and second place for best front page of a diocesan newspaper went to The Catholic Spirit for its reporting and photography of the 84th annual Tekakwitha Conference in the Twin Cities last summer.
The headline “Native and Catholic” and a photo by chief photographer Dave Hrbacek honoring Catholic Native Americans in ceremonial dress graced the front page of the newspaper July 27, 2023.
Reporter Barb Umberger, News Editor Rebecca Omastiak and Editor-in-Chief Joe Ruff were recognized for their reporting on the July 19-23 conference.
The Office of Communications took home an honorable mention for “Together on the Journey,” a monthly video and weekly newsletter featuring Archbishop Bernard Hebda.
The Catholic Spirit staff won second place for best print special supplement with its April 27, 2023, multi-story and photo package about Auxiliary Bishop Michael Izen’s April 11 ordination and installation in the archdiocese.
The newspaper won second for best story and photo package by an individual — and second place for best feature photo — with Hrbacek’s June 29, 2023, feature, “A prayer runs through it” about Father Jake Anderson’s annual men’s fly-fishing retreat.
The paper took third place for reporting on a special age group — senior citizens — for Hrbacek’s Oct. 26 story about longtime nurse Tom Cassidy at Our Lady of Peace Residential Hospice facility in St. Paul.
Honorable mentions went to The Catholic Spirit for best newspaper spot news photo and best multiple picture package with Hrbacek’s “Relishing Relics,” consisting of three prominent photographs and accompanying story in the Oct. 12, 2023, edition. The package was about opportunities that month in the archdiocese to venerate the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her parents Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin. Prayers and processions helped mark the 150th anniversary of St. Thérèse’s birth and the 100th anniversary of her beatification.
