The National Catholic Register was named top national newspaper at the event which took place July 4-7 in Portland, Oregon.
Judges from the North America-wide competition were impressed with The Register’s overall production, calling it “a gift of all that is Catholic wrapped up in a readable, thoughtful package.”
All told, The Register garnered four first place awards — one each by associate editor Michael Swan, reporter Wendy-Ann Clarke, former Editor/Publisher Michael Simpson and regular columnist Deacon Robert Kinghorn.
Swan led the way, as he has done regularly at award season, with seven awards in total: along with his first place in Best In-depth News/Special Reporting category for his piece on “Pandemic writing,” Swan took three second-place awards (for analysis, best writing on local or regional event and best news writing on a one-time international event), two third-place honours for best in-depth news and writing on a national event, plus an honourable mention for photography.
Swan wasn’t finished there. He also took top spot for a book he wrote for Novalis Publishing. His top honour was for Here With Us: A Parish Guide to Serving People with Dementia.
Clarke topped the Best News Writing One Shot National Event for her story on saving a painting of St. Kateri Tekakwitha at a Manitoba church destroyed by fire last summer. The judges commended her for sharing this “important story to the community. Well told. … Showing the painting was a really key part of the community.”
Clarke also took second place in Best Reporting on Social Justice Issues - Life and Dignity of the Human Person category for a story on “Surviving Mount Cashel,” and an honourable mention for social justice issues (solidarity).
Simpson recently rode off into the sunset of retirement, but not before taking two awards for editorial writing, a first and a third.
Kinghorn’s column The Church on the Street was honoured as the best column on spiritual life. Judges noted that Kinghorn “makes his subjects come alive and fills the reader with a sense of grace.”
Other columnists collecting awards were Sr. Helena Raphael Burns, a second for best column on family life, and Charles Lewis who received a third place for his column on political issues.
Erik Canaria, who frequently does stints with The Register when in need, also took a third place for front cover. The Register picked up a second place for best seasonal issue and reporter/youth editor Quinton Amundson won honourable mention in best sports feature category for a piece on former NFLer Luke Willson.
Publisher-editor Peter Stockland, who succeeded Simpson in January 2022, called the awards a fitting testament to the talent and hard work of The Register teams members.
“There’s something bordering on the miraculous about the way these folks put their gifts together every week to produce a newspaper that’s both award-winning and reader-engaged,” Stockland said.
He added that the awards The Register took home must be put in the context of the robustness of Catholic journalism in North America.
“Some voices in the secular world delight in pointing out the Church’s vulnerabilities. When you consider the CPA awards, you realize one of the Church’s many glories is how the message of the Gospel produces great journalists doing great journalism,” Stockland said.