Hawaii Catholic Herald
The Hawaii Catholic Herald picked up six journalism awards at the Catholic Media Association’s Catholic Media Conference June 27 in Phoenix, Arizona, for work done in 2024.
The newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu won first place for “Best Reporting on a Special Age Group — Children and Teens Younger than 18” for “A celebration of community,” a story by editor Celia K. Downes on the 25th anniversary of the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement in Hawaii.
The Herald also won first place in the “Best In-Depth News/Special Reporting” in non-weekly papers category for the story by now-retired editor Patrick Downes titled “Local research complete, Dutton’s cause heads to Rome,” on the canonization cause for layman Joseph Dutton.
Celia Downes took third place in the same “in-depth news” category for her story on the recovery in Lahaina following the deadly 2023 wildfire, “Wildfire recovery shows community’s resilience, support.”
Hawaii Catholic Herald reporter Jennifer Rector won an honorable mention in the same category for her story “Walking away from marriage: Marriages within church continue to decline,” an examination of the trend of young Catholics avoiding the sacrament of matrimony.
A story by Rector on Lahaina’s Sacred Hearts School’s resolute steps to recovery following the 2023 fire, headlined “Hope, gratitude endure,” won second place in the “Best News Writing on a Local or Regional Event — non-weekly” category.
Rector’s Maui story also took third place in the “Best Coverage on Catholic Education” category.