Hawaii Catholic Herald
The Hawaii Catholic Herald netted five honors in the 2026 Catholic Media Awards last month, ranging from photography to newswriting to design.
The awards are given out by the Catholic Media Association, which names the winners during its annual Catholic Media Conference — held this year in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The awards recognize excellence in work produced in 2025 across a range of categories.
Reporter Lisa Dahm won second place in the “best news writing on a local event — non-weekly” category for her series of stories titled “Facing the future together,” which examined topics ranging from parish columbaria to bereavement ministries.
Editor Celia K. Downes also won second place in a writing category, “best investigative news writing — diocesan non-weekly,” with her report on the response by the Diocese of Honolulu’s parochial schools in the wake of a deadly attack on a school Mass in Minnesota.
Downes also won third place in the “obituaries” category for a story on Father Khanh Pham-Nguyen, who died last July. The beloved longtime pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Honolulu had just finished a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago when he passed away in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Herald placed third in the “best photograph — spot news” category for a photo taken during last year’s presbyterial ordinations of then-Deacon Preston Castro and then-Deacon Lawrence “Larry” Denis III.
Finally, the Herald’s front page marking the death of Pope Francis earned an honorable mention in the “best front page — print edition” category.