The Pilot's special issue on the installation of Archbishop Henning received several honors at this year's Catholic Media Awards, including first place for best special supplement. Pilot photo
The Pilot earned 11 Catholic Media Awards this year, including two first-place honors.
Each year, the Catholic Media Association invites submissions from Catholic newspapers, websites, and magazines to be judged for excellence by a panel of independent experts. The Pilot has been honored with awards each year since 2002.
This year's winners were announced at the Catholic Media Conference held June 24-27 in Phoenix, and the winners were listed in the June 2025 issue of The Catholic Journalist, the official publication of CMA, along with judges' comments on the winning entries.
This year, The Pilot was presented with two first-place awards, one for Best Newspaper Website and the other for Best Special Supplement or Special Issue with Advertising Emphasis for its October 2024 issue on the installation of Archbishop Richard G. Henning. Editor Antonio Enrique, Managing Editor Gregory L. Tracy, and Production Manager Nan Wilkins received the award for Best Website.
"This website has everything!" the judges noted. "It has rotating images in articles that have more than one image, a text-to-speech feature for accessibility, and an overall clean and consistent design."
The special issue on Archbishop Henning's installation was praised as "a very nice, colorful package with thorough coverage of an important event for your readers." Tracy, Wilkins, reporter Wes Cipolla, Advertising Manager Dan Maguire, and Special Issue Editor Father Robert O'Grady received the award. The installation special issue also received Second Place for Best Special Supplement and an Honorable Mention for Best Print Special Supplement on a Bishop's Transition.
Wilkins, Maguire, and Father O'Grady also won Third Place for Best Media Kit 2024. Tracy's photo of Bishop Cristiano Barbosa during his episcopal ordination in February 2024 received an Honorable Mention for Best Photograph -- Sacramental.
Pilot reporter Wes Cipolla received five awards, including an honorable mention, for his reporting in 2024.
His February profile of Sister Maureen Clark, a prison chaplain at MCI Framingham for over 30 years who recently helped secure the release of a woman wrongly convicted of murdering her two-year-old daughter, received Second Place for Best Personality Profile in the CMA Newspaper Division.
"The details offer readers valuable insight into both her work and her personality," the judges said. "It's a great example of strong storytelling."
Cipolla received third place for Best Reporting on a Special Age Group for his profiles of volunteers who received the Cheverus Award. The award is given annually to honor parishioners for their longtime service to the Archdiocese of Boston.
"This is a great series of profiles, excellent writing," the judges said.
Cipolla received third place for Best Reporting on the Celebration of a Sacrament for his August 2024 article about Holy Family Parish in Concord, which baptized the children and infants of Haitian immigrants living in a nearby emergency shelter.
"This is a wonderful and very timely topic, told through a well-crafted story with strong background, heartfelt moments, and real impact," the judges said in their comments. "The quotes are excellent -- especially the closing one, which is truly powerful, wow!"
Cipolla received second place for Best Reporting of Social Justice Issues -- Solidarity for his June 2024 article about the Archdiocese of Boston Survivor Advisory Council, a support group for people who were sexually abused by clergy.
"This piece features gripping and sensitive reporting and writing on a pressing topic," The Catholic Journalist said.
Cipolla's series of profiles of the archdiocese's Presbyteral Ordination Class of 2024 also received an Honorable Mention for Best Reporting on Priesthood, Religious Life or Diaconate.