Texas Catholic Historical Journal Wins Catholic Press Awards

AUSTIN, Texas –Catholic Southwest: A Journal of History and Culture was honored by the Catholic Press Association with three awards for its 2011 issue, including winning a second place award for General Excellence, at the annual Catholic Media Conference Press Award reception.

A publication of the Texas Catholic Historical Society, Catholic Southwest competed with other publications from across the country in the Scholarly Magazines General Excellence category, placing second behind the National Catholic Bioethics Center, a journal that focuses on Catholic bioethics and medical ethics.

A third place award in the Best Review Section division went to Catholic Southwest’s book review editor, University of Dallas Professor Thomas Jodziewic. The judges described the review section as a “well assembled collection” with “nice variety.”

A first place award was earned in the Best Cover (4 Color – Small) in the Magazine/Newsletter category for a feature photo of Saint Katharine Drexel, founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, in front of a Catholic school for African-American children in Port Arthur, Texas, during the 1920s. The Catholic Press Association praised the artwork, describing it as “a fun compelling image [that] takes us back in time. . . . It provokes a feeling of the past and urges the reader to ask, what is happening here! What a great lure to the inside pages.”

The image illustrated the article One Bread, One Body: The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Southeast Texas, which recalled Saint Katharine and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who funded and taught at schools in Beaumont and Port Arthur.

“Catholic Southwest is the premier regional journal on Catholicism in the United States,” the journal's editor Richard Fossey said upon hearing of the awards. “Since its founding, we have been blessed by having the involvement of great scholars who are experts on Catholicism in the Southwest and we see the fruit of their work in the journal’s continued recognition from the Catholic Press Association.”

The Catholic Press Association works to support Church communication efforts and confers awards annually to recognize the valuable work of Catholic publications throughout the year. This year’s award entries were judged by the Schools of Journalism at Marquette University and Spring Hill College, and awards were announced at the Catholic Press Association’s 2012 Catholic Media Conference on June 22 in Indianapolis.

The 2011 award-winning issue includes several book reviews and essays which illustrate the spirit of harmony and good will exemplified in the history of the Catholic Southwest, including articles on the Middle Rio Grande District of Coahuila, the Mexican Ethno-Catholicism and Inculturation of El Paso, and the Southwest’s role in the making of Anglicanorum Coetibus.

The next edition of Catholic Southwest will be released this fall. It includes articles on the Cathedral of San Agustin in Laredo, an essay on Our Lady of El Pueblito, and essays on Texas preparations for Vatican II.

Published annually by the Texas Catholic Historical Society, Catholic Southwest features essays on aspects of the Roman Catholic heritage in Texas and the Southwest as expressed through history, art, architecture, literature, music, and other related subjects. The journal is a core component of the Texas Catholic Historical Society’s endeavors to discover, collect, preserve, and publish historical material relating to the Catholic community in Texas and the Southwest.

To subscribe to Catholic Southwest or learn more about the Texas Catholic Historical Society, call 512-339-9882 or visit www.TxCatholicHistoricalSociety.org.