Karen Callaway wins national award for Catholic journalism

The following are some of Karen Callaway's favorite photos that she has taken in her 20 years working for Chicago Catholic in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Preschool student Jasmine Nwokenkwo celebrates during a dance party at the end of the celebration. Students and staff at St. Norbert School in Northbrook celebrated their Blue Ribbon win with a pep rally on Jan. 30, 2026. In September 2025, a record-breaking 10 Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Chicago were informed they qualified for the prestigious National Blue Ribbon Award given annually by the U.S. Department of Education. St. Norbert School planned their celebration as part of Catholic Schools Week. The awards, which have been given since 1982 to recognize excellence in education, go to schools who achieve reading and test scores in the top 15 percentile in the country, and no more than 50 awards are made to private schools each year. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

A man carries crosses. Over 700 crosses were carried along Michigan Avenue on Dec. 31, 2016 — one for each person killed in 2016 in Chicago. Greg Zanis, of Aurora, constructed the crosses with the help of volunteers and distributed them to families of the victims. St. Sabina Parish and its pastor, Father Michael Pfleger, helped to organize the march. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, visited patients and their families who cannot be home to celebrate Christmas due to hospitalization at Lurie Children’s Hospital, 225 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, on Christmas Day, 2017. The cardinal prayed over patients and handed out a medal blessed by Pope Francis and a prayer card. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Students from the Academy of St. Benedict the African, St. Ailbe School, St. Philip Neri School and St. Sabina Academy sing in the choir. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich presided over the Archdiocese of Chicago’s 40th Annual African American Heritage Prayer Service on Feb. 23, 2013, at Holy Name Cathedral. The theme for this year’s service is Kwanzaa: First We Are One in the Spirit. Students, teachers, administrators and clergy came together in prayer and song to share in honoring and celebrating Black History Month and the rich history of black Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

On Jan. 15, 2018, parishioners from St. Sabina Church in Chicago, joined by Purpose Over Pain (parents who have lost children to gun violence) and BRAVE Youth Group, held a silent march in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his commitment to non-violence, those who have lost their lives to the epidemic of violence plaguing Chicago, and the already growing number of shootings this month. Participants carried blue lights to represent the fight for peace. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Father Ken Simpson places dried palms into a fire as students from St. Clement School in Chicago look on Feb. 17, 2015. The ashes will be distributed on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, which marks the start of Lent in the Latin-rite Catholic Church. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Newly ordained Cristian Garcia receives the Kiss of Peace from Bishop Mark Bartosic during his ordination to the priesthood on May 17, 2025, at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State St., Chicago. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Children are all smiles during a ride on the Dragon Wagon. Opening night was packed was for families attending the Most Holy Redeemer Parish Carnival in Evergreen Park, on July 29, 2021. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Pam Bosley, co-founder of Purpose Over Pain, comforts Melissa Taylor who's 14-year-old son Tyrese Taylor was killed in North Lawndale neighborhood, on June 10, 2021. Father Michael Pfleger and the Faith Community of Saint Sabina began their Friday Night Peace Walks through the summer in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on June 25, 2021. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

A young man prays during Mass with Archbishop Cupich celebrated Mass at St. Sabina Parish on March 6, 2016. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Participants pray the Our Father during Mass as Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Melrose Park hosted a Mass and eucharistic procession in support of the migrant community on Sept. 24, 2025. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Young men release doves as the "El Senor de los Milagros" ("Lord of the Miracles") procession leaves St. Ignatius Church in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago Oct. 19, 2008. The procession commemorates a revered image of Christ that survived a devastating 17th-century earthquake in Lima, Peru. Peruvian Catholics pay homage to the icon each year with special novenas and processions. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

During a spring snowfall, parishioners from Holy Trinity Polish Church in Chicago stop in front of St. Stanislaus Church to pray the Stations of the Cross in Polish April 5, 2009. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Ken Krzak adjusts the rosary as workers crown the Our Lady of the New Millennium statue prior to her weekend stay at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago May 8, 2009. Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, the 33-foot-tall stainless-steel statue was transported from parish to parish throughout the Chicago area. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Pilgrims brave rain and 90-degree temperatures Aug. 8, 2009 during a two-day, 33-mile trek through Chicago from the city's St. Michael Church to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Merrillville, Ind. More than 6,000 people participated in the 22nd annual pilgrimage, a centuries-old tradition brought to the U.S. by Polish immigrants. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

A large rosary hangs from the Our Lady of the New Millennium statue in Chicago Sept. 18, 2009. At right is the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, a Chicago icon. (Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic)

Deacon Leroy Gill from Holy Angels Church in Chicago points up to the sky during an Aug. 27, 2011, prayer service on a beach in Chicago. The Black Catholic Deacons of Chicago hosted five back-to-school sunrise prayer services to pray for nonviolence during the 2011-2012 school year. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Phillip Demma officiates as Ryan Zawarus and Xavier Fernandez duke it out in the first match of the night at the Our Lady of the Ridge Men's Club's annual pre-Lenten Boxing Show in Chicago Ridge, Ill., Feb. 25, 2012. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo take part in a prayer vigil and protest outside their home in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park March 22, 2012. Residents took to the streets to protest a new strip club set to open soon within steps of the sisters' convent. (Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

Balloons, including some forming a rosary, float over a demonstration in Chicago's Federal Plaza March 23, 2012. Catholic, Protestant and Jewish leaders addressed the crowd gathered to protest the Obama administration's HHS contraception mandate. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

Cardinal Francis George places a flower April 25, 2012, atop one of the boxes containing the remains of 120 unborn children after presiding over the burial of some of the bodies found stockpiled at a medical examiner's office. Earlier this year, the Archdiocese of Chicago offered up to 300 graves to help clear the backlog of remains waiting for burial at the Cook County Morgue. (Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

Nathaniel Akroush, dressed as Pope Francis, makes his way through the halls of Everest Academy in Lemont, Ill., as the school marks its annual "Pope Day" April 19, 2013. Students at the Catholic academy learned about the pope and what he does as spiritual leader. They also chose a peer to represent the pontiff, basing their selection on character, spirituality and dedication to serving others. (Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

A woman touches a bust of St. Anthony of Padua at St. John Bosco Parish in Chicago as she approaches to venerate relics of the saint June 16, 2013. (Karen Callaway/Catholic New World)

A man carries a banner with other participants in a march Oct. 19, 2013, through downtown Chicago from Holy Name Cathedral to Old St. Mary's Church to call for congressional action on immigration reform. The march was part of a days-long campaign of "Prayer, Fasting and Action for Congress," sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago's Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Junior Martinez holds one of his family's chickens outside their home in Steele, Ala., Oct. 24, 2013. His father works at a tomato farm during harvest and then looks for other work in the off-season. Chicago Auxiliary Bishop John R. Manz recently returned from a visit to Alabama, his 10th such trip to meet, pray and talk with migrant workers. (Karen Callaway/ Catholic New World)

Students from Chicago's St. Ignatius College Prep cheer during a school choice rally outside an Illinois state building in Chicago Sept. 25, 2014. (Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic)

Gloria Posada prays while songs were being sung at the annual Hispanic Charismatic Renewal at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on April 26, 2008. More than 10,000 Hispanic Catholics gathered over a two-day weekend. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Maurizio Ortiz holds up a flag as demonstrators pack Federal Plaza in Chicago after marching from the west side of the city to rally against pending immigration legislation on March 10, 2006. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Julian Betancourt works on a science project in his classroom. Preschoolers work on a variety of activities at the Catholic Charities Family Center in Berwyn on July 17, 2008. (Catholic New World/Karen Callaway)

Briana Tena, a first-grade student at St. Mary of Czestochowa School, Cicero, reacts to a question about her summer activities from her new teacher Carmelite Sister Sheena Mathew during the first day of school on Aug. 22, 2007. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Counselor Devin Jones, a parishioner at St. Denis Church in Chicago, becomes a human sundae with the help of campers during the final day of "Totus Tuus", a summer day camp/mission program at St. Stephen Deacon and Martyr Church in Tinley Park, Ill., July 13, 2007. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Deacon Leroy Gil, from Holy Angels Parish and Deacon John Cook lead participants in song during a Praise and Worship Service at Oakwood/41st Street Beach, 4100 S. Lake Shore Dr, in Chicago on Aug. 21, 2010. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Father John Kartje, rector of Mundelein Seminary/University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, raises the Eucharist as the procession stopped at the copula at the seminary along the route. The Archdiocese of Chicago kicked-off the opening of activities to welcome the National Eucharistic Congress with hundreds attending Mass, Adoration and Procession for Youth at Mundelein Seminary on June 26, 2024. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Pope Benedict XVI waves following Mass at Nationals Park April 17, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop John "Jack" Gorman, Bishop Raymond Goedert and Father William "Bill" Flaherty share a laugh as they celebrated their 71st Ordination Anniversary with family and friends on May 1, 2023. They are the remaining men from the 50 classmates who were ordained in 1952 from University of Saint Mary of the Lake and Mundelein Seminary. Retired Auxiliary Bishop Francis Kane read a congratulatory letter from Cardinal Cupich and Monsignor Wayne Prist read the names of all who were ordained in 1952 who have passed away during the gathering. Bishop Gorman was rector of USML, Bishop Goedert was president of the Canon Law Society, and Vicar General. He was also a survivor of the Andria Doria which sunk in 1956. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)