The Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada presented The Pilot with four Catholic Press Awards at the May 29 at the closing of its annual Catholic Media Convocation held in Anaheim, Calif.

The awards, according to the CPA web site, “acknowledge individuals and publication teams for their outstanding work as members of the Catholic press.”

This year, The Pilot received second place in the category of Best News Writing on a Local or Regional Issue for Neil McCabe’s story, “Prayers, Rosary Help Brockton Couple Endure Mumbai Terrorist Attack.” The judges praised McCabe for the story’s strong lead and for its descriptive writing which resulted in what they called, “a dramatic and insightful story.”

Advertising Manager Larry Ricardo’s special supplement on Stewardship was awarded second place in the category of Best Advertising Volume Builder. The judges praised the effort to attract non-traditional advertisers that “rarely consider advertising in local media or mostly consider only business to business advertising.”

Msgr. Thomas J. McDonnell’s column “Lent’s Call: Contemplating the face of Christ” was awarded the third place in the Scripture Commentary category. The judges noted Msgr. McDonnell’s effective use of anecdotes and his resourcefulness.

“McDonnell extracts just two words from the Scriptures -- ‘I thirst’ -- and uses them as a springboard for a surprising number of theological reflections,” they said in their comments.

The Pilot’s web site, TheBostonPilot.com, was also recognized for the third consecutive year in the category of Best Web Site. This year, the site received the third place.

Editor Antonio Enrique welcomed the awards and expressed his gratitude to the Pilot’s staff for their hard work, which has earned The Pilot Catholic Press honors each year since 2002.

“We consistently try to maintain the high quality of the newspaper in all its aspects,” he said.

“The variety of this year’s awards, which recognized a local news story, a local columnist, a new advertising initiative and our web presence are a testament to the well rounded newspaper we strive to produce every week,” Enrique added.