He also pointed out that this was the third time he was nominated for the St. Francis de Sales Award, but in previous years, he said he never thought he lost because he was nominated, just as he was this year, along with "such incredible people."

This year's other nominees were:

-- Lou Baldwin, a freelance writer for CatholicPhilly.com, the news website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He's the author of two books about St. Katharine Drexel. Baldwin grew up in the Philadelphia orphanage founded by the saint, where he met his wife, Rita. He wrote his first article for The Catholic Standard & Times, former Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper, about the orphanage when it closed in 1984. Baldwin was a staff writer at the newspaper for 16 years. He retired in 2002 and continues to freelance for CatholicPhilly.com.

-- Jeff Hensley, editor of North Texas Catholic, the newspaper of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, from 1988 to 2017. During his tenure, he oversaw the publication's transition from a twice-monthly newspaper to a monthly newspaper, then to a full-color magazine with a digital presence. He created the Word to Life series for Catholic News Service.

-- Joseph Kirk Ryan, editor and general manager of The Dialog, newspaper of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware. Joseph Kirk Ryan started at The Catholic Standard & Times in Philadelphia in 1977, where he worked in various editorial positions until 2002. He was editor and general manager of The Dialog, from 1983 to 1986. He was managing editor of The Catholic Review in Baltimore from 2002 to 2006. He's a former longtime board member of the CPA and was its president from 1998 to 2000.

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Carol Zimmermann in Quebec City and Colleen Dulle in Washington contributed to this story.