Detroit — The Michigan Catholic was named the second-best Catholic newspaper of its size in North America in the Catholic Press Association’s annual awards process, earning second place for “General Excellence.”

The award was one of two the paper earned for its work in 2013. The judges wrote that The Michigan Catholic showed a “careful balance of international and regional and local news important to a diverse Catholic population,” and an “excellent layout of an abundance of content.”

The Michigan Catholic competed in a category with other Catholic newspapers in the U.S. and Canada with a circulation between 17,000 and 40,000, the middle of three circulation ranges. Other winners in its category included The Compass (Green Bay, Wis., first place), the Tennessee Register (Nashville, Tenn., third place) and The Catholic Spirit (Metuchen, N.J., honorable mention).

The Michigan Catholic also earned a first-place award for Best Personality Profile for a story on the retirement of its own longtime reporter, Robert Delaney. The story, titled “Longtime Michigan Catholic reporter putting down the pen,” ran in May 2013 and was written by managing editor Mike Stechschulte.

Judges remarked that the story showed Delaney’s “love for reporting, facts, humor and more are revealed through great attention to detail and use of language.”

The Michigan Catholic, which is published biweekly, has been the official newspaper of the Church of Detroit for nearly 142 years. This spring, the newspaper further enhanced its content and online offerings. For details or a subscription, visit www.themichigancatholic.com/subscribe or call the circulation department at (313) 224-8002.