Named for the patron saint of writers and journalists, the St. Francis de Sales Award recognizes "outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism" and is the highest honor the Catholic Media Association gives. This year, for the first time, a photographer was announced as the recipient.
Karen Callaway, longtime photo editor for the Chicago Catholic, received the 2026 St. Francis de Sales Award. While currently working for the Archdiocese of Chicago, the resident of Winfield got her start working in the Church as the first full-time photographer for the Diocese of Gary.
In a video shared during the 2026 Catholic Media Conference in Atlantic City, she expressed her appreciation and gave a shout-out to the Diocese of Gary, thanking past bishops of the Diocese of Gary – Bishop Norbert Gaughan and Bishop Dale Melczek – for their support.
“I want to thank everyone for this journey that I’ve been on these last 40 years,” she said. “It’s been amazing. I’m privileged to be able to tell the stories about people.”
Callaway grew up in Highland and was heavily influenced by her family’s Catholic faith. She recalled going to Mass on Sunday and visiting Bishop Andrew Grutka, the first Bishop of Gary, “who always had Fannie Mae candy.” Her mother, Donna "Vicki" Callaway, worked in the tribunal office for the Diocese of Gary for more than 30 years and her aunt, Valerie McManus, was the bishop’s secretary and continues to work in the Chancery, marking more than 50 years of service.
Callaway got the “photography bug” around seventh grade. She was a photographer for the Junior High Journal at Highland Junior High, and that interest carried onto high school.
“I was photographing my friends in sports and activities, and I’d give them the pictures,” she said. “I liked the response. They were so happy to get them, and they started asking me if I was going to come to their games and things like that, so I did.”
However, Callaway did not always dream of being behind the camera. She originally thought she would like to be a veterinarian. She loved animals and expressed her desire to become a vet from an early age. When it came time to enter college, she started taking classes at Purdue University Calumet on her way to entering veterinary school.
Callaway continued to take pictures, and took an extracurricular course on photography at Purdue. A fellow photographer, Tom Hawker, encouraged her to think about turning her hobby into a career.
“I was talking to him about photography careers, and he said, ‘If you are really serious about this, you should go to Columbia College,” Callaway said.
Later, she asked the Second Bishop of Gary, Bishop Gaughan, for his advice about where to attend school, and he likewise encouraged her to enroll at Columbia.
As a young adult, Callaway was working at a restaurant “making double baked potatoes” for seven years, while attending classes at Purdue and then Columbia College. She also began taking pictures as a freelancer for The Times newspaper and a local publication, Beat Magazine, published by Tom Lounges.
“I was having a blast,” she said. “I met all these crazy bands like Quiet Riot, Poison and all of the headbanger groups. I don't really like that kind of music, but it was fun.”
During this time, Callaway’s grandmother let her put in a dark room in a basement closet, so she bought the supplies needed to make prints.
One day her mother approached her and shared that the Diocese of Gary was starting a new newspaper and it was interested in hiring a photographer. Callaway originally expressed that she was “doing fine,” but agreed to meet with the editor, Brian Olszewski. He would offer her a position on staff.
Olszewski shared that he talked with the bishop and expressed to him that he felt she was a good fit – young and passionate about her career – and they wanted to give her a chance. Callaway admits that at first she was unfamiliar with the style of photography the diocese wanted, as she had only covered sports and musicians up to that point.
Callaway started in January of 1987 with an all-new staff to begin publishing the Northwest Indiana Catholic. Until that time, the diocese was partnering with Our Sunday Visitor, which had national news and just four pages wrapped around it with local news from the Gary diocese.
She remembered, “The bishop told us, ‘I want local news. I want you to show people in action and our parishes. I don't want staged pictures of golf teams. I really want you to show faith in action.’”
The bishop made sure a dark room was installed in the Pastoral Center. All images were done in black and white.
“It was the nicest darkroom … I mean compared to my grandmother's basement,” Callaway said. “They made sure I had everything I needed back then.”
Callaway went to work shooting Catholic Youth Organization games, parish festivals and more.
“My weekends were full,” Callaway said. “We covered CYO basketball games and volleyball games. I look at it now, and it was probably a little bit excessive, but we were all in our early 30s and younger, so we were kind of feeling the waters about what to do.”
She continued, “It was funny, because as things progressed through the years, Brian felt that if we were going to do somebody's festival, we had to do all of them. So, I literally would have 12 festivals a weekend.”
One year, Callaway was working on her birthday, capturing images of those various festivals. She was a little sad to be working on her birthday, but her roommate assured her they would celebrate when she was done. Throughout the day, many people wished her a happy birthday. Curious how they knew it was her date of birth, she finally asked one person how they were aware it was her birthday. Unbeknownst to her, a coworker had put a sign on her back that read, “My name is Karen and today’s my birthday.”
“Brian was so supportive of us through all of his time, but he would play these jokes on us and do all this stuff all the time,” she said.
It didn’t take long before Callaway was known on a first-name basis around the diocese. In return, she often remembered individuals by the event and location where she photographed them, describing it as a visual memory.
Callaway was also given the opportunity to travel. Bishop Gaughan first asked her if she would be interested in going to Haiti in the early 1990s. Having never been on a plane or residing outside of Northwest Indiana, she accepted, excited to take part in a new experience.
“Seeing that level of poverty changed me,” Callaway said. “And what changed me is that people were sending in checks to help those people. I thought, ‘If I can do this, if my pictures can have an influence to help somebody else, then this is what I want to do.’”
Callaway also visited Jamaica, Haiti, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana, taking photos for Catholic Relief Services.
“I got a letter. I remember it,” she said. “It was from a lawyer, and he said, ‘You know, you get newspapers, you read things, and there's information on how to help somebody. I usually throw it out, and I was so moved by your pictures, I sent them a check, and I don't normally do that.”
“God kind of sealed the deal for me then that I wanted to stay in the Catholic press,” she continued. “My experiences here in Gary – they molded me. They molded me to be able to go into a place as huge as Chicago.”
In 2007, as the Diocese of Gary was preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Callaway received a call from the Archdiocese of Chicago asking if she would be interested in working for them. After talking with family and friends, she felt she needed to take the job as a chance to grow in her field.
“It was very hard to leave,” she said. “Very hard to leave. I had to pray about it for many, many days.”
When Callaway advised Bishop Melczek of her plans to leave her position after 20 years, he understood but noted she was irreplaceable. He credited her for “putting Gary on the map.” She had built a relationship with Catholic News Service and her images from the diocese were being used all over the country.
That connection to CNS opened up opportunities for her to photograph several papal visits. She was offered a job in Rome but explained, “I was happy. I was happy here. I'm happy in Chicago, doing what I do. I don't like the limelight that much. I do it for the experience.”
Callaway continues to reflect positively on the many memories and stories she has from her time in the Diocese of Gary, from photographing playful moments like capturing a student soccer player jumping into a puddle to more serious life struggles like documenting a Special Olympian in training to a LaPorte mother's journey with cancer. She also looks fondly on the chance she had to teach underprivileged children the art of photography through the Cesar Chavez Catholic Worker House Photography Project.
Callaway believes a photograph should show emotion. She stated the best advice she ever got was, “Show me what they're feeling, not what they're doing.” She attributes some of her best pictures to watching for reactions and being aware of her surroundings.
Callaway sees her job as ministry, and continues to conduct her assignments with that in mind. She once received a letter and the envelope addressed to her as “Karen Callaway, photo minister,” and that description stuck with her.
“I'm gonna retire doing this,” she said. “When I retire, maybe other than taking pictures of my dogs, I might take a freelance assignment here and there from something, or somebody that needs some help.”
Reflecting on the selection of Pope Leo XIV, and the possibility of the American pontiff visiting the United States in the future, she joked, “Maybe that’s when I’ll retire, after his papal visit.”
To view photography taken by Karen Callaway in the Diocese of Gary, visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/dioceseofgary/albums/
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“When Karen joined the Northwest Indiana Catholic in 1987, few diocesan publications had a full-time photojournalist on staff. Karen’s hiring was an investment in Catholic visual storytelling, in moving beyond check-passing and grip-and-grin photos to attention-grabbing visuals that allowed readers/viewers to feel the emotions generated by her images.”
– Brian Olszewski, former editor and general manager of the Northwest Indiana Catholic for the Diocese of Gary, and former editor and general manager for the Catholic Herald for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee
“Karen’s work touches every corner of the Archdiocese of Chicago and reaches far beyond it. Her photography has appeared in Catholic magazines, Catholic News Service, books, and secular media. For decades, she has been a devoted recorder of Catholic life. An exemplary photojournalist, Karen is always striving to improve her craft, generously sharing her knowledge with others, and uplifting the profession she loves.”
– Nancy Wiechec, former visual media manager and photos and graphics editor for Catholic News Service
“The byline of Karen Callaway is synonymous with excellent photography. For the past 30 years Karen has dedicated her craft to telling the story of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago and beyond. From photographing community events in Chicago to covering national news for Catholic News Service, she has made impressive contributions to Catholic journalism.”
– Paul Haring, manager of photography for the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Connecticut, and Vatican photographer for Catholic News Service in Rome for 13 years
“We are always receiving requests to use her photos or to reprint them. More often than not, when we post Karen’s photos from events on our social media the views and interactions climb into the tens of thousands and several times a year an assignment will soar over 100,000 viewers and interactions just on Facebook alone. People can't help but respond to her images."
– Joyce Duriga, editor of Chicago Catholic
