Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati Enquirer reporter and author, will be honored as the Salesian Guild’s Distinguished Communicator of the Year at the group’s annual dinner meeting in Cincinnati on Saturday, Jan. 26.

Cincinnati photographer Robert Flischel will be guest speaker, presenting an audiovisual program based on his coffee table book Messages of Glory: The Narrative Art of Roman Catholicism, which contains 272 images of art from churches in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Named for St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers, the Salesian Guild is an annual gathering of Greater Cincinnati Catholics working in various communication fields, including journalism, advertising, and public relations.  The group, which has no dues, comes together only once a year to share liturgy and fellowship.

This year’s event begins with Vigil Mass at 4:30 p.m. at St. Monica-St. George Church, 328 West McMillan Street in University Heights. A reception, dinner, and the program will follow. The cost is $25.

Cincinnati Cooks Catering will provide dinner. Proceeds from the catering help to fund Cincinnati Cooks! Training, a job skills program of the Freestore Foodbank.

More information and reservations are available by contacting Sean Ater at 513-421-3131 x 2733 or [email protected]. Reservations are needed by Jan. 18.

The Distinguished Communicator of the Year Award was begun in 1994, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Salesian Guild, to recognize a communications colleague who exhibits professional excellence and faith in action in the workplace.

Curnutte is being honored by the Salesian Guild “in recognition of his journalistic commitment to give voice to the voiceless in Cincinnati” through his work at the paper and in Haiti through his book A Promise in Haiti: A Reporter’s Notes on Families and Daily Lives.

  He has been with The Enquirer since 1993 and currently covers social justice and minority affairs. His book, published in 2011 by Vanderbilt University Press, is a 2011 silver level winner in the social sciences category of Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year contest. Curnutte is a member of San Carlos Borromeo Church, Carthage.

Sponsors for event are Susan Grogan Faller, presenting sponsor; Dinsmore & Shohl; and U.S. Digital Partners.