By OSV News

CHICAGO (OSV News) — The Catholic Extension Society, based in Chicago, has received 46 nominees for its 2026-2027 Lumen Christi Award, and they hail from Alaska, Oregon and Maine to Southern California, Florida and Puerto Rico — and many places in between.

The Lumen Christi Award is Catholic Extension’s highest honor. Since 1978, it has been presented annually to people “who radiate and reveal the light of Christ present in the communities where they serve.”

Each year, bishops are asked to nominate one individual, group or institution from their diocese for the award. Collectively, their stories of spiritual care, compassionate service, and compelling self-sacrifice for others showcase the mission of the U.S. Church.

“The Lumen Christi Award is a real-time window into the incredible impact of people of faith in America,” Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension Society, said in a statement. “Born out of their love for God, the dedication of these nominees to the good of the Church and the good of their neighbors should make us all proud to be Catholic.”

From this year’s 46 nominees, announced June 24, a group of finalists will be announced later this summer, followed by the selection of a national honoree in the fall. Award finalists will receive $15,000 each, and the national honoree will be awarded $100,000 to support their ministry.

This year’s Lumen Christi nominee from the Diocese of Biloxi is Jennifer Williams.

Jennifer Williams has dedicated the past 25 years to helping the most vulnerable in the Diocese of Biloxi  better their lives, always guided by compassion and the inherent dignity of every person. Williams is now the executive director of Catholic Charities of South Mississippi (CCSM).  

Her journey with CCSM began nearly 30 years ago as a summer job during high school. What started as a temporary opportunity became a lifelong vocation to serve the poor. Returning each summer throughout college, Williams immersed herself in every aspect of the organization’s work, gaining a deep and practical understanding of the Church’s social mission. These formative experiences inspired her to pursue a degree in social work, launching her career in ministry. She later joined CCSM as a multi-program case worker, where her ministry with clients laid the foundation for her leadership today that is deeply relational and hands-on. 

Over the years, Williams has skillfully led CCSM through pivotal moments that have strengthened its impact across South Mississippi. She helped expand ministries to meet emerging needs, her leadership especially vital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when she helped guide the organization’s transition from immediate disaster relief to long-term recovery. Deacon John Jennings of Biloxi  praised Williams for approaching each challenge with a “calm and can-do demeanor.”     

One of the most significant milestones under her leadership came in May 2024 with the opening of the Mercy Cross Center, a day shelter and ministry of CCSM created in response to the tragic deaths of individuals experiencing homelessness, especially during extreme summer heat. Williams tirelessly created this service by transforming a Catholic high school gymnasium into a comprehensive, multiagency hub that restores dignity and offers pathways to stability. Guests can rest safely, access showers and laundry, receive medical and mental health care, connect with addiction recovery programs, and obtain assistance with benefits, identification documents, and other support services.  The impact has been profound. In 2025 alone, the Mercy Cross Center registered 255 guests, and by year’s end, 206 individuals had secured stable housing. Thousands of meals have been served, and CCSM now anticipates serving 175,000 families in the coming year. These results are made possible because Williams mobilizes resources and volunteers effectively. Additionally, her “gift for attentive listening,” according to Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III of Biloxi, has allowed her to understand the needs of clients, staff and community partners in order to act with clarity and vision.  Williams prioritizes presence over position. She ensures that CCSM’s mission is informed by real human experience and rooted in the Gospel call to serve. Through her leadership and the support of countless volunteers at CCSM, she continues to build a more compassionate Church—one encounter at a time.

The full list of nominees and their ministries includes:

— An Iraq war vet in the Diocese of Fresno, California, who is a full-time Catholic chaplain at Pleasant Valley State Prison in California’s Central Valley.

— The leader of a summer camp that helps teens find their place in the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana.

— A business man who as a deacon in the Diocese of Laredo, Texas, has a radio ministry to long-haul truck drivers providing spiritual and emotional accompaniment by praying meditations and the rosary with them.

— A registered nurse, wife and mother who works additional hours at her day job to fund Black Catholic youth ministry in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana.

— A deacon in the Diocese of San Bernardino, California who, with his wife, ministers to six church communities on Native American reservations in Southern California.

— The coordinator of Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, who is caring for children “orphaned” by immigration arrests.

— A former Washington Post journalist who founded the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light, in the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, New York, to provide religious formation to children, youth and adults; promote religious vocations;and serve the sick, homebound and grieving.

— A Piarist priest in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, at the Piarist School in Prestonsburg — in the poorest congressional district in the U.S. — who works with faculty to ensure that 100% of the students at the school he founded go to college.

— Sapa Un Jesuit Academy in the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, a K-8 Catholic school located on the Rosebud Indian Reservation that is a ministry of St. Francis Mission to form future leaders for the reservation.

Last year, out of more than 40 nominees, the 2025-2026 Lumen Christi Award went to a pastor and an educator: Father Melvin Díaz, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, and Carmen Alicia Rodríguez Echevarría, the parish school’s principal.

The award’s $100,000 was shared by the honorees and the Diocese of Ponce, to put toward the continual efforts to rebuild the historic Immaculate Conception parish and school after a 6.4 magnitude quake almost completely leveled the parish buildings in 2020.

The mission of Catholic Extension Society, founded in 1905, is to build up the Catholic faith communities in underserved regions of the U.S., including offshore U.S. territories.

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NOTES: The full list of Catholic Extension’s 46 nominees for the Lumen Christ Award is at: https://www.catholicextension.org/what-we-do/lumen-christi-award/2026-2027-lumen-christi-award-nominees.