The Pontifical College Josephinum will honor Bishop Steven Raica of Birmingham, Alabama, with its 2025 Good Shepherd Award and Kathleen Gibbons of Dublin with its Pope Leo XIII Award, the two highest honors the seminary bestows annually on members of the clergy and the laity, at the Good Shepherd Dinner on Monday, April 28.
Bishop Raica, who joined Josephinum’s Board of Trustees in 2019 while serving as Bishop of Gaylord, Mich., continues to bring strong and insightful leadership to the seminary as Vice Chair of the Board and as Chair of the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee.
Bishop Raica is a native of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He was ordained in 1978 for the Diocese of Lansing and, during his years as a priest, had a wide range of parish and pastoral experiences in Michigan.
He spent a number of years in Rome, where he served as superior of the Casa Santa Maria post-graduate residence for American priests, and obtained his doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Pope Francis named then-Father Raica the bishop of Gaylord in 2014 and bishop of Birmingham in 2020.
“The Josephinum has had the privilege of forming seminarians from both Birmingham and Gaylord for many years,” said Father Steven Beseau, the Josephinum’s rector-president. “It is an honor for us to recognize Bishop Raica for his support of vocations, his valuable contributions to our Board of Trustees and, above all, for his lifetime of witness to faith as a priest and bishop after the heart of Christ.”
First conferred in 2009, the annual Good Shepherd Award is presented to a member of the clergy who exemplifies in his life and ministry the qualities of a good shepherd, especially in the promotion of vocations and in support of the Josephinum and its seminarians. The conception of this award considers how Jesus Christ, as the Good Shepherd, exhorted the apostles to lay down their lives for the sake of love (cf. Jn 15:12f).
Gibbons is the winner of an award named for the pope who granted the Josephinum pontifical status in 1892. The honor is given to an individual in recognition of his or her support for the Church, the priesthood, vocations and the Josephinum.
The Josephinum has enjoyed a relationship with Gibbons for more than 40 years. In 1984, she helped to establish The Friends of the Josephinum, a lay organization that raises funds to assist seminarians. She also served on the Josephinum’s Board of Trustees for nine years, orchestrating many fundraising events. Through the decades, Gibbons graciously has continued to support the seminary and its mission to form priests.
In addition to her relationship with the Josephinum, Gibbons is a patron of many Catholic charities and causes. She and John “Jack” Gibbons, her late husband of 56 years, raised their six children in the Columbus diocesan school system and for many years were lay leaders for diocesan fundraising efforts.
She is a founding member of Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare Church, served on the board of St. Stephen’s Community House and was integral in the opening of the Columbus’ Women’s Care Center.
Gibbons also started the Columbus chapter of The Christ Child Society, serving eight years on the organization’s board and then as its national president. She is the first female Dame in the Holy Order of Malta in the Central Region and has served on the boards of St. Mary’s College and Holy Cross College, both in Notre Dame, Indiana.
“Few people have influenced the Catholic presence in central Ohio as much as Mrs. Kathleen Gibbons,” Father Beseau said. “Her determined efforts and dedicated leadership for so many charities and organizations, including the Josephinum, embody what it means to use one’s gifts to live the Gospel message. It is with great respect and admiration that we recognize her with the Pope Leo XIII Award.”
The Good Shepherd Dinner is the Josephinum’s signature fundraising event. Proceeds support its programs for men discerning a priestly vocation. Funds are raised through a variety of sponsorship opportunities, all of which are available to individuals, parishes, dioceses, organizations and companies.
“The Good Shepherd Dinner offers us a rare opportunity to recognize our honorees and to raise funds essential to our mission of forming holy, generous, adaptable, and resilient priests,” Father Beseau said. “The exceptional formation program we offer our seminarians is made possible only by the generosity of all who support us.”
To learn more about supporting seminarians of the Pontifical College Josephinum and the Good Shepherd Dinner, visit pcj.edu/goodshepherd.