On Feb. 18, the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, announced its 2025 Good Shepherd Dinner honorees. The seminary holds the dinner every year and bestows the honors to members of the clergy and the laity. This year, Birmingham’s Bishop Steven J. Raica will be recognized with the 2025 Good Shepherd Award, and Kathleen Gibbons will be awarded the Pope Leo XIII Award for her support for the Church, the priesthood, vocations, and the Josephinum. 

According to the seminary, the annual Good Shepherd Award, which was first conferred in 2009, “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.”

Bishop Raica joined Josephinum’s Board of Trustees in 2019, while serving as Bishop of Gaylord. As the Bishop of Birmingham, he serves as vice chair of the Board and as chair of the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee. “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,” said Father Steven Beseau, rector and president of the Josephinum. 

The Good Shepherd Award and Pope Leo XIII Award will be presented at the Good Shepherd Dinner on April 28. The dinner is the Josephinum’s signature fundraising event; proceeds support its programs for men discerning a priestly vocation. 

“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,” said Father Beseau. “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 the seminarians of the Pontifical College Josephinum and the Good Shepherd Dinner, please visit the Josephinum’s website at pcj.edu/goodshepherd.