The 2009 Christian Stewardship Award is presented to:

The Most Reverend John J. McRaith
Bishop Emeritus
Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky

For more than a quarter of a century Bishop McRaith faithfully served the people of the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, as well as the universal Church. Upon his retirement earlier this year, one of his episcopal colleagues praised Bishop McRaith as an individual whose life and ministry radiated the stewardship of God’s gifts.

Bishop McRaith was born in Hutchinson, Minnesota, in 1934 on the feast of St. Nicholas.

His education began in a one room country school. He attended St. john’s Preparatory School in Collegeville, and both Loras College and St. Bernard Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.

Bishop McGraith graduated from St. Bernard Seminary School of Theology in Dubuque, Iowa, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1960. He served as chancellor and vicar general of the diocese, and as executive director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference from 1971 to 1978.

The retired archbishop of Louisville, Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., recalled that Bishop McRaith, on an early 1980 visit to the rural area of the archdiocese, told his listeners that God had given them the earth to care for, not to exploit. Archbishop Kelly noted that he spoke gently but urgently about the stewardship responsibilities of every human being. In 1982, Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop McRaith the third bishop of Owensboro Kentucky.

Bishop McRaith served on numerous committees for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops including the Ad Hoc Committee on Stewardship. He was one of the original members of the committee which was responsible for authoring the 1992 bishops’ pastoral letter Stewardship: A Disciples’ Response, one of the most important pastoral letters of the late 20th century. Bishop McRaith summarized its message well, “Once one chooses to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, stewardship is not an option.”

Serving as bishop of Owensboro from 1982 to 2009, he included among his pastoral priorities: spiritual renewal, evangelization, planning, and establishing diocesan consultative councils. He has indeed been a gift to the Church and in his retirement, will continue to inspire.