On 6/7/2025, Fr. Bill Johnson Council #11665 toured the Pontifical College Josephenum, located in Columbus, Ohio. Grand Knight Tyler Kohl organized the event, and opened it up to area councils, including male relatives of brother Knights as well as prospective members. In total, 12 brother Knights (and 3 grandsons) from two local councils attended.

John Michael Adelman, from the Office of Advancement at the Josephenum gave us a wonderful tour, which included its history, the grounds, and many of the on-site buildings. One of the more amazing outside sites was the Stations of the Cross which included graves of several of the previous important members of the Josephenum faculty. The indoors tour included classrooms, a workout facility, an wonderful little Pub, and two amazing chapels. The Chapel of St. Turibius Josephenum had an amazing Mural as a backdrop (picture included below).

Fr. Joseph Jessing founded the Josephenum in 1888 with St. Joseph as Patron Saint and 23 young men from 11 states. Pope Leo XIII accepted them as a Pontifical College in 1892. The original building was in downtown Columbus. Construction on the current location started in 1929 and completed in 1931. It has had multiple modifications since. To date, the Josephenum has produced over 1900 priests! The college can hold as many as 250 seminarians, although it’s sweet spot is around 125. The current enrollment has been growing the last few years, and currently sits at 85. And in 2007, they added a Diaconate program!

As a token of our appreciation, we presented the Pontifical College Josephenum a $300 check.