MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Father Richard Erikson, a member of the Saint Anselm College Class of 1980, has been presented with the Catholic Leadership Award by the Saint Anselm College Alumni Association. The award recognizes active service to the Church or to the greater Catholic community by a Saint Anselm graduate who is either a member of the clergy or a lay person.

Father Erikson, along with six other distinguished Saint Anselm alumni, received their awards during a dinner Oct. 3 at the college.

“Summing up Richard Erikson’s contributions to the Catholic Church is not an easy task,” said Kevin Grady, president of the Alumni Association, in presenting the award. “He made a commitment to the Catholic Church as a young man and has served as an educator, a military chaplain, a parochial vicar and administrator.”

Grady noted the importance of Father Erikson’s current work as the second highest-ranking priest in the Archdiocese of Boston -- vicar general and moderator of the curia for the archdiocese.

“By serving in this role with compassion and integrity, Richard Erikson has increased the trust and confidence of parishioners and helped thousands to strengthen their own faith and commitment,” said Grady, a 1996 Saint Anselm grad who serves as a vice president at Fidelity Investments in Providence, R.I.

“I knew I wanted to go to a Catholic college, not a somewhat Catholic college or a sometime Catholic college,” Father Erikson said, accepting the award. “God led me to Saint Anselm College. Here, the love that my family and my friends gave me for the Catholic Church blossomed. Here I grew even more deeply in my faith.”