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  Vatican Accepts Kansas City Bishop's Resignation

By Matt Sedensky
The Associated Press, carried in The Kansas City Star [Kansas City MO]
May 24, 2005

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Vatican accepted the early retirement Tuesday of Bishop Raymond J. Boland, whose ailing health pushed him to leave his post as leader of the region's 140,000 Roman Catholics.

Boland, 73, headed the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph for 12 years, but last year asked Pope John Paul II to allow him to step down. He is a colon cancer survivor who has a fatigue-inducing condition called hemochromatosis.

"The time has come to say goodbye," Boland told staffers Tuesday morning. "A diocese is not well served by a bishop whose energy is compromised by ailments too boring to enumerate."

Pope Benedict XVI's acceptance of Boland's retirement automatically put Coadjutor Bishop Robert W. Finn at the helm. The Vatican appointed Finn to the diocese last March after Boland asked for an assistant.

Bishops are required to submit their resignations at 75, though it's up to the pope whether to accept them. The succession process of bishops is seldom as fast as this one; dioceses often wait months or longer to have a new leader appointed after another's departure.

A native of Ireland who speaks in a deep brogue, Boland was ordained to the priesthood in Washington in 1957. He led three parishes there, held various archdiocesan posts and coordinated Pope John Paul II's visit in 1979.

Boland served as bishop of Birmingham, Ala., for five years until his move here in September 1993.

In Kansas City, his efforts were varied, from a massive construction campaign that put up 14 new churches to working with farmers and business leaders to spur rural economies by building ethanol plants.

He also spent $15 million developing new housing for the elderly and disabled and worked to develop a new high school - set to open next year - aiming to give low-income students college preparation while they work to pay for their education through an internship program.

Boland's tenure was not without incident.

He was named in numerous lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by his priests, though he was never accused of abuse himself. Years before the church's abuse crisis erupted, Boland was involved in forming a training program, "Protecting God's Children," to help create safe environments for children and to teach adults warning signs of abuse.

Finn, 52, is a St. Louis native who studied there and in Rome. He was ordained a priest in 1979, serving in parishes and, more recently, as editor of the archdiocesan newspaper, The St. Louis Review.

 
 

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