KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has announced that a former bishop, Bishop Raymond Boland, has passed away at age 82. Bishop Finn said in a statement that he returned to his native Ireland this past Saturday with his brother, Bishop Kevin Boland, and died in a hospice center in Cork surrounded by family.
Bishop Boland was installed as the bishop of the diocese on September 9, 1993 and had his request for retirement accepted by the Vatican on May 24, 2005, making him bishop emeritus. He was ordained in 1957 and served as the Bishop of Birmingham, Alabama after his Episcopal Ordination in March of 1988.
His obituary penned by Catholic Key associate editor Kevin Kelly notes that Bishop Boland had previously written a document entitled “My Personal Funeral Arrangements” in September of 2001 after he survived a cancer operation.
An excerpt from that document is as follows:
“For that reason, I would hope that my passing will not bring sorrow or pain to others because I will be sharing the happiness promised by the Lord of compassion and love. It is my prayer and I only ask that, on my behalf, it be yours too, at least for a little while, that the God of mercy will be waiting to welcome me home.”
