Bishop Boland, 73, a survivor of colon cancer, last year asked Pope John Paul II to allow him to step down early. The native of County Tipperary, Ireland, was appointed bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph in June 1993.
Robert Finn, 52, was named coadjutor in March 2004, the Vatican press office noted in its announcement today.
Born in St. Louis, he studied at the North American College, Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in theology at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum.
Ordained a priest of the St. Louis Archdiocese in July 1979, he served as an educator, as a parochial vicar in parishes, as archdiocesan director of Continuing Formation of Priests, and as editor of the archdiocesan newspaper, The St. Louis Review.
The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph counts about 144,500 Catholics in a total population of 1.4 million.
