About Bishop Emeritus Boland
About Bishop Emeritus Boland
Born in Tipperary, Ireland on February 8, 1932, Bishop Raymond J. Boland is the eldest of four sons of the late John J. and Gertrude O'Brien Boland. His parents settled in Cork City shortly after his birth. John Boland was the District Sales Manager of the national Electricity Supply Board. His mother, a full time homemaker, was active in numerous Catholic organizations.
Bishop Boland's brother, Kevin, is the Bishop of Savannah, Georgia. His brother, Frank, has a number of business interests in the city of Cork, Ireland and he serves on a number of national and international boards. Frank's wife, Mary, is a sales executive with Aer Lingus. His brother, Tony along with his wife, Colette, recently retired from a number of retail businesses they operated in Kinsale, County Cork, where they continue to live.
Educated in Ireland, Bishop Boland attended Christian Brothers College, Cork, the National University of Ireland (Dublin campus) and he received his theological education at All Hallows Missionary College in Drumcondra, Dublin. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in June, 1957. Spending the next 31 years in Washington, Bishop Boland was Pastor of three parishes; St. Hugh in Greenbelt, St. Michael and St. Camillus both in Silver Spring .
On the archdiocesan level he was Assistant Director of the Youth Department (1960-75), Archdiocesan Secretary for Catholic Education (1975-81), Delegate for Communications, Chancellor, Moderator of the Curia and Vicar General.
He was a two term Chairman of the Archdiocesan Council of Priests, an Archdiocesan Consultor and the coordinator of the October 1979 state visit of Pope John Paul II to Washington.
In 1984, he spent three months in Dublin at All Hallows College as Pastor in Residence. While there, he authored a number of studies on the future direction of the Seminary. In 1992, he was the homilist for the 150th Anniversary Mass of All Hallows attended by over 600 priest alumni from dioceses worldwide.
He was named a Chaplain of His Holiness in 1973 and a Prelate of Honor in 1978, both during the Pontificate of Pope Paul VI.
Ordained Bishop of Birmingham, Alabama in March, 1988, Bishop Boland served there for five years. During his tenure he rebuilt John Carroll High School , renovated St. Paul ’s Cathedral, served on the Boards of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and the Notre Dame Graduate School of Theology in New Orleans, LA. Along with Archbishop Lipscomb of Mobile, AL he issued a Pastoral Letter on the Implications of Poverty in Alabama and a Provincial Statement on the Impact of Religious Fundamentalism. In June, 1989 he graduated from Leadership Birmingham.
As a member of what is now known as the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), Bishop Boland chaired the Bishops' Committee on Communications for three years and concurrently served on the Conference's Administrative Board. He has also been a member of the Nominations Committee, the Episcopal Board for the American College in Louvain, Belgium and the Committees for Provinces, Dioceses and the Selection of Bishops. He has been a Consultant Member of the Pro-Life Committee and the Committee for Migrants and Refugees where he represented the interests of emigrants from Ireland pastorally cared for by the Irish Apostolate USA. For ten years he led the U.S. Catholic component of the Northern Ireland InterChurch Committee along with national representatives of the Presbyterian Church. This Committee, along with their Northern Ireland counterparts, sponsored the Call for Fair Employment, encouraged international investment and initiated and supported a comprehensive interdenominational program for university students in Northern Ireland, enabling them to receive one year of their business education in the United States.
In 1993, Pope John Paul II named Bishop Boland to lead the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in northwest Missouri. Working with his pastors, he encouraged the building of 14 new churches, a number of parish halls and multiple school additions. He promoted the first capital campaign in the history of the diocese. Gift of Faith enabled the four diocesan high schools to renovate and upgrade their facilities or purchase land for future educational use. It also allowed the diocese to undertake the complete restoration and renovation of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The new Mystical Rose window and a specially commissioned rendition of Our Lady of the Universe in glass crystal were added features of an overall design which won a number of architectural awards. The Permanent Diaconate program was restored, parish vocation committees were initiated, lay ministry programs were evaluated and a new Lay Ministry of Prayer initiative was organized to increase familiarity of the use, where necessary, of Sunday liturgical celebrations in the absence of a priest.
Bishop Boland promoted the establishment of endowments to ensure the continuity of Catholic schools and he sponsored the study, which resulted in the opening of the new Cristo Rey High School for the economically deprived students of the urban areas of metropolitan Kansas City.
To respond to the growth in the Lee's Summit suburb,he established a new parish dedicated to St. Margaret of Scotland. Under the bishop's guidance the diocese produced the Millennium Study in 1997, which researched the pastoral needs of the diocese in anticipation of the new millennium. It received input from diocesan staff, dozens of committee members covering every aspect of diocesan and parish life and the suggestions of those who attended multiple convocations throughout the 27-county diocese. Its recommendations became the blueprint for reviewing old programs and starting new ones.
With the assistance of many willing volunteers Bishop Boland sponsored the Annual SOS Banquet to finance the education of seminarians, the Bishop Boland Golf Tournament to finance the Catholic Charities Adoption Programs and, in cooperation with HUD, built a number of housing developments for the elderly poor. With Archbishop Keleher of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, he established an annual Inter-diocesan Anointing Service to emphasize the spiritual value of the Sacrament of the Sick.
Among his extra-diocesan commitments the bishop served on the Board of Regents of Conception Abbey Seminary for 12 years and completed 17 years service on the Board of Trustees of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. He founded the All Hallows Missions Fund, incorporated in the State of Maryland, to enable the U.S. alumni and friends of the College continue their support of their Alma Mater. For five years, Bishop Boland was the Episcopal Moderator of the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., a captive insurance company totally owned by its member dioceses. During his tenure he played an active part in the development and promotion of the Virtus Program designed to educate church personnel about the problems associated with sex abuse within the Church and society. As of 2010, 113 dioceses in the United States were using this Protecting God's Children program.
Many national and international groups held their conventions in Kansas City at the invitation of Bishop Boland. Among those he hosted were the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Serra International, Catholic Charities USA, the National Catholic Youth Convention and the Knights of Columbus. In 1994, he became a Conventual Chaplain ad honorem of the Order of Malta and he has been a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre since 1986. In 1999, he was honored by the John Carroll Society by being selected to deliver the annual Red Mass homily before Washington's legal establishment including members of the Supreme Court. He has received an honorary Doctorate of Ministry from Rockhurst University and a similar Doctorate of Humane Letters from Avila University. He was the recipient of the Bishop John England Award presented to him in 2005 by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada .
On May 24, 2005, the Vatican accepted Bishop Boland's request for retirement. In retirement he plans to continue his ministry. On the day of the announcement Bishop Boland said,
"Today, I lay aside the crozier but not the priesthood. God alone knows how many days are mine before aging beckons me into eternity."