Kansas City, Mo. ? Monsignor Robert Finn said his mother always told him he would become a bishop. He always brushed the comments aside.

But just two months to the day after her death, the Vatican on Tuesday announced it had selected the 50-year-old to serve as the coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Finn will take over when Bishop Raymond Boland retires.

Finn talked to reporters Tuesday at the city’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and thanked his late parents, siblings and their children.

“No one could have better teachers and companions than I have in you,” he said, reading from a prepared statement.

Later, he said the remarks had been a struggle.

“I wasn’t sure I would get through that part OK,” he said.

After the St. Louis native was ordained as a priest in 1979, he worked as an associate pastor of two parishes in the St. Louis area. He began teaching in 1983 at a Catholic high school in Washington and became an administrator of an O’Fallon high school six years later. In 1996, he was appointed director of continuing education for priests in the St. Louis Archdiocese. He served in the role until 1999, when he was named editor of the St. Louis Review. Currently he is the editor of the St. Louis diocesan newspaper.

Boland, 72, is a colon cancer survivor and has a condition called hemochromatosis, which causes the body to absorb and store too much iron. The condition causes fatigue and can, in extreme cases, result in organ failure. The standard treatment is giving blood, and Boland does so monthly.

Citing his health and his desire for a smooth transition for his flock, Boland said he had asked the church leadership to consider the appointment of a coadjutor.

Bishops submit their resignations when they turn 75, and the church leadership then decides whether to accept the resignation or delay retirement. Boland is not expected to stay longer. He said he planned to stay at the diocese for at least one more year.

“There are many wonderful things happening in our diocese: In sports parlance, we have a certain momentum and a seamless transition of leadership that enables the momentum to continue without anybody missing a heartbeat,” he said. “Our people deserve such continuity.”

Finn, who will be ordained as coadjutor bishop May 3, said one challenge would be healing the wounds caused by the priest sex scandal.

“We for our part have to do all that is humanly possible,” he said, “but there are some things that in the end only God can affect.”