photo courtesy McCarty Photogr Coadjutor Bishop Robert W. Finn

What is it about All Souls Parish that makes it so episcopally productive?

"It's the water," said Bishop Raymond J. Boland of Kansas City-St. Joseph, who loves to unearth historical nuggets like three bishops from one parish.

"It's the water," said Bishop John J. Leibrecht of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, one of the bishops from All Souls Parish.

Well, maybe. But whatever the real reason, it is true that as of May 3 Coadjutor Bishop Finn will be the third bishop to emanate from that parish. And that's not all. The parish has produced several other luminaries to boot.

"We're very proud of the whole bishop thing," said Father Paul Rothschild, pastor of All Souls Parish. "We feel very proud of our tradition of religious and priestly vocations. It's a real honor to have three of our parishioners raised to the level of the episcopacy."

Father Rothschild said a parish bulletin in which he noted his parish's history of producing bishops made its way to Florida. A former parishioner from 30 years ago called from there and suggested that the coats of arms of all three bishops from the parish be placed on the walls of the sanctuary.

The church is undergoing a renovation that is scheduled for completion in about six months, Father Rothschild said. He intends to implement the suggestion about the coats of arms, and then hopes to have Bishop Finn come and celebrate a Mass there when that is done.

In addition to Bishop Leibrecht and Bishop-designate Finn, the other bishop from the parish is Bishop John N. Wurm, who died in 1984. Bishop Wurm was bishop of Belleville, Ill., from 1981 to 1984. Before that he was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It was he who ordained Msgr. Finn to the priesthood on July 7, 1979.

The other luminaries Father Rothschild noted who came from the parish include Jesuit Father Frank Reale, immediate past Provincial of the Jesuit Order's Missouri Province; Jesuit Father Robert O'Toole, past rector of the Biblicum in Rome, and Father John Heil, a diocesan priest who earned a doctorate in sacred Scripture, and teaches at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis.

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