Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Rectory is Sold

October 21, 2010, WORCESTER, MA – The Office of the Chancellor announced today that Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Ann Parish Rectory has been sold to John J. Barron, Esq. and Lisa Y. Barron. The parish netted $227,336 from the sale. The official closing was on Friday, October 15, 2010.

All of the net proceeds from the sale go to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Ann Parish of Worcester. The Diocese has consistently followed the canonical principle that the proceeds from property sales remain with the parish. No portion of the net proceeds are retained by the Diocese of Worcester.

Susan Bellino, a parishioner of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Ann and an employee of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Shrewsbury, contracted the sale with Attorney and Mrs. Barron. Attorney James F. Cosgrove represented the Diocese.

The Catholic Church has canonical norms regulating the alienation (sale) of churches and other parochial properties. Particular norms, or local laws, are established by virtue of the population size of a diocese, which regulate the approval process for transactions over a certain dollar amount. Since the transaction was significant, votes had to be taken on the transaction by the Diocesan Board of Consultors and the Diocesan Finance Committee, after the initial agreements were negotiated between the Barrons and the Diocese of Worcester. Both diocesan groups unanimously supported the sale.

Monsignor Thomas J. Sullivan, chancellor, commented, “The Diocese is delighted for Monsignor Piccolomini and the parishioners of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-St. Ann Parish that this sale has taken place. For about a year it has been their hope that the property could be sold. This will enable to the parish to replace a large rectory with a new, smaller one to be situated closer to the church itself.”

Monsignor Piccolomini and the Parish Finance Committee have been working with Monsignor Sullivan and the Diocesan Building Commission on plans for a new rectory.

“If all goes as planned,” said Monsignor Sullivan, “the parish may build a new rectory by next spring or early summer. But the first big step has been taken, the sale of the existing rectory. The building of a new rectory, a much smaller one, should be much easier.”