Archbishop creates new parish on Cape Ann

BRIGHTON — Archbishop Seán P. O’Malley has created a new parish in the Cape Ann area of the archdiocese. The new parish is to be named Holy Family and it will be officially formed on Jan. 8, 2005 at 12:02 a.m. according to a decree signed by the archbishop on Dec. 20.

The new parish is to have three worship sites: St. Ann Church, Gloucester; St. Joa-chim Church, Rockport; and St. Anthony Chapel, in East Gloucester. It will consist of the territories of the former Sacred Heart, St. Ann, and St. Peter parishes in Gloucester and St. Joachim parish in Rockport. Those four parishes were suppressed by decrees also issued by the archbishop on Dec. 20, 2004.

The parochial records of all the suppressed parishes will be maintained at the newly formed Holy Family parish. The goods and obligations are distributed as follows: to the new parish go the goods and obligations of St. Ann Parish except St. Joseph Chapel in Gloucester’s Magnolia section; the chapel of St. Anthony by the Sea, East Gloucester, and St. Joachim Church, Rockport. The remainder of the goods and obligations will be those of the archdiocese.

The archbishop issued two other decrees on Dec. 20 regarding two other parishes: Immaculate Conception, Cambridge and Sacred Heart, Watertown.

The Watertown parish will be suppressed on Jan. 9, 2005. The parish registers will be kept at St. Patrick, Watertown. The territory will be divided as follows: Sacred Heart’s Watertown territory will become part of St. Patrick, Watertown; its Cambridge territory will be that of St. Peter Parish, Cambridge; while the Belmont territory of the parish will be divided between St. Luke and St. Joseph Parishes, both in Belmont.

The goods and obligations of the parish become those of the archdiocese.

In a decree effective Jan. 10, 2005, Immaculate Conception Parish in Cambridge will be suppressed. This decree refers to the territorial parish named Immaculate Conception in North Cambridge and not to the Lithuanian personal parish of the same name, also in Cambridge.

The goods and obligations of the parish will become those of the archdiocese and the canonical registers will be kept at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Cambridge.

The parish served sections of three municipalities and its territory will be divided along those borders. The Arlington section of the parish will become part of St. Agnes Parish; the Cambridge section, part of St. John the Evangelist; and the Somerville section part of St. Clement Parish.