Archbishop Seán P. O’Malley has accepted the resignation from pastor of St. Lucy Parish, Methuen, offered by Father Angelo Loscocco. The archbishop has also granted Father Loscocco Senior Priest/Retirement status. Both actions were effective Feb. 2, 2004, the 51st anniversary of Father Loscocco’s ordination to the priesthood.

Angelo Loscocco was born in Dorchester on Jan. 2, 1928. A native son of St. Ann Parish in the Neponset section of Boston, he attended Boston College and entered the archdiocesan seminaries. On completion of his seminary formation he was ordained at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Feb. 2, 1953, by Cardinal Cushing.

His first assignment as a newly ordained priest was to Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, Newton. The parish was busy, and the pastor was assisted by several priests. In 1962, Father Loscocco went across the harbor to Sacred Heart Parish in East Boston, a parish much like his first. In both parishes, his Italian heritage helped endear him readily to the many Italian and Italian-American families.

In 1964, he went back across the harbor, this time to St. Luke Parish, Belmont, where he remained for 10 years. Traveling north in 1974, he served briefly at St. Mary Parish, an Italian national parish in Salem. In 1975, he began more than a decade of service at St. Ann Parish, Somerville. Once again he returned to a parish similar to those of his first assignments. Large, busy and with notable presence of his “paesani” — fellow Italians and Italian-Americans.

His next assignment was to the Merrimack Valley at St. Lucy Parish, Methuen. He served first as administrator and, since 1985, as pastor of the vibrant parish.

Father Loscocco has been well-loved in the parishes where he has been assigned. Among his brother priests he is admired for his reputation as a gentleman and his quiet but evident sense of humor. Father “Ange” can laugh at good joke and at himself with equal ease. He is equally at home at any dog or pony show — and he has missed few — as he is in your front parlor or at your table enjoying a fine or simple meal.

While his parishioners in Methuen will miss him, they also know that he’ll not be ending all activity. Always a priest among people, Father Loscocco will be in retirement status, but we can be certain that he will not cease being a priest.