Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was established in the fall of 1904 as Rochester's second Italian national parish, serving the Italian immigrant community in northeast Rochester. Father Emil J. Gefell, who had already founded St. Anthony of Padua, initially served the community while also pastoring St. Anthony. Father Oreste Canali became the first resident pastor in 1909.

The parish's present church building was designed by Rochester architect George F. Lorenz and dedicated on October 20, 1929. Lorenz also designed the nearly identical, though somewhat longer, St. Alphonsus Church in Auburn. Among the notable pastors was Father Walter A. Foery, who served from 1922 to 1932 before being named Bishop of Syracuse in 1937.

For decades, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel also sponsored the Church of the Annunciation as a mission church, until Annunciation achieved full parish status in 1946. Mt. Carmel served the northeast Rochester community for over a century before closing on October 4, 2008. The church building, with its distinctive Italian-influenced architecture, remains a landmark in the neighborhood and continues to be used for special occasions.