Colombia, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Registros Parroquiales de la Iglesia Católica en Colombia

Collection Time Period
This collection of parish records such as baptisms, marriages, and burials from several parishes in Colombia may cover a span of years between 1598 to the present.

Record History
This collection of church records covers several parishes in dioceses and archdioceses of Colombia. Some of the records in this collection may have been created in a different ecclesiastical jurisdiction than the one where these are currently housed. All the sacramental ordinances were created, registered, and kept by the priest in authority of his parish jurisdiction, which may include sub-parishes in other nearby localities. A copy of the records kept at the parish archive was and is currently sent to the diocesan archive for preservation. Most of the parish records in this collection were acquired at the diocesan archives.

Why This Collection Was Created?
Catholic Church parish registers were created by authorized priests to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, death, burial, and other ordinances in their parish jurisdiction.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish registers are the primary source for finding genealogical information of birth, death, and marriage in Colombia prior to 1935, when the civil registration was implemented.

Record Description
The earlier records from this collection are all handwritten in a narrative format. Some later records are handwritten on printed formats, which may vary slightly from one priest to another. Generally, these records were written in chronological order. In smaller parishes, one book was used for all the ordinances (such as baptisms, marriages, and deaths). In larger cities, the different types of sacred ordinances were kept in separate books. Confirmations were generally written in the baptismal registers. Older records present some damage, however most of the genealogical information may be extracted.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in most baptism records are: • Place of baptism • Date of baptism • Gender of the child • Date of birth • Name of the child baptized • Legitimacy • Parents’ names • Residence of the parents • Paternal grandparents’ names • Maternal grandparents’ names • Godparents’ names

Key genealogical facts found in most marriage records are: • Place of marriage • Date of marriage • Names of the groom and bride • Witnesses’ names • Groom’s age • Bride’s age • Marital status of the groom and bride • Groom’s parents • Bride’s parents

Key genealogical facts found in most death or burial records are: • Deceased’s place of burial • Date of burial • Age at time of death • Deceased’s name • Deceased’s marital status and spouse’s name, if married • Legitimacy • Parents’ names • Residence of the deceased • Age at time of death • Place of death • Cause of death

These are the key genealogical facts found in most child recognition records: • Date of legal recognition • Name of the father • Father’s parents • Father’s place of baptism • Father’s marital status and spouse’s name • Father’s age • Father’s identification number and place of issue • Name of the child being recognized • Child’s place and date of baptism • Mother’s name • Mother’s parents • Mother’s place of baptism • Mother’s marital status and spouse’s name, if married • Mother’s age

How to Use the Records
Catholic Church parish records are an excellent source for genealogical research in Colombia. The records of baptism, marriage, and death may contain important information about other generations of ancestors. These may also be the only records available before the implementation of civil registration in 1935. To find the record of an ancestor, a person needs to know at least the name of the ancestor and a place and approximate year of an event in the ancestor’s life. If indexes are available, it is suggested to check for the name there first.

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Sources of This Collection
Digital copies of the originals are housed at each of the diocesan archives mentioned in this collection.