Serbia Church Records

Europe Serbia  Church Records

Parish Registers


 * Parish registers, 1777-present. It appears that there is only one copy.
 * The primary religious heritage of the country is Serbian Orthodox, constituting 65% of the population. The remainder of the population is 19% Moslem, living principally in the south, and 4% Roman Catholic, living in the north.
 * Registers are located in churches, community and historical archives of which there are 36.
 * Transcript copies of registers exist for the province of Vojvodinaand are found in the archive of that province

1. GENERAL RELIGIOUS OVERVIEW

Religious history in Serbia is from Yugoslavia, since Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate countries, have only been separated from each other for a few years relative to their histories.

Serbia’s first Christians were probably Jews converted by the Apostle Paul in the 4th century and it’s organization was recognized by Rome and Constantinople. Several Christians were sent out as missionaries from Serbia not long after the arrival of Christianity.

In the 9th century the Byzantinium missionaries, Cyril and Methodius translated the liturgy into the national language

In the year 1054 the Great Schism occurred which divided the people based on religious affiliations which exist to this very day.

Missionary work from Serbia continued through the 20th century, even under communist rule. During the 1990’s the Serbian Orthodox missionaries were largely sent out from Yugoslavia.

Protestantism, Lutheranism from Germany and Calvinism from Switzerland increased in Yugoslavia during the 16th century. The Counter Reformation kept the Protestants in check. During the Counter Reformation the Protestants were under a lot of persecution. Several other small Protestant denominations exist today. Brethren, Baptist, Nazarenes, and Methodists.

There is currently no state religion in Serbia. The dominant Church is the Serbian Orthodox Church.

2. INFORMATION COMMON TO ALL RELIGIOUS RECORDS

Christian churches will typically have one or more of birth, baptism, marriage, death, or burial records.

3. RELIGIOUS RECORD SEARCH STRATEGIES AND TUTORIALS

A Guide for Researching Ethnic Serbian Ancestors from Austria - Hungary

4.  GENERAL RELIGIOUS RECORD RESOURCES

Church parishes or civil archives

5.  SPECIFIC RELIGIONS

1. Serbian Orthodox

History-The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous orthodox christian churches. It is the second oldest Slavic Orthodox Church. The Patriarch of Serbia serves as first among equals in his church; the current patriarch is Irinej. The Church achieved autocephalous status in 1219 under the leadership of St. Sava, becoming independent Archeparchy of Žiča. Its status was elevated to that of a patriarchate in the 14th century, and was known afterwards as Patriarchate of Peć. This patriarchate was abolished by the Ottoman Turks in the 18th century. The modern Serbian Orthodox Church was re-established in 1920 after the unification of the Patriarchate of Karlovci, the Metropolitanate of Belgrade and the Metropolitanate of Montenegro.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_Orthodox_Church

Record Types and Contents--The areas of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro are predominantly Orthodox although some Catholics are found in the mixed state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Catholic parishes in Bosnia-Herzegovina introduced parish registers in the second half of the 18th century. Orthodox parishes in Serbia were instructed to keep records of christenings, marriages, and deaths in 1837. Yet, at least in some areas of central Serbia, it was not until the 1870's when there began to be reliable keeping of vital records. .http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/Yugoslavia.pdf)

16th century to present - Records are kept in regional archives of the federal republics, some records are also found in church archives. Recent records (less than 100 years old) are in local municipal and parish registry offices.

http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/Yugoslavia.pdf)

Records typically contain

Births and Christenings: Name of child, date of birth, and christening; occupation and residence of parents, witnesses; sometimes parents' marriage date.

Marriages: Names and ages of bride and groom, occupation of couple, parents, marital status of couple, residence and places of origin.

Death and Burials: Name of the deceased, date, place of death, marital status, names of parents, sometimes age and cause of death, sometimes occupation, place of burial, names of survivors, sometimes date and place of birth of the deceased.

Record Availability

On-line Records-None

Off-line Records-

Contact the Serbian Orthodox Church.

http://www.spc.rs/eng/contact

Contact the Archives of Serbia

http://www.archives.org.rs/

FamilySearch Online Collections-

Parish registers, 1777-present. It appears that there is only one copy.

Registers are located in churches, community and historical archives of which there are 36.

Transcript copies of registers exist for the province of Vojvodinaand are found in the archive of that province.

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Serbia_Church_Records

2. Islam

History-In the 15th century the Ottoman Empire had conquered much of Montenegro's territory and introduced Islam, which was not uncommon to the Crnojević Montenegrin ruling dynasty. Although the Ottoman Empire reigned over the area for about 3 centuries, there were times when it lost control. This created contention between Orthodox Christianity and Islam. In the early 1700’s, the Montenegrin Vespers occurred where there was a slaughter of the Slav people who had converted to Islam. Today, Islam in Montenegro represents about 20% of the population. The Bosniaks and many Albanians of Montenegro are Muslim by faith but also declared Montenegrins of Bosniak and/or Albanian blood. (They see themselves as assimilated Montenegrins with Islam as their religion) The Muslims can be mostly found in the Sandžak region in Montenegro.

http://www.muslimpopulation.com/Europe/MONTENEGRO/Islam%20in%20Montenegro.php

Record Types and Contents-The muslims did not record vital events, except perhaps deaths, on an ecclesiastical level. Little information is available on their record keeping practices. It is likely that the only vital records for muslims were civil records. These records were usually kept by the Sharia Courts. Muslims usually kept civil records of marriages but records of births and deaths may also have been kept. Very probably one would find the oldest such records in Bosnia-Herzegovina. When the Yugoslav state was founded in 1918, church registers were recognized as valid records for the state; only for muslims was civil registration conducted. Further information on muslim registration has yet to be investigated.

http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/Yugoslavia.pdf

Record Availability-

On-line records-None found

Off-line records-Contact the Serbian Archives

www.archives.org.rs/

Family Search On-Line Records-No Islamic religious records are found on www.familysearch.org http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/Yugoslavia.pdf)

3. Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in Serbia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are 356,957 Catholics in Serbia according to the 2011 census, which is roughly 5% of the population. Roman Catholics are mostly concentrated in several municipalities in northern Vojvodina, and are mostly members of ethnic minorities, such as Hungarians and Croats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Serbia

Record Description-Baptismal, marriage and death records may exist in Catholic church records.

http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/Yugoslavia.pdf

Record Availability

On-line Records-There may be some records in the Italian Archives

Off-line Records-Contact the Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro

http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsmby.html

FamilySearch Online Collections-None shown