Brazil, São Paulo, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
These records are in Portuguese. This collection includes baptism, marriage, and death records created by various Catholic parishes and diocese in the state of São Paulo from 1640 to 2012.

Additional images will be published as they become available.

For additional details about these records and help using them see the wiki article: Brazil Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records).

Reading These Records
These records are written in Portuguese; also see the section For Help Reading These Records for translation helps.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism records
 * Date of baptism
 * Place of baptism
 * Name
 * Birth date
 * Place of birth
 * Legitimacy
 * Parents' names
 * Godparents' names

Marriage records
 * Date of marriage
 * Place of marriage
 * Names of groom and bride
 * Groom's place of birth
 * Groom's age, baptism date, and residence
 * Groom's legitimacy
 * Groom's parents' names
 * Bride’s place of birth
 * Bride's age, baptism date, and residence
 * Bride’s legitimacy
 * Bride's parents' names
 * Witnesses' names

Death records
 * Date and place of registration
 * Registrant's name
 * Date, place, and time of death
 * Name and age of deceased
 * Deceased's marital status/name of spouse
 * Deceased's origin and residence
 * Legitimacy
 * Cause of death
 * Names of deceased's parents
 * Residence of parents
 * Names of witnesses
 * Burial place

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before using this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Your ancestor's given name and surname
 * Identifying information such as residence
 * Estimated marriage or birth year

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the 


 * 1) Select Municipality
 * 2) Select Parish
 * 3) Select Record Type and Years to view the images.



For Help Reading These Records
For help reading these Portuguese records see the following guides:


 * Portuguese Genealogical Word List
 * Brazil Language and Languages

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
To learn more about using the information in civil records, view this lesson for free: Brazil Beginning Research Series Lesson 2: Civil Registration Records - English

Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each spouse to find a couple's birth records and parents' names
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records Brazil Census
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual
 * Use the marital status to identify previous marriages

What If I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Consult the [Brazil Research Tips and Strategies] Record Finder Table to find other records
 * New information is constantly being indexed, microfilmed or updated. Periodically check back and see if your ancestor’s records have been added.  You can see if the area you’ve been looking in has been recently updated by going to Historical Records Collections and notice the asterisk for recently added or updated records
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of you ancestor is now in a neighboring. Search the records and indexes of neighboring cities, provinces, and regions

Civil Registration records are also a good substitute when baptism, marriage, and burial records can’t be found or are unavailable.
 * Brazil Civil Registration- Vital Records
 * Brazil Civil Registration (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Or your ancestor immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby areas or immigration/emigration records: Brazil Emigration and Immigration

Known Issues With This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.


 * Collection Citation:

“Brazil, São Paulo, Catholic Church Records, 1640-2012.” Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2017. Paróquias Católicas, São Paulo [Catholic Church parishes, São Paulo].

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