Guatemala, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Registros Parroquiales de la Iglesia Católica en Guatemala.

Collection Time Period
This collection of baptism, marriage, and burial records from parishes throughout Guatemala covers the years of 1821-1920.

Record Description
Separate books were kept for the sacramental ordinances of baptism, marriage, and burial. The entries were normally made in chronological order. Some confirmations may be found within the baptisms. The earlier parish records were all handwritten in narrative form, and later records were handwritten in formatted entries. All the records are written in Spanish.

Record Content
These are the key genealogical facts found in most baptism records: • Place of the event • Date of the event • Name of the child • Age or date of birth of the child • Gender and legitimacy • Parents’ names • Sometimes the names of the grandparents • Names of the godparents

These are the key genealogical facts found in most marriage records: • Place of the event • Date of the event • Names of the betrothed • Age, marital status, and sometime the race of the betrothed • Birthplace or place of residence • Gender and legitimacy • Parents’ names • Witnesses’ names

How to Use the Records
Parish registers are the best records to identify individuals, parents, and spouses before 1877. After this date, civil authorities began registering vital events, and civil records become equally important. The information in civil records confirms and supplements the information in church records. For instance, the parish registers may list the godparents while the civil records may list the grandparents. The parish registers may be the only records available for genealogical research before civil registration was implemented in 1877. In order to find information in these church records, it is necessary to know the name of the ancestor and an approximate year of the birth.

Record History
The evangelization of Guatemalans by Catholic Church priests began in the 16th century. The records of baptisms, marriages, and burials they created help us become acquainted with the inhabitants and identify the importance of their families in the development of society. The history of cities in Guatemala is interwoven with the Catholic Church parish records. Most of the inhabitants of Guatemala were Roman Catholics; therefore, these records may well cover about 95% to 100% of the population in the years of 1821-1920.

Why This Collection Was Created?
Catholic Church parish registers were created by priests authorized to record the church ordinances of baptism, confirmation, marriage, death, and burial, and other ordinances performed for the members within the jurisdiction of the parish.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish registers are the primary source for birth, marriage, and death records in Guatemala prior to the implementation of civil registration in 1877.

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Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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 * United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71
 * Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023

Style Guide
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Sources of Information for This Collection:
"Guatemala Catholic Church Records," database, FamilySearch; from Iglesia Católica, Sagrario Metropolitano, Guatemala, Guatemala. Digital originals housed at various Catholic Church parish archives through out Guatemala.

The format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections, including how to cite individual archives is found in the following link: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections