Venezuela, Archdiocese of Mérida, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Venezuela, Mérida Registros Parroquiales de la Iglesia Católica

Collection Time Period
The Family History Library collection of the Catholic Church parish records of the Archdiocese of Mérida, covers the years from 1654 to 1992.

Record Description
The parish records of the Archdiocese of Merida have been preserved relatively well. Some of the older registers may appear to have some physical damage; therefore some data may have been lost or may be very difficult to read, however, in general they are in good condition to extract genealogical information.

Record Content
Important genealogical information found in Catholic baptismal records include: 


 * Date and place of the event[[Image:Venezuela Merida Catholic Church Baptism.jpg|thumb|right]]
 * Name of person baptized
 * Gender and date of birth
 * If legitimate or illegitimate
 * Parents’ names, their residence or/and place of birth
 * Names of godparents

Important genealogical information found in the Catholic Church marriage records include: 


 * Date and place of the event
 * Names of the bride and groom[[Image:Venezuela Merida Catholic Church Marriage.jpg|thumb|right]]
 * Sometimes the civil status (widowed, single, divorce) at the time of the event
 * Place of birth and residence of the bride and groom
 * Parents’ names
 * Name of witnesses

Important genealogical information found in the Catholic Church death records include: 


 * Place and date where the person died
 * Name of the deceased
 * Civil status and name of spouse, if married at time of death[[Image:Venezuela Merida Catholic Church Burial.jpg|thumb|right]]
 * Place of burial
 * Parents’ names

How to Use the Records
The Catholic Church parish records are an excellent source for genealogical research in Venezuela. These may also be the only records available before the implementation of the civil registration in 1873.

Record History
Parish priests performed the baptisms, marriages, deaths, burials, and other holy sacraments in their assigned parish or parishes. All the original parish records were kept in the parish archive; however, the older records were, and currently are, sent annually to the archdiocesan archive to be preserved and centralized in one place. Most of the earlier population was Roman Catholics; therefore parish records cover 95 to 100% of a city’s population. This collection only includes the parish records that were centralized at the archive of the Archdiocese of Merida (Arquidiócesis de Mérida).

Why This Collection Was Created?
Venezuelan Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the church sacraments of baptism and marriage, and also death, burial, and other ordinances.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in Merida, Venezuela.

Related Web Sites
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Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Please add sample citations to this article following the format guidelines in the wiki article listed above. Examples of citations:


 * 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:
"Venezuela, Merida Parish Registers, 1654-1992", database, FamilySearch (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch); from Archdiocese of Merida, Venezuela. Venezuela Merida parish registers, 1654-1992. Archivo Arquidiocesano de Mérida, Venezuela. FHL microfilm. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

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