Mexico, Yucatan, Merida, Catholic Church Priests' Applications for the Ministry and Marriage Dispensations - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Solicitudes de becas para el seminario tridentino de la Iglesia Católica en Mérida, Yucatán, México; y Dispensas matrimoniales.

Collection Time Period
This collection of records covers the priests’ applications for the Catholic Church Ministry from 1722 to 1818 and also the relationship dispensations for marriage from 1745 to 1900.

Collection History
The priests’ applications were created to enlist and accept qualified men to the order of the priesthood, specifically for the Tridentino Seminary College of Merida (later San Ildefonso) in Yucatan, Mexico. In the application, the petitioner needed to present his qualifications such as: legitimacy, baptism, schooling, cleanness of blood (sometimes a pedigree was presented), witnesses’ testimonies, and so on. There were students with scholarships that were paid by tithing, and students who shared some of the expenses (porcionistas) by paying for their own room and board. This seminary became the most important educational center of the Diocese of Tabasco. The ecclesiastical marriage dispensation or relationship dispensation for marriage was an authorization documents that a couple with close kinship needed to get married in the Catholic Church. It required the certification of witnesses who knew the relationship of the couple, certification of baptism, and sometimes a pedigree.

Why This Collection Was Created
The priest’s application was necessary to certify that the person applying was worthy to receive the seminary scholarship and order to the priesthood. Marriage dispensations were necessary, according to ecclesiastical rules, when a couple who wanted to get married had a close kinship.

Collection Reliability
Mexican Catholic Church priests’ applications are a reliable and accurate source for family history. The marriage dispensations do not give a lot of genealogical information; however, they are considered accurate because the certifications needed to be submitted to the ecclesiastical authority.

Collection Description
The priests’ applications are all bound in books and written in narrative style. Some of the documents included in this collection are letters from the applicants and the documentation of their purity of blood. The documentation for one of these applications could include a letter from the applicant requesting acceptance into the seminary, other documents submitted by the applicant to prove legitimacy and purity of blood (limpieza de sangre), and ecclesiastical correspondence such as approving the application, requesting more documentation, and so on. The Family History Library Catalog lists these records as “becas y órdenes” in the film notes. The marriage dispensations are a Catholic Church approval for marriage when a couple is of close kinship. The entries were normally made in chronological order. Marriage dispensations include the information of couples attempting to receive permissions to marry despite the consanguinity issue that they may have with canon law. This includes couples who may be too closely related and couples where one is a member of another religion. Some couples included their pedigrees. The Family History Library Catalog lists these records as “dispensas de parentescos” in the film notes.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in all priests’ applications are: • Birth date and birthplace • Names of parents, and sometimes a pedigree if the applicant needed to verify his bloodline. • Documents confirming the applicant’s good conduct.

Key genealogical facts found in all marriage dispensations are: • Birth dates and birthplaces of both spouses. • Explanation of the issue and why the couple needed a dispensation

How to Use the Collection
Priests’ applications are records with information concerning the worthiness of applicants to the Catholic Church priesthood. These documents contain the applicant’s date and place of birth, parents’ names, and other important information that certified the applicant’s worthiness to enter the Catholic Church priesthood. The physical and internal structure of the files (expedientes) consists of a title page with date, traits, legitimacy, cleanness of blood, and name of applicant; the applicant’s petition in the form of a letter with the type of scholarship requested and the scholar position; the license for initial procedures; the documentation that verified the worthiness of the applicant, such as baptismal certification and the cross-examination of witnesses. and the decree either for scholarship or position. The witnesses were three witnesses presented by the applicant and three witnesses secretly assigned by the ecclesiastical authority.

Marriage dispensations or relationship dispensations to be married are petitions requesting that the couple be absolved from the cannon law of close kinship. These documents include a letter from the groom to the ecclesiastical authority, followed by relationship certifications from credible witnesses, and finally the ecclesiastical decree. There are also some shorter records of dispensations, which include only the names of both parties, their place of origin, sometimes the date of baptism, and the decree. Couples may have needed the relationship dispensation if they wanted to get married and were too closely related.

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How To Cite Your Sources
Instructions for citing this source can be found at: Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)

Sources of Information for This Collection
Digital images of original records housed at the Historical archive of the Archbishopric of Yucatan in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico (Archivo Historico del Arzobispado de Yucatán en Merida, Yucatán, Mexico).

Related Wiki Articles
Mexico Church Records