Paraguay, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Paraguay. Registros Parroquiales de la Iglesia Católica.

Collection Time Period
This collection of Catholic Church parish records includes the years 1754-1981.

Record Description
This collection of Catholic Church parish records includes baptisms, marriages, deaths, and miscellaneous parish records covering localities for the country of Paraguay. The text of the records is handwritten in Spanish, mostly in narrative form, in later years were handwritten in formatted records.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in baptisms may include:


 * Place of event
 * Date of event
 * Name of the child
 * Parents’ names
 * Grandparents’ names
 * Godparents’ names

Key genealogical facts found in marriages may include:


 * Place and date of the event
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Personal information of the bride and groom
 * Parents’ names of the bride and groom
 * Place of residence

Key genealogical facts found burials/deaths may include:


 * Date and place of death
 * Name of the deceased person
 * Sometimes the names of the parents or spouse of the deceased person
 * Cause of death
 * Burial place

How to Use This Collection Records
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Name indexes to baptisms, marriages, and death or burials make it possible to access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

When searching the index it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place where the event occurred.
 * The name and surname of the person.
 * The approximate date of the event.
 * The name of the parents or spouse.

Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * 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 partner 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.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records.
 * Use the parent’s birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Keep in mind:


 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

Record History
Church registers are created by the priest in charge of the parish where the ordinance was performed. The original records are kept in a register in the local parish archive, and a duplicate copy is sent usually to the corresponding diocese or archdiocese for archival preservation.

Why This Record Was Created
The priests were authorized and requested to create the registers in order to keep a record of all the sacramental ordinances, such as baptisms, marriages, and deaths in the life of his parishioners. Before the civil registration was implemented in 1880, civil authorities used the church records as a civil documentation.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish registers of birth, death, and marriage are the primary source and most reliable records for genealogical research in Paraguay. After 1880 it is recommended to use the civil records also.

Related Websites
Catholic Church Hierarchy in Paraguay

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Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

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

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * "Delaware Marriage Records," index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 March 2011), entry for William Anderson and Elizabeth Baynard Henry, married 23 November 1913; citing marriage certificate no. 859; FHL microfilm 2,025,063; Delaware Bureau of Archives and Records Management, Dover.
 * “El Salvador Civil Registration,” index and images, FamilySearch ([https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 21 March 2011), entry for Jose Maria Antonio del Carmen, born 9 April 1880; citing La Libertad, San Juan Opico, Nacimientos 1879-1893, image 50; Ministerio Archivo Civil de la Alcaldia Municipal de San Salvador.

Sources for This Collection
República del Paraguay. Various Catholic Church parishes. Registros parroquiales, 1754-1981. Archbishopric of Asuncion (Arzobispado de Asunción), Asunción, Paraguay.

Detailed instructions for adding citations are also listed in the wiki article: How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections