Republic of the Congo Church Records

Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo

Church records
Research use: Church registers are a primary source of birth, marriage, and death information in Congo. They identify names of parents, prove other relationships, and are very useful for linking generations.

Record type: Records of births/baptisms, marriages and deaths/burials.

Time period: 1883 to present.

Contents: Baptisms – name of individual, dates of birth and baptism, name of parents Marriages – name of couple, fathers' name, date and place of marriage, age of groom and bride and their birthplaces, name and residence of witnesses. Burials – name of the deceased, date and place of death and burial, age at time of death.

Location: Diocesan archives and local parish archives.

Population coverage: Estimated 60% of the French and 20% of the Congolese. The actual population coverage cannot be determined without discovering the extent to which this record exists and has been preserved.

Reliability: Good.