Brazil Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Registros Paroquiais da Igreja Católica em Brasil.

Collection Time Period
This collection of parish registers covers the years 1835-1966.

Record Description
The records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths or burials are bound in separate registers. Most records follow the same format, however in earlier years the records were written in narrative form and later ones are written in formatted records. 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
The key genealogical facts found in most baptisms records are:


 * Date of baptism
 * Place of baptism
 * Name of child
 * Place of birth
 * Date of birth
 * Legitimacy
 * Parent’s names
 * Godparent’s names

The key genealogical facts found in most marriage records are:


 * Date of marriage
 * Place of marriage
 * Witnesses’ names
 * Names of groom and bride
 * Groom and bride’s marital status
 * Groom’s age
 * Groom’s legitimacy
 * Groom’s mother
 * Bride’s age
 * Residence of bride’s parents

The key genealogical facts found in most death records are:


 * Date of death
 * Place of death
 * Name of deceased
 * Deceased marital status and spouse’s name
 * Deceased legitimacy
 * Father’s name
 * Deceased age
 * Burial place

How to Use the Records
The Catholic Church parish records are an excellent source for genealogical research in Brazil. These may also be the only available records before the implementation of the civil registration in about 1888. These records may include other family information that will help in the research for other generations. In order to find an entry in this collection it is necessary to know first the place where the ancestors lived, a year, and his/her name.

Record History
Catholic Church records begun in Brazil with the arrival of the ministers from Portugal. Parish priests performed the sacraments of baptisms and marriages and other holy sacraments in the parish under their jurisdiction. All the original parish records were kept in the parish archive, and a duplicate copy was sent to the diocesan archive.

Why This Collection Was Created?
Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the church sacraments of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths, burials, and other ordinances.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in all of Brazil.

Related Web Sites
This section of the article is incomplete. You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying links to related websites here.

Related Wiki Articles
Brazil Church Records

Style Guide
For guidelines to use in creating wiki articles that describe collections of images and indexes produced by FamilySearch, see: FamilySearch Wiki: Guidelines for FamilySearch Collections pages

Sources of information for This Collection
Digital images of original records housed at diocesan archives of Brazil, such as:

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Luz (Luz, Minas Gerais). Registros paroquiais, 1835-1966.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Campanha (Campanha, Minas Gerais). Registros paroquiais, 1763-1980.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Divinópolis (Divinópolis, Minas Gerais). Registros paroquiais, 1793-1975.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Oliveira (Oliveira, Minas Gerais). Registros paroquiais, 1800-1984.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Amargosa (Amargosa, Bahia). Registros paroquiais, 1805-1950.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Apucaraná (Apucaraná, Paraná). Registros paroquiais, 1942-1991.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Palmares (Palmares, Pernambuco). Registros paroquiais, 1786-1969.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Estância (Estância, Sergipe). Registros paroquiais, 1790-1980.

Igreja Católica. Arquidiocese de Aparecida (Aparecida, São Paulo). Registros paroquiais, 1720-1980.

Igreja Católica. Arquidiocese de Belém (Belém, Pará). Registros paroquiais, 1795-1955.

Igreja Católica. Diocese de Propriá (Propriá, Sergipe). Registros paroquiais, 1840-1960.

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

The suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched in found in the Wiki Article: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * United States. Bureau of Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From Family Searc Internet (www.familysearch.org: Setpemper 29.2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B,line 71.
 * Mexico, Districto Federal, Catholic Church Records 1886-1933, digital imagbes, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Femandez Jimenez, 1 Feb, 1910, San Pedro Apostol, Cuahimalpa, Districto Federal, Mexico Film number 0227023