Romania Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Romania, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Resources and Websites
Churches kept records of births and baptisms, marriages, and deaths and burials in their congregations. Such records, created and maintained by churches, are called church records (registre parohiale). Church records are an extremely reliable source for identifying vital information for families, although it is sometimes difficult to link generations. Church records are the most important source prior to civil registration.

'''Ancestry.com, findmypast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.


 * Historical Population Database of Transylvania
 * UNITARIAN TRANSYLVANIA ARCHIVES PROJECT, digitized church records


 * UK, Foreign and Overseas Registers of British Subjects, 1628-1969, index ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages,, index and images, ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, index and images, ($)

Historical Background
Romania is a secular state, and it has no state religion. Romania is the most religious out of 34 European countries.[1] and a majority of the country's citizens are Christian. The Romanian state officially recognizes 18 religions and denominations.[2] 81.04% of the country's stable population identified as part of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the 2011 census (see also: History of Christianity in Romania). Other Christian denominations include the Catholic Church (both Latin Catholicism (4.33%) and Greek Catholicism (0.75%–3.3%), Calvinism (2.99%), and Pentecostal denominations (1.80%). This amounts to approximately 92% of the population identifying as Christian.

According to the 2011 census, Protestants make up 6.2% of the total population. They have been historically been made up of Lutherans, Calvinists and Unitarians, although in recent years Evangelical Protestants, Pentecostals and newer Protestant groups spread and are holding a greater share. In 1930, prior to World War II, they constituted approximately 8.8% of the Romanian population. The largest denominations included in this figure (6.2%) are the Reformed (2.99%) and the Pentecostals (1.8%). Others also included are Baptists (0.56%), Seventh-day Adventists (0.4%), Unitarians (0.29%), Plymouth Brethren (0.16%) and two Lutheran churches (0.13%), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Romania (0.1%) and the Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania (0.03%). Of these various Protestant groups, Hungarians account for most of the Reformed, Unitarians, and Evangelical Lutherans; Romanians are the majority of the Pentecostals, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists and Evangelical Christians; while Germans account for most of the Augustan Confession Evangelicals (i.e. Lutherans historically subscribing to the Augsburg Confession). The majority of Calvinist (Reformed Church) and Unitarians have their services in Hungarian.

Not to be confused with any of the above is the Evangelical Church of Romania (0.08%), an unrelated Protestant denomination.

Coverage
Church records in Romania start as early as 1600 and go to the present. Church records in Transylvania began in the early 1600s, and in the Banat in the early 1700s. In Wallachia, Moldavia, and Bukovina most records began in 1775, and in Bessarabia and Dobruja in 1814. Transcripts of church records were made as early as 1784 in Transylvania, Banat, and Bukovina. In Wallachia and Moldavia they began officially in 1831, but in some areas transcripts were kept as early as 1806. 50-70% of the population can be found in these records.

Information Recorded in the Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which might be found (best case scenario):

Baptisms
In Catholic and Anglican records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might give:

Marriages
Marriage registers can give:

Burials
Burial registers may give:

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of Romania.
 * b. Click on Places within Romania and a list of towns will appear.
 * c. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Writing for Records
Local parishes maintain their own church registers for approximately the past 100 years. Local storage conditions vary. Records prior to that have been transferred to the district offices in each Judetul (county). There are 41 Judetuls in Romania. For locations of counties and history of their boundaries, see Wikipedia: Counties of Romania.

The Unitarian Church in Transylvania has established the UNITARIAN TRANSYLVANIA ARCHIVES PROJECT in the city of Cluj and digitized its records. The transcripts (copies) of some church records may be found in archives in Hungary, Serbia, Poland and Germany. Some local archives do research for patrons, but it can be very expensive. Individuals may visit or hire a professional to visit Romania.

Writing to a Local Church
You will need to write to or email the local parish priests to find records for the last 100 years. Use Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters. Then, use a Romanian translation service.
 * Maps.me Church Listings for Romania
 * Google Maps search results for churches in Romania Be sure to scroll through all the pages.  There will be several pages with 20 entries each.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Romanian Orthodox churches in Romania
 * Google Maps search results for Greek Orthodox churches in Romania

Historical Background
The Romanian Orthodox Church had 20.9 million members in 1992. The Church is autocephalous, meaning it is not subject to an external patriarch or archbishop, but has a relationship with the Eastern Orthodox Church. The highest hierarchical authority is the Holy Synod. Since 1925, the Church has been headed by a patriarch. There are six Orthodox Metropolitanates and ten archbishoprics in Romania. As of 2004, there are fifteen theological universities and more than 14,500 churches.

Writing for Records

 * Greek Catholic Church Romania

Historical Background
According to the 2011 census, there are 150,593 Greek Catholics in Romania, making up 0.75% of the population. The majority of Greek Catholics live in the northern part of Transylvania. Most are Romanians (124,563), with the remainder mostly Hungarians or Roma.

On the other hand, according to data published in the 2012 Annuario Pontificio, the Romanian Greek Catholic Church had 663,807 members (3.3% of the total population), 8 bishops, 1,250 parishes, some 791 diocesan priests and 235 seminarians of its own rite at the end of 2012. The dispute over the figure is included in the United States Department of State report on religious freedom in Romania. The Romanian Orthodox Church continues to claim many of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church's properties.

Writing to a Local Parish
Earlier records can be held at the diocese, with more recent records still kept in the local parish. To locate the mailing address or e-mail address for a diocese or local parish, consult:
 * The Catholic Directory: Romania

Historical Background
According to the 2011 census, there are 870,774 Catholics belonging to the Latin Church in Romania, making up 4.33% of the population. The largest ethnic groups are Hungarians (500,444, including Székelys; 41% of the Hungarians), Romanians (297,246 or 1.8%), Germans (21,324 or 59%), and Roma (20,821 or 3.3%), as well as a majority of the country's Slovaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Italians, Czechs, Poles, and Csangos (27,296 in all).

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Calvinist churches in Romania

Historical Background
In 1992 there were 650,700 Calvinists, mainly Hungarians. They have bishoprics at Cluj and Oradea.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Lutheran churches in Romania

Online Records

 * UNITARIAN TRANSYLVANIA ARCHIVES PROJECT, digitized church records

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Unitarian churches in Romania

Historical Background
In 1992 there were 72,300 Unitarians, mainly Hungarians. They have a bishopric at Cluj. These sects share a seminary at Cluj.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Pentecostal churches in Romania

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Baptist churches in Romania

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Seventh-day Adventistschurches in Romania