Venezuela, Archdiocese of Mérida, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Venezuela, Mérida Registros Parroquiales de la Iglesia Católica

Record Description
This Collection will include records from 1654 to 2012.

The parish records of the Archdiocese of Merida have been preserved relatively well. 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.

Parish priests performed the baptisms, marriages, deaths, burials, and other holy sacraments in their assigned parish or parishes. All the original parish records were kept in the parish archive; however, the older records were, and currently are, sent annually to the archdiocesan archive to be preserved and centralized in one place. Most of the earlier population was Roman Catholics; therefore parish records cover 95 to 100% of a city’s population. This collection only includes the parish records that were centralized at the archive of the Archdiocese of Merida (Arquidiócesis de Mérida).

The Family History Library collection of the Catholic Church parish records of the Archdiocese of Mérida, covers the years from 1654 to 1992. The text of the records is in Spanish.

Venezuelan Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, and also death, burial, and other ordinances.

Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in Merida, Venezuela.

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse.

Record Content
Important information found in Catholic baptismal records include:


 * Name and age of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Marital status of deceased
 * Name of spouse, if married
 * Names of parents
 * Burial date and place

How to Use the Records
To search this collection, it would be helpful to know the following information: To begin your search, it is helpful to know the name and some other identifying information such as the birth place or birth date.

Search the Collection
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

To search the collection image by image you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "State" ⇒Select the "City or Town" ⇒Select the "Parish" ⇒Select the "Record Type and Years" which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

The Catholic Church parish records are an excellent source for genealogical research in Venezuela. These may also be the only records available before the implementation of the civil registration in 1873.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mérida
 * Arquidiócesis de Mérida

Related Wiki Articles

 * Mérida
 * Venezuela

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box: Venezuela, Archdiocese of Mérida, Catholic Church Records, 1654-2012

When you copy information from a record, you should 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 Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information for collections published in FamilySearch.org. Source citations include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records. ofsp