Serbia Church Records

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

Online Resources and Websites

 * Poreklo's Archival Catalogue of Genealogical Resources
 * Kalocsa Archdiocese Archives, index and images, incomplete, ($). Registration Required, ($). Church books from the former Bács-Bodrog county, currently in southern Hungary and northern Serbia.
 * 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
The primary religious heritage of the country is Serbian Orthodox. These constitute 65% of the population. The remainder of the population is 19% Muslim, living principally in the south, and 4% Roman Catholic, Living in the north. Serbia’s first Christians were probably Jews converted by the Apostle Paul in the 4th century, and it’s organization was recognized by Rome and Constantinople. Several Christians were sent out as missionaries from Serbia not long after the arrival of Christianity. Protestantism, Lutheranism from Germany and Calvinism from Switzerland increased in Yugoslavia during the 16th century. The Counter Reformation kept the Protestants in check. During the Counter Reformation, the Protestants were under a lot of persecution. Several other small Protestant denominations exist today: Brethren, Baptist, Nazarenes, and Methodists. There is currently no state religion in Serbia. The dominant Church is the Serbian Orthodox Church
 * Religious history in Serbia is from Yugoslavia, since Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate countries, have only been separated from each other for a few years relative to their histories.
 * In the 9th century, the Byzantinium missionaries, Cyril and Methodius translated the liturgy into the national language.
 * In the year 1054, the Great Schism occurred, which divided the people based on religious affiliations which exist to this very day.
 * Missionary work from Serbia continued through the 20th century, even under communist rule. During the 1990’s the Serbian Orthodox missionaries were largely sent out from Yugoslavia.

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 Serbia.
 * b. Click on Places within Serbia 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
You will probably need to write to or email the national archives, the diocese, or local parish priests to find records. Use Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters. Then, use a '''Serbian translation service.
 * Maps.me Church Listings for Serbia
 * Google Maps search results for churches in Serbia Be sure to scroll through all the pages.  There will be several pages with 20 entries each.

History
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous orthodox christian churches. It is the second oldest Slavic Orthodox Church. The Patriarch of Serbia serves as first among equals in his church; the current patriarch is Irinej. The Church achieved autocephalous status in 1219 under the leadership of St. Sava, becoming the independent Archeparchy of Žiča. Its status was elevated to that of a patriarchate in the 14th century, and was known afterwards as Patriarchate of Peć. This patriarchate was abolished by the Ottoman Turks in the 18th century. The modern Serbian Orthodox Church was re-established in 1920 after the unification of the Patriarchate of Karlovci, the Metropolitanate of Belgrade, and the Metropolitanate of Montenegro. Wikipedia:Serbian Orthodox Church

Record Types and Contents
The areas of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro are predominantly Orthodox, although some Catholics are found in the mixed state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Catholic parishes in Bosnia-Herzegovina introduced parish registers in the second half of the 18th century. Orthodox parishes in Serbia were instructed to keep records of christenings, marriages, and deaths in 1837. Yet, at least in some areas of central Serbia, it was not until the 1870's when there began to be reliable keeping of vital records. Yugoslavia Research Guide

16th century to present: Records are kept in regional archives of the federal republics. Some records are also found in church archives. Recent records (less than 100 years old) are in local municipal and parish registry offices.

Records typically contain:

 * Births and Christenings: Name of child, date of birth, and christening; occupation and residence of parents, witnesses; sometimes parents' marriage date.


 * Marriages: Names and ages of bride and groom, occupation of couple, parents, marital status of couple, residence and places of origin.


 * Death and Burials: Name of the deceased, date, place of death, marital status, names of parents, sometimes age and cause of death, sometimes occupation, place of burial, names of survivors, sometimes date and place of birth of the deceased.

Record Availability

 * On-line Records:
 * Kalocsa Archdiocesan Archives Church books from the former Bács-Bodrog county, currently in southern Hungary and northern Serbia.


 * Off-line Records:
 * See Serbia Letter Writing Guide
 * Contact the Serbian Orthodox Church, or
 * Contact the Archives of Serbia.
 * Archives of Serbia Arhiv Srbije ul. Karnegijeva 2 11000 Beograd SERBIA
 * Transcript copies of registers exist for the province of Vojvodina and are found in the archive of that province:
 * Archives of Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Province) Arhiv Vojvodine Dunavska 35 21000 Novi Sad SERBIA

Record Availability

 * Online records-None found. Family Search Historical Records-No Islamic religious records are found.
 * Off-line records-Contact the Serbian Archives.
 * Archives of Serbia Arhiv Srbije ul. Karnegijeva 2 11000 Beograd SERBIA

Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church in Serbia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are 356,957 Catholics in Serbia according to the 2011 census, which is roughly 5% of the population. Roman Catholics are mostly concentrated in several municipalities in northern Vojvodina, and are mostly members of ethnic minorities, such as Hungarians and Croats. ‘’Wikipedia:Roman Catholicism in Serbia’’

Record Availability

 * Online Records-There may be some records in the Italian Archives.
 * Off-line Records-Contact the Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro
 * Križevci Catholic Church of the Byzantine Tradition
 * M. Tita 64, SCG, 25233 Ruski Krstur, Serbia
 * Telephone: (025)703-836

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: Serbia

Search Strategies and Tutorials
sters exist for the province of Vojvodinaand are found in the archive of that province.
 * Rodoslovije: A Guide for Researching Ethnic Serbian Ancestors from Austria - Hungary: A forum for advice and support.