Cocos (Keeling) Islands Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Cocos (Keeling) Islands, go to the Religious Records page.

Historical Background
Religion in Cocos Islands (2016):
 * Islam (80.28%)
 * No religion (14.34%)
 * Christianity (5.38%)

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Religions: Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 75%, Anglican 3.5%, Roman Catholic 2.2%, none 12.9%, unspecified 6.3% (2016 est.)

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 FamilySearch Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
 * b. Click on Places within Cocos (Keeling) Islands 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. See Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.


 * Google Maps results for churches in Cocos Islands

Writing to a Local Parish
Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean are pastorally cared for by the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth although they are not within its jurisdiction.

Cocos (Keeling) Islands c/o Catholic Church Office PO Box 3311, East Perth WA 6892 Australia Phone: (08) 9223 1351 Email: enquiries@perthcatholic.org.au