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| === Locating Church Records === | | === Locating Church Records === |
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| Church records are kept at different levels in the Catholic Church. The highest level of government is the archdiocese (arquidiocese). By 1900 there were two archdioceses, 15 dioceses, and several thousand parishes or vicarages in Brazil. The parishes (paróquias) are under the jurisdiction of the dioceses. Parishes are local congregations that may include many smaller villages within their boundaries. A large city would have several parishes. All parish jurisdictions have their own records.
| | Most church records used in genealogy were created at the parish (''paróquia'') level. By 1900, there were several thousand parishes or vicarages in Brazil, divided between 15 diocese (''diocese''), within two archdioceses (''arquidiocese''). |
| | You must determine the parish your ancestor belonged to in order to begin research. If your ancestor came from a large city that has several parishes, you will need to know what section of the town he or she lived in to determine the parish. However, in a large city such as Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo you may find that even if you know the home parish, there were times when the ancestor’s family would go to the cathedral for the baptism of a child or to the parish of a relative in the same city. If you do not find the complete family in the home parish, search the surrounding parishes of the city. If your family lived in a very small village or ranch that did not have an established parish, check a map to determine which nearby town had a parish.<br> |
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| In searching for your ancestor you must know the town he or she lived in. You must also determine the parish he or she belonged to. If your ancestor came from a large city that has several parishes, you will need to know what section of the town he or she lived in to determine the parish. However, in a large city such as Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo you may find that even if you know the home parish, there were times when the ancestor’s family would go to the cathedral for the baptism of a child or to the parish of a relative in the same city. If you do not find the complete family in the home parish, search the surrounding parishes of the city. If your family lived in a very small village or ranch that did not have an established parish, check a map to determine which nearby town had a parish.
| | Parish boundary maps, if they exist, can be extremely helpful when determining which parishes had jurisdictions over the place where your ancestor lived. THey can also help you identify neighboring parishes if you need to search through the various parishes in a given region.<br> |
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| Parish boundary maps, if they exist, can be extremely helpful when determining what specific parish records to search. They can help you identify neighboring parishes if you need to search through the various parishes in a given region.
| | As the parish books were filled, many times they were sent to the diocese or archdiocese that had jurisdiction over the parish. Therefore, if records are no longer available at the local parish you may find the records in the diocesan or archdiocesan archives.<br> |
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| As the parish books were filled, many times they were sent to the diocese or archdiocese that had jurisdiction over the parish. Therefore, if records are no longer available at the local parish you may find the records in the diocesan or archdiocesan archives.
| | For addresses to the archdiocese archives and descriptions of their collections, see [[Brazil Archives and Libraries]]. |
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| The Archdiocese Archives in Rio de Janeiro contains parish registers, marriage processes (processos de casamento), marriage bonds, banns, dispensations, and some inquisition records showing pedigrees of those brought to trial.
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| The Archdiocese Archives of São Paulo has marriage records since 1632, baptism records since 1640, and death records since 1731. Most of the parish records are for older parishes in the state of São Paulo when it was all under one diocese. The archive also has several indexes to church records:
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| *Index to baptisms, 1880–1900
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| *Index to dispensations of banns (dispensos de matrimônio e casamentos), 1730–1917
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| *Index to corrections of baptism and marriage records
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| *Index to non-Catholics who accepted the Catholic faith and rejected their former religion
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| Most indexes are in alphabetical order by the first or given name rather than by the surname.
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| The archive also has a book called ''Autos de Genere (Pedigree Records''), which lists in alphabetical order each child’s name, parents, grandparents, and sometimes relatives of earlier generations. It also contains some illegitimate births, with the birth date and the date the father recognized the child as his own.
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| Other records at this archive include confirmation records, a few local censuses, chaplaincy records, ordinations to various orders of the priesthood, wills, ecclesiastical court matters, and other records usually found in a diocese archives.
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| For addresses to the archdiocese archives, see [[Brazil Archives and Libraries]].
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| === Church Record Inventories === | | === Church Record Inventories === |