Greece Church Records: Difference between revisions

In Greece, persons who wanted to marry had to talk to the local priest. The prospective couple submitted certificates giving their birth, parentage, and other information to the local priest, who forwarded it to the diocese (''mitropolis''). Clerks there would check to make sure neither party was currently married to someone else, nor too closely related to the intended spouse. If no problems were found, the diocese would issue the permission for marriage. Upon receiving the diocese’s approval, the local priest performed the marriage. Often, the only permanent record of the marriage is the information recorded by the diocese. If the marriage did not actually take place, that fact is usually noted in the diocese’s records. These records generally give the same information as the parish marriage record and may also list the date the certificate was issued, the birthplaces of the bride and groom, their residence, parents’ names, and whether this was the first or a subsequent marriage. Other information varies. The original certificates that were provided by the bride and groom appear to be on file in the diocese.  

*'''Local parishes'''. Most church registers are still maintained by the parish. Most older records, however, have often been turned in to diocese or state archives.

*'''Diocese archives'''. Current parish registers are located at the parish, but older records of the 1800s and 1900s are often kept in diocese archives. Marriage records especially are generally kept in the diocese offices. You can write to the diocese office for marriage information.

*'''GAK archives''' (''Genika Archeia tou Kratous''). Many pre-1900 records from many parishes are in the GAK. Some of these records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library. However, for more recent records and for those not yet microfilmed, write to the ''Genika Archeia tou Kratous'' and request searches of the records. See [[Greece Archives and Libraries]].

In earlier years, each priest had a book where he recorded the ordinances he performed. A priest may have served more than one local village, or he may have served with other priests in one parish. Birth entries from his books were copied by the civil authorities in order to construct '''the male register.''' When a priest retired or died, the book had to be turned in to the diocese. You must determine the diocese that your ancestor’s town belonged to so that you will know where the records are kept. In large cities, where there may be many parishes, the FamilySearch Catalog uses the parish name (such as St. John) to distinguish the records of different parishes.  

Also, for this time period, you can usually obtain birth, death, and (sometimes) marriage information from civil registration rather than the church. Write to or visit the local mayors’ offices to obtain these records.   

====Finding Diocese and Local Church Addresses====