Brazil Church Records: Difference between revisions

=== General Historical Background ===

The arrival of six Jesuits in 1549 marked the beginning of organized religious activity in the colony. Catholic clergy have documented the history of Brazil in their church records from the very start of the exploration of Brazil. The earliest church records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths in Brazil that have been microfilmed are the Catholic Church records in Rio de Janeiro from 1616.

=== Information Recorded in Church Registers ===

The type and amount of information and detail recorded in church books varied over time. The later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones. The most important church records for genealogical research are baptism, marriage, and burial registers. Occasionally other helpful church records were kept, including confirmations and church censuses. Most records were recorded in Portuguese. A few Catholic records were kept in Latin.

=== Baptisms [batismos] ===

Children were generally baptized within a few days of birth. Baptismal records usually list the infant’s place and date of baptism, parents, status of legitimacy, godparents, and sometimes grandparents. You may also find the child’s age and the family’s place of residence. If the child died within a few days of baptism, death information has sometimes been added as a note. At times a note added to the margin will state who the child later married.

=== Marriages [casamentos] ===

Marriage registers give the date and place of a marriage and names of the bride and groom. They may also indicate whether the couple were single or widowed before this marriage. If they were widowed sometimes it will give the names of the deceased spouses and how long they had been deceased. If the bride or groom was a minor, a note often appears to indicate whether a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage. The record will list the witnesses, usually two to four men who could verify that there were no reasons why the couple should not be married. Often the registers include other information about the bride and groom, such as their ages, residences, parents, and sometimes birthplaces.

=== Deaths [óbitos] ===

Burials were recorded in the church record of the parish where the person died. Death or burial registers give the name of the deceased and the date and place of burial and/or death. Often the deceased’s age, residence, marital status, cause of death, and survivors are given.

=== Confirmation Registers [confirmações] ===

Confirmation records were not consistently recorded. In larger parishes a separate book was usually maintained, and in smaller parishes the confirmation entries may be intermingled with baptisms. Confirmations were normally performed by the bishop or his authorized representative when they visited the parish. In some parishes confirmations were performed every year, but in the smaller parishes, where it was difficult for the bishop or his representative to visit, the confirmations took place once every few years. You may find that several members of the family were confirmed at the same time.

=== Other Ecclesiastical Records ===

The Catholic Church kept many other records that are valuable for genealogical research. These might include census and population lists, wills, account books, property grants to the church, lawsuits, priesthood ordination records, and fraternal groups that assisted in parish activities. These types of records may be available on a local level or in Brazilian archives, but they have not usually been filmed by the Family History Library.

=== Locating Church Records ===

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.

=== Church Record Inventories ===

An inventory is a listing of available church records, what years they cover, and their location. Sometimes they indicate which parishes served particular towns at different times. Church record inventories in Brazil have not been obtained by the Family History Library. For more information, see the "[[Brazil Church Directories|Church Directories]]" section of this outline.

=== Church Records at the Family History Library ===

The Family History Library has many Brazilian church records on microfilm. Many church records have been filmed for the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Santa Catarina. Church records have also been filmed in the states of Maranhão, Espírito Santo, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Ceará, Pará, Paraná, and Pernambuco.

=== Records Not at the Family History Library ===

Baptism, marriage, and death records may be searched by contacting or visiting local parish or diocese archives in Brazil. Brazil has no single repository of church records. Write your request in Portuguese whenever possible.

=== Search Strategies ===

Effective use of church records includes the following strategies, used in this order:

If earlier generations are not in the record, search neighboring parishes.