Romania Church Records

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Church Records

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

Introduction

Churches kept records of births and baptisms, marriages, and deaths and burials in their congregations. Such records, created and maintained by churches, are called church records (registre parohiale). Church records are an extremely reliable source for identifying vital information for families, although it is sometimes difficult to link generations. Church records are the most important source prior to civil registration.

Historical Background

Religion	1875	1912	1992	2011
Romanian Orthodox	44.5%	68.4%	86.8%	81.04%
Greek Catholic	30.4%	17.1%	3.2%	0.75%
Roman Catholic	11.3%	5.6%	5.1%	4.33%
Calvinist-Reformed	7.2%	3.2%	2.7%	2.99%
Evangelical-Lutheran	3.1%	1.0%	0.8%	0.1%
Jewish	2.9%	2.3%	0.4%	0.1%
Muslim	1.6%	2.0%	0.2%	0.3%
Unitarian	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.29%
Pentecostal			1.0%	1.8%
Baptist			0.5%	0.56%
Seventh-Day Adventist			0.3%	0.4%

Coverage

Church records in Romania start as early as 1600 and go to the present. Church records in Transylvania began in the early 1600s, and in the Banat in the early 1700s. In Wallachia, Moldavia, and Bukovina most records began in 1775, and in Bessarabia and Dobruja in 1814. Transcripts of church records were made as early as 1784 in Transylvania, Banat, and Bukovina. In Wallachia and Moldavia they began officially in 1831, but in some areas transcripts were kept as early as 1806. 50-70% of the population can be found in these records.

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:

baptism date the infant's name parents' names father's occupation

status of legitimacy occasionally, names of grandparents names of witnesses or godparents, who may be relatives

birth date and place the family's place of residence death information, as an added note or signified by a cross

Marriages

Marriage registers can give:

the marriage date the names of the bride and groom indicate whether the bride and groom were single or widowed their ages

birth dates and places for the bride and groom their residences their occupations

birthplaces of the bride and groom parents' names (after 1800) the names of previous spouses and their death dates names of witnesses, who might be relatives.

Burials

Burial registers may give:

the name of the deceased the date and place of death or burial the deceased's age place of residence

cause of death the names of survivors, especially a widow or widower deceased's birth date and place parents' names, or at least the father's name

How to Find Records

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 Romania.

b. Click on Places within Romania 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. . 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 Romanian translation service.

• Maps.me Church Listings for Brazil
• Google Maps search results for churches in Brazil Be sure to scroll through all the pages. There will be several pages with 20 entries each.

Accessing the Records

Local parishes maintain their own church registers for approximately the past 100 years. Local storage conditions vary. Records prior to that have been transferred to the district offices in each Judetul (county). There are 41 Judetuls in Romania. The Unitarian Church in Transylvania has established its own archive in the city of Cluj and digitized its records. The transcripts (copies) of some church records may be found in archives in Hungary, Serbia, Poland and Germany. Some local archives do research for patrons, but it can be very expensive. Individuals may visit or hire a professional to visit Romania.

Some of Romania's church records (about 12%) have been microfilmed and are available through the Family History Library. Most of these records have been acquired at archives in Germany and Hungary. To determine the specific records available, you must search the FamilySearch Catalog for the place where the parish was seated.

Romanian Orthodox Church

The Romanian Orthodox Church had 20.9 million members in 1992. The Church is autocephalous, meaning it is not subject to an external patriarch or archbishop, but has a relationship with the Eastern Orthodox Church. The highest hierarchical authority is the Holy Synod. Since 1925, the Church has been headed by a patriarch. There are six Orthodox Metropolitanates and ten archbishoprics in Romania. As of 2004, there are fifteen theological universities and more than 14,500 churches.

Uniate (Greek Catholic) Church

The Uniate (Greek Catholic) Church (which severed its connection with the Vatican in 1698) was suppressed from 1948-1989 when much of its property was turned over to the Orthodox Church. Membership had reached 770,000 by 1992.

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church in 1992 numbered 1,229,100 persons, mainly among the Hungarian and German minorities. There are eight dioceses. In 1992 four were vacant. Some Roman Catholic Church records for Lombardy and Venetia have been partially microfilmed and can be examined in the archives of Milano and Venice or at the individual parishes.

Calvinist Church

In 1992 there were 650,700 Calvinists, mainly Hungarians. They have bishoprics at Cluj and Oradea.

Lutheran Church

In 1992 there were 192,800 Lutherans, mainly Germans. They have a bishopric at Sibiu.

Unitarian Church

In 1992 there were 72,300 Unitarians, mainly Hungarians. They have a bishopric at Cluj. These sects share a seminary at Cluj.

Pentecostal Church

In 1992 there were 241,000 Pentecostals.

Baptist Church

In 1992 there were 120,000 Baptists.

Seventh-Day Adventists

In 1992 there were 72,000 Seventh-Day Adventists.