Just several comments regarding this subject: ACzubek wrote: > Maybe, if someone is involved in their parish & interested in genealogy, > the pastor would allow them to take over looking up the records for those > that request information. That should help out the priest if his reason > is that he is too busy. I have been actively involved in many Catholic parishes over the years and most(Not All) priests are very busy people but will try and help anyone with a request for data. Not all but most will assist if they can. It is appropriate when corresponding to enclose a stipend to cover the costs of the time of a secretary since secretaries are paid workers and it would be reasonable to expect a search and generating a response to require a minimum of a half hour and probably more. I normally enclosed $20.00 for the first lookup requested and an additional $10.00 for each additional record required. That may seem like a lot to some of you but do consider the cost of time and effort on their part to satisfy your request. > She was helpful when > I went there, although she guarded each piece of paper & only let me see > them one at a time. > In Mt Pleasant PA at one church, I was given access to the books and permitted to scan the records myself. At another churchfrom which I wanted data, I had to sit acroos from the priest and he would not let me touch the books. It seems that several years ago some jackass when given access to the books tore out pages that contained to records he wanted rather than copy them. Now they let no-one touch them and are very guarded with the books. It takes all kinds. My best suggestion is to be as specific as possible about what you want. A general request such as please provide me with the birth, marriage and death records for the name so-and-so will probably be ignored. ALso ask for transcriptions of the record, not certificates. The reason is that very often included in the records is place of birth of parents in baptisms, and place of birth of the subjects in marriages and deaths. That data will not normally be provided in a certificate but will be provided in a transcription. I got to be too verbose on this subject. Enough -- Regards adny Verostko