In article <9705272003.AA18538@pcnet1.pcnet.com>, ntrahan@SAROVPRESS.COM writes... > >(A copy of this message has also been posted to the following newsgroups: >soc.genealogy.slavic) > >In article <l03020906afb0a4e31bef@[199.224.69.221]>, Slavic Genealogy >Discussion List <GEN-SLAVIC@MAIL.EWORLD.COM> wrote: > >[SNIP] >>Secondly, is there a Catholic perspective, here? I know why the Mormons >>want to identify their relatives, but aren't there Catholic interests in >>family, roots, heritage, tradition, etc.? What would Rome think about >>genealogy research? That it is a frivilous effort that takes priests from >>their work, or that this is an important part of that work. (By the way, I >>enclose some money along with my requests, which I learned from the >>suggestions of others.) > >This depends on the parish. I have written to the RC parishwhich my >family was intrumental in starting here in COnnecticut and the preiest >there categorically denied me access to any church records. Through he >seceretary I was told no one sees the records and that they do give out >any information to genealogists. The records are for sacremental purposes >(more like denying people the sacrements) only. > >I hope others have better luck than I. > >Nicholas Trahan >-- Nicholas, In my opinion the priest who categorically denied you access to the church records was irresponsible. In many cases, the church files contain the only existing records of some births and marriages. People need to access these records for a variety of legal reasons. This matter should be reported to the bishop of the diocese. Priests are not obligated to give out information where there is no established "need to know". I have found the following to be helpful in requesting information from Catholic Churches in the US and in Poland -- and I have gotten responses to 95% of my requests: 1) Be specific as to the person or persons for whom data is requested. A birth, baptism, death or marriage date (or at least a close guess) is important. Many pastors do not mind copying out information if they can find it quickly in their ledgers, but have little time or interest in fishing through volume after volume of records. Don't forget that a charge is almost always made for copying a baptismal or marriage certificate ($5 more or less , depending on the parish) and if the pastor is expected to fish through the records, payment by the hour for research time is expected in many parishes. You should enclose an offering and offer to pay reasonable costs to have your search conducted. 2) If you write to Poland, make sure you write in Polish -- very few priests in Poland are fluent in English, particularly in the villages. This is less of a problem in Czech Republic or Slovakia. Enclose an offering in US currency and add $1.00 US for return postage. Enclose a non-stamped return envelope. 3) Expect to wait a month for a domestic request and 3 + months from Europe. Good luck. Joe