Colleagues, I would suggest that the Catholic Church can - and has- funded microfilming of their own records for preservation. Any archive can buy and operate a microfilm camera and create the correct environment for preservation <g>. In Detroit, the Archdiocese has placed church parish records at the Detroit Public Library/ Burton Collection. Each researcher signs a paper when they request a microfilm- stating the surnames and parishes they are interested in. In the past, it was at the discretion of the individual bishop to allow microfilming- by any group. The records are sacramental. They are not public records. They were created for religious reasons. In many Catholic European countries the priest was also the civil scribe. So duplicate copies are found at the civil archives. Perhaps a system of housing microfilms at Catholic university libraries might be a solution. BTW, the Catholic faith also honors ancestors- on All Souls Day and All Saints Day. http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/fj102202.asp As I have often said during my lectures, I appreciate the GSU efforts in preserving Catholic records. I have been able to trace my ancestors in Poland back to the late 1600s via FHL. I volunteer each week at the local FHC- but I do not help patrons create their Temple Ready files. And, I know, deep in my heart, if a Mormon descendant offers my grandmother Cecilia Marianna Wojtkowiak Przytulska - raised and educated by the Felician Sisters- baptism, she will make the sign of the cross, say a novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, and gracefully decline. Ceil Wendt Jensen, MA, CG http://mipolonia.net