teeAsk for a copy of the certificate. I don’t even know if its possible to ask for the original.
tee gave some good information, but I’d still like to reiterate it. Whenever you need your baptismal certificate, a new one has to be issued.Hi, I’m planning to leave the area, most likely for good. Would it be a good idea to ask my church for my baptismal certificate now, just in case I need it somewhere down the road? I’m afraid that if I have to get it years from now, they will have forgotten that I was once a parishioner there. Plus I think I would feel safer knowing that I have my baptismal certificate somewhere where I have easy access to, should the need arise. Any thoughts? Thanks!
they won’t “forget” those records are kept in perpetuity but as general matter of good housekeeping yes gather all relevant records and paperwork in one place. If you ask for a new record now it will list all sacraments you have received. If you in the future however get married or enter a convent or seminary you will be asked to apply for a new record, as a matter of form, but this way you will at least have the contact information for you baptismal parish.Hi, I’m planning to leave the area, most likely for good. Would it be a good idea to ask my church for my baptismal certificate now, just in case I need it somewhere down the road? I’m afraid that if I have to get it years from now, they will have forgotten that I was once a parishioner there. Plus I think I would feel safer knowing that I have my baptismal certificate somewhere where I have easy access to, should the need arise. Any thoughts? Thanks!
The way to verify it is to contact the pastor at your place of baptism, and ask him to look at the records to make sure they’re there. As for the change in Church sui iuris, there’s no “place” to record this on the standard pre-printed certificates, so most likely it doesn’t get recorded because of the simple fact that they don’t know where to put it.I have a question about notations. I was baptized, received first communion, and married in the same parish, I was confirmed in a different parish. Whenever I get a copy of my baptismal certificate, although there is a place for annotations to be listed they never show up. Also after changing sui juris churches, my baptismal certificate does not have an annotation stating the change, what should I do to make sure all of this is actually notated in the baptismal registry as it should be?
As parish secretary it has always annoyed me that if marriages and confirmations of children baptized in this parish were celebrated in this parish they were generally not noted in the baptismal section of the register but only in their respective sections of the combined register. That means than any time someone is requesting a certificate for marriage purposes I have to also comb the confirmation & marriage registers to verify that they, in fact, have or have not received these sacraments.The way to verify it is to contact the pastor at your place of baptism, and ask him to look at the records to make sure they’re there. As for the change in Church sui iuris, there’s no “place” to record this on the standard pre-printed certificates, so most likely it doesn’t get recorded because of the simple fact that they don’t know where to put it.
I’ve noticed that many parish secretaries and even clerics don’t bother writing the notations on the back–yes, they are supposed to, but in my experience this is often overlooked. It’s especially overlooked that the words “no notations” or something similar is supposed to be written if there are indeed no notations (in other words, one can’t just leave it blank). I’ve had to request re-prints many many times because of this.
As for First Communion, I’ve noticed that many baptismal registers don’t contain a column for 1st Communion in the individual records–instead, they only have a section (or seperate book) to record who received and when. It’s odd because we’re supposed to notify the parish of baptism, and the parish of baptism is supposed to record it when it happens elsewhere–but there’s no column to record it in the individual records. I’ve seen this from different publishers. Odd thing that. Recording 1st Communion in the individual records is something peculiar to the US–from what I understand it’s not done in Canada or Europe.
I’ve run into a case in the past where a parish was merged with another parish and the original records from the first parish were lost. I’ve also heard of many cases (particularly in genealogy circles) where a church will burn down and the records will be lost (in which case, if I remember correctly, the church just issues a confirmation that records were lost). So in summary, it’s always good to have a copy of your records.
One of the parishes I deal with had a fire in the mid '80s so we have no records from 1946-1953 (time when one priest’s register ends and another priest’s register begins) and from 1964-1984 or '85 (time between the start of the first ‘church specific’ register and the fire).
Prior to the fall of '46, an itinerant priest travelled from community to community along the coast and celebrated baptisms and marriages. He carried his register with him and it survived him.
Today we are required to photocopy our records at the end of each year and forward the photocopies to the diocesan archives.
In addition to safe-keeping, it also lets you verify that records are correct. The last time I requested my baptismal record, it came with no notations. When I called, it turned out that the church administering the other sacraments never forwarded them to the baptismal parish.
Something that happens more often than we’d like to think it does.
And I don’t mean to insinuate that it’s the parish’s fault. Especially when people move around, they assume their child was baptized in Parish A and write that on the paperwork, when the child was really baptized in Parish B and as a result the paperwork goes to the wrong place. I could see a case where the paperwork isn’t clear or isn’t returned to the CCD coordinator and the baptism parish is never disclosed. I could see a case where Parish A and B merge and use Parish B’s name and address but the parents list Parish A. I could see a case where a Parish has multiple churches and the parents list the church and not the parish, so the paperwork never makes it. I could see a case where multiple parishes in the same city have very similar names and someone gets confused. I could see things getting lost in the mail, or being accidentally thrown out, etc.Something that happens more often than we’d like to think it does.
Why would there be a need for an expiration date? It’s not like you can be unbaptized. I guess it’s to prevent fraud.Thanks to everyone who responded. I confirmed it with my local priest that indeed I can get a copy of the certificate, but there’s an “expiration date” on it. I think I’m going to get a copy regardless, just for peace of mind, if nothing else.
Yes, but a different kind of fraud–bigamy. The idea is that a priest preparing someone for marriage needs to know if that person was ever previously married. Since marriage notations are supposed to be made (at least for marriages in the Church) in the baptism register, having a recent certificate will “prove” the marital status of the person. It’s not a perfect system, but given the alternative of a certificate that was issued when the person was only a week old, or a teenager (at Confirmation), it’s at least a better way. Same thing for ordination (either to prove not-married, or to prove that the candidate for marriage was never ordained and never took perpetual vows). An old certificate will prove baptism, but nothing else. In some cases, the local pastor needs to know if there is “something else.”Why would there be a need for an expiration date? It’s not like you can be unbaptized. I guess it’s to prevent fraud.