Can't get a hold of my baptismal certificate for marriage

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CaseyN

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Hi, I was baptized into the church in 2011 in a parish in southern Spain. They gave me a copy of my baptismal certificate so I could go on to be confirmed in the United States later that year. Now I’m looking to get married, and I need a newly issued baptismal certificate. My problem is that I can’t get in touch with the parish that baptized me! I sent an email, and received a message that the recipient’s inbox was full and they couldn’t deliver my email to them. I’ve called them several times (keeping the 6 hour time difference in mind) and no one picks up the phone.

While I have lots of time between now and when I’ll be married, I’m starting to get anxious that I won’t be able to get a hold of the parish for them to send me the certificate in time for me to get married. If this keeps up and time grows short, can I contact the bishop of that diocese, or at least the bishop’s office, to get the baptismal certificate? Or would they just tell me to keep calling this remarkably uncommunicative parish?
 
Yikes. I can imagine that would be stressful. I can’t say what the Bishop’s office will do, but do get in touch with them. Don’t wait until “time grows short” - just use good judgement to determine if you’ve really given this parish a chance to respond before you reach out to the Diocese. It’s possible this is a known issue in the parish, or that there’s some sort of life event going on in the administrative staff, or even that the parish has closed or merged since you were baptized. Better to find out sooner than later!
 
If you have any friends or family over there in the local area, you might try sending someone in person to ask on your behalf. They could tell you if the church has closed or merged. Assuming the church is still operating, the staff might respond more quickly to someone asking in person. I often find that parish offices even in my home country are not the most organized places in the world. Good luck.
 
Had the same problem here in the US with my home parish. I let the parish who would be receiving my husband and I deal with the problem. The ladies in the office got my ‘certified’ copy of my baptismal record quickly.
 
I would ask the parish where you’re going to be married to get in touch with them. That’s a pretty typical scenario. Good luck!
 
AnnArbor said:
I would ask the parish where you’re going to be married to get in touch with them. That’s a pretty typical scenario. Good luck!
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Bingo.

This happened to me as well. My sacramental record is in the US. I got married in France. After a couple of months of trying to procure the certificate on my own, I simply told the priest who would preside over our ceremony of my difficulties. On his request, I gave him the relevant contact info and he said the parish would take care of it. Two weeks later, the certificate was in our file.

Parishes deal with this sort of thing all the time, OP. I’m sure if you raise the issue in the parish where you’ll be married, they can help you out.

God bless!
 
CaseyN said:
Hi, I was baptized into the church in 2011 in a parish in southern Spain. They gave me a copy of my baptismal certificate so I could go on to be confirmed in the United States later that year. Now I’m looking to get married, and I need a newly issued baptismal certificate. My problem is that I can’t get in touch with the parish that baptized me! I sent an email, and received a message that the recipient’s inbox was full and they couldn’t deliver my email to them. I’ve called them several times (keeping the 6 hour time difference in mind) and no one picks up the phone.

While I have lots of time between now and when I’ll be married, I’m starting to get anxious that I won’t be able to get a hold of the parish for them to send me the certificate in time for me to get married. If this keeps up and time grows short, can I contact the bishop of that diocese, or at least the bishop’s office, to get the baptismal certificate? Or would they just tell me to keep calling this remarkably uncommunicative parish?
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You can engage the assistance of the diocese if the parish is not responsive. You can also ask your own parish to assist you if they will.

The reason you are asked for a new baptismal record is because the baptismal parish is supposed to receive and document sacraments such as marriage. What they are really looking for is proof of freedom to marry.

You can talk to your diocesan judicial vicar to ask what is acceptable in place of a newly issued baptismal certificate-- such as an affidavit attesting to no prior marriages from family members-- in case you are unable to obtain records from Spain.

You can prove you are baptized and confirmed via your confirmation parish or an affidavit from witnesses-- which will have the baptismal and confirmation information noted in your sacramental record from the confirmation.
 
I can’t say about Spain, but I do know in some countries the common practice is not to give baptismal certificates on demand to people, but to only respond to other parishes/dioceses who are requesting them.
 
I do not know that this is the case for your parish, but I know that there is a severe priest shortage in some diocese in Spain and there has been major consolidations of parishes. It may be the case that the records from your parish were transferred to a different parish if its administration and records were transferred to another church. I know of some parishes which were closed all together and the records sent to the diocesan offices for archival. Your best bet would be to either try to retrieve them through your current parish secretary or contact the diocese with a description of the need for the certificate and a description of your attempts to contact the parish.

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I’ll be praying for you.

God Bless,
Br. Ben
 
CRM_Brother said:
I do not know that this is the case for your parish, but I know that there is a severe priest shortage in some diocese in Spain and there has been major consolidations of parishes. It may be the case that the records from your parish were transferred to a different parish if its administration and records were transferred to another church. I know of some parishes which were closed all together and the records sent to the diocesan offices for archival. Your best bet would be to either try to retrieve them through your current parish secretary or contact the diocese with a description of the need for the certificate and a description of your attempts to contact the parish.

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I’ll be praying for you.

God Bless,
Br. Ben
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That’s the case in Canada also. I found out last time I was home that although the parish office is open two afternoons per week all you can do there is request Masses. The parish registers now reside at the parish where our administrator is the Pastor and that’s where you must go for certificates. I wanted to verify that my children’s Confirmation had been recorded.
 
In a “worst case scenario” your local parish can accept the older copy of your baptismal certificate as proof that you are baptized and then take the sworn testimony of two witnesses that you have never been married as evidence of your freedom to marry.

We don’t like to go this route because its the least definitive but it is an option if all else fails.
 
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