Church Record Sunday: 5 Websites for Catholic Genealogy

Mission San Luis Rey (c) 2011 Gena Philibert-Ortega

I thought we would do something a little different this month for Church Record Sunday. Instead of featuring one single resource I will be spotlighting five each Sunday in December.

Today we have five websites for your Catholic family history research.

1. University of Notre Dame Archives

According  to their website "The University Archives is responsible for the collection, maintenance, and preservation of the official records of the University of Notre Dame as well as other records that document the life of the Catholic Church and her people as lived in the American context." While obviously there are a large amount of  works pertaining to Notre Dame in this archive, don't let that stop you from searching the catalog. When I searched on the word California, I received all kinds of results including materials about parishes and missions in California.

While you are on the Archives website, make sure to click on the link for Digital Collections. Here you will find a manuscript collection for the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, 1576-1803.

2. The National Archives (UK)- Catholics

Have English Catholic ancestors? You might be interested in this research guide from The National Archives (UK). According to the web page, "This guide details how and where records relating specifically to Catholics can be found at The National Archives, though its scope is not exhaustive and there are countless records with coverage of Catholics and Catholicism not touched upon here. The primary focus is the period between the mid-16th and the mid-19th centuries..."

3. Catholic Cemeteries Conference

I blogged about this website previously on Church Record Sunday. It includes an index for Catholic cemeteries in the United States (and a few other places).

4. Cyndi's List-Catholic

Any research project requires some time to find resources and one of the first places most genealogists  begin is Cyndi's List. Don't forget to check out the links she has for Catholic websites.

5. US Diocese and Bishop Addresses- US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Diocese addresses and website links. Good starting point to learn more about records access and archival collections.