PARISH REGISTERS. — It is believed that they had a very ancient origin (reference is made to Nov. 74, IV, 1-2 of Justinian).
In the Middle Ages there are very few references to parish registers; they are mentioned almost casually and more as a usage limited to certain churches than as a common practice, by Papinian, Rolandino, and Ostiense. Even Innocent IV and Panormitanus speak of church books, but these books had no rules or authority, being kept almost exclusively for internal statistical use and intended only, for the most part, for the recording of marriages. However, as times evolved, the need for public documents concerning citizens was felt to be imperative, and so various synods laid down particular norms (Constantinople 1463, Augsburg 1548).
The Council of Trent deserves credit for having regulated this matter and for having laid down norms concerning the registers of marriages (Tannesti) and of the baptised (Sess. XXIV, de ref. cap. 1).
In 1614 Paul V increased the number of parish registers to five (Roman Ritual, tit. X, cap. 2, n. 7), as prescribed today by the CIC. Regulations were also issued by Benedict XIV (encyclical Satis Vobis of 17 November 1741 and apostolic constitution Firmandis of 6 November 1744, in which four registers are mentioned, excluding that of the deceased) and by the Sacred Congregations. Through the provisions of the Council of Trent, the Roman Ritual, and various synods, parish registers acquired great value even in the field of public law, so much so that they were considered, in addition to ecclesiastical public documents, true civil status registers, providing evidence even in the secular forum. With the upheavals caused by the French Revolution, this prerogative was lost, first with the creation of secular civil status officials and then with the institution of civil marriage. Other states followed France’s example, and by the mid-19th century almost all had their own civil status system. Ecclesiastical registers continued their function as public documents within the Church, and their efficacy was further strengthened first by the decree Ne tenere and then by the promulgation of the CIC. The CIC refers to parish registers in can. 470; the keeping of these registers is imposed on the parish priest as one of the gravest duties; the Ordinary must punish the delinquent or merely negligent parish priest according to the degree of culpability (can. 2383). The registers required by the CIC are the same as those mentioned in the Roman Ritual, namely: the register of the baptised, the confirmed, the deceased, marriages, and the status animarum. The compilation of the latter, although not strictly imposed like the others, must be attended to by the parish priest as far as possible. In the register of the baptised, alongside each individual name, in addition to baptism, confirmation must be recorded, and, where applicable, marriage, subdiaconate, and solemn profession.
As for the legal value of parish registers, these, according to can. 1813 § 1, are ecclesiastical public documents and therefore provide full proof even in the external forum. In the secular forum, the registers of the baptised and of marriages provide proof, especially in those states where canonical marriage
FINIS.
Imprefì e la prefente opera cofin con dì
gentia emendata como di ricunde carate
te & figure ornata ne la incita & florenti
fima cita de Feiun: per Malotto Lorenzo
di Rolfi da Valenza: ne gli anni de la falu
te del mundo. M. CCCCXXVII. A di XII. de Octobre. Regnante & iuridicamente
& cum humanita et felice & religioffimo
Princep meflet. Hercule Effente Duca fe-
cundo. Spochio de infungibile fede.
PARISH REGISTERS — REGISTER
have civil effects. The other attestations of the parish priest are given a value derived from the trust placed in the diligence with which they are compiled. Given this public function of the parish priest, who performs notarial functions, the importance of the accurate keeping of parish registers is evident; an authentic copy of these is sent to the Curia each year and preserved there, with the exception of the status animarum register.
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