Parish Registers

PARISH REGISTERS. - They are believed to have had a very ancient origin (they would be spoken of in Nov. 74, IV, 1-2 of Justinian).

In the Middle Ages very few references to parish registers are found; they are mentioned almost in passing, and more as a usage limited to certain churches than as a common usage, by the Papiense, Rolandino and the Hostiensis. Innocent IV and the Panormitanus also speak of the libri ecclesiarum; but these books had no rule and no authority, being kept almost exclusively for internal statistical use, and destined only, at least for the most part, to the registration of Marriages. The evolution of the times, however, brought it about that the need for public documents concerning citizens was imperiously felt, and thus various synods laid down particular norms (Constantinople 1463, Augsburg 1548).

To the Council of Trent belongs the merit of having regulated this matter and of having laid down the norms concerning the books of Marriages (Tametsi) and of the baptized (Sess. XXIV, de ref. chap. 1).

In 1614 Paul V brought parish registers to five (Roman Ritual, tit. X, chap. 2, no. 7), as, that is, the CIC prescribes today. Regulations were issued by Benedict XIV (encyclical Satis Vobis of 17 Nov. 1741 and apostolic constitution Firmandis of 6 Nov. 1744, in which four books are spoken of, excluding that of the dead) and by the Sacred Congregations. Through the provisions of the Council of Trent, of the Roman Ritual and of the various synods, parish registers acquired great value also in the field of public law, so much so that they were considered, besides being public ecclesiastical documents, true registers of civil status, having evidentiary force also in the lay forum. With the upheavals brought about by the French Revolution this prerogative fell, first with the creation of lay civil registrars and then with the institution of civil marriage. The other States followed the example of France and by the middle of the 19th century almost all had their own civil status. The ecclesiastical books continued their function as public documents within the ambit of the Church, and first with the decree Ne temere, then with the promulgation of the CIC their efficacy was further strengthened. In the CIC parish registers are spoken of in can. 470; the keeping of these books is imposed on the parish priest as one of the most serious duties; the Ordinary must punish according to the degree of culpability the parish priest who has failed in his duty or has simply been negligent (can. 2383). The books imposed by the CIC are the same as those of which the Roman Ritual speaks, namely: the book of the baptized, of the confirmed, of the dead, of Marriages and de statu animarum. The compilation of the latter, although not rigorously imposed as that of the others is, must be attended to by the parish priest as far as possible. In the book of the baptized, next to each individual name there must be noted, besides Baptism, Confirmation and, if applicable, Marriage, the subdiaconate and solemn profession.

As for the juridical value of parish registers, these, in accordance with can. 1813 § 1, are public ecclesiastical documents and therefore have full evidentiary force also in the external forum. In the lay forum the books of the baptized and of Marriages have evidentiary force, especially in those States where canonical Marriage

FINIS.

Imposita e la presente opera così con doli gesta emendata como di ricorde cassette se & figure ornata ne la inclita & flosonati fima cita de Feisare per Maestro Lorenzo di Ruffi da Valenza me gli coni de la falsita del mondo. M.CCCC.XCVII.A di xii. de O'Robe. Regnante & noidicamente & cum humana et felice & selvogoffimo Principe merita Hattale Efferte Duca facundo. Specchio de infrangibile fede.

has civil effects. To the other attestations of the parish priest a value is given deriving from confidence in the diligence with which they are compiled. Given this public function of the parish priest, who performs the functions of a notary, the importance of the perfect keeping of the parish registers is evident, an authentic copy of which is brought every year to the Curia and preserved there, with the exception of the book de statu animarum.

Giorgio Franco