Sacramental Registers / Recording the Sacraments

Answers provided by: The Office of the Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia

Are parishes permitted to open sacramental registers to and share their information with people / organizations outside the Church?

The USCCB Office of the General Secretary recently reaffirmed its decision of April 5, 2008 (Prot. #20080365) and reminded all bishops that requests from the Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and their Genealogical Society of Utah for access to our sacramental registers are to be denied; all information contained therein is considered confidential and not for viewing or duplication by any and all parties outside of the Catholic Church.  For more information, contact either Sr. Rita-Mae Bissonnette, Chancellor, or Msgr. Marc Caron, Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia, at the Chancery.

When sacraments take place in a hospital, nursing facility, or on a college campus, where are the sacraments recorded?

Hospitals - When baptisms and other sacraments that require recording in official registers occur at local hospitals, they are to be recorded in the sacramental books of the local parish.

Colleges -All sacraments celebrated for college students are to be recorded in the sacramental books of the local parish. In particular, all weddings on college campuses are now recorded in the marriage register of the local parish and the PMI file is to be kept in the parish files.

When multiple parishes come together for a joint celebration of the sacraments, where and how are the sacraments recorded?

With more and more parishes holding joint celebrations of the Easter Vigil as well as joint celebrations of the sacraments of confirmation and first Communion, the Bishop’s Office regularly receives inquiries about the proper procedure(s) for recording the sacraments involving individuals from multiple parishes.  The Code of Canon Law requires the sacraments to be recorded in the register of the parish where the sacrament is celebrated, and the parish where each individual was baptized must be notified.  Note that in parishes where the celebration of the initiation sacraments did not take place, a notation is to be made in the register of the date and place where the sacrament was celebrated for that year. For example, “On June 3, 2009, the sacraments of confirmation and first Communion were administered at St. Mary Major Parish, East Hampton, ME, for the following parishioners: X, Y, Z, etc.” 

When multiple parishes have merged into a new canonical parish:

•  A new, single set of official sacramental registers, regardless of the number of locations (i.e., churches) within the new parish, must be used.

• Old/previous registers are no longer to be used for recording but must be retained and safeguarded along with the records of the newly erected parish.

When, where and how are death registers to be used by a parish?

Recommendation: Death registers should include all funerals that are done in the parish, whether the ministry includes the entire Rite of Christian Burial (Vigil/Wake Service, Mass of Christian Burial, Committals/Burials), or simply one or more parts of the entire rite. The death register should include the names of all the deceased on whose behalf the parish has exercised this ministry, not only for registered parishioners.  If a deceased had a funeral in another parish or diocese and is being brought home to your parish or back to Maine for burial, then the presumption is that the deceased’s name is already recorded in the death register of another parish.  On the other hand, if the deceased did not have any kind of funeral service elsewhere, then the committal service you perform should be recorded in your parish’s death register.

When a parish acquires new liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and other liturgical rites, what does it do with old and/or outdated editions/copies of these books?

With the promulgation of the new translation of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal, parishes have asked about the proper disposal of old copies of books used exclusively for the celebration of Mass, the other sacraments, and other liturgical rites and rituals.  Disposal of items used for sacred liturgy should be handled with respect.  For example, such liturgical books should be burned and/or buried on church grounds/cemeteries.  Parish archives are encouraged to retain a copy of old liturgical books.