Our Partnership with

The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois has partnered with Ancestry.com to digitize and index sacramental records of the diocese that are considered accessible for genealogical research. With the passage of time, sacramental records are considered open for genealogical research. This is no different than state vital records (births, marriages and deaths) which also have access restrictions removed after a certain period of time. 

An important benefit of this project is the preservation of fragile and critically important records. Sacramental records are subject to wear and tear, bindings become broken, the paper is not the best quality material and is often acidic (brittle) and eventually fall apart. Digitization of the sacramental records deemed genealogical will prevent further damage from handling the books.

These sacramental records are critically important because they reflect the sacramental life of the faithful, the rights and privileges of the sacramental recipient in the Catholic Church and the legacy of a family’s faith. Now that the digitization has been completed, researchers are able to search the page images and indexes of these registers online.

Included in the index of files are Baptism and Confirmation registers prior to 1921, Marriage registers prior to 1951 and death/funeral registers prior to 1976.