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Cuban Church & Synagogue Records

LDS Microfilms of Parish Records

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. LDS Church) has microfilmed only one set of Parish records from Cuba as follows:

microfilm #	County (Province)	Town and/or Parish	period	Record type
1396005	Camaguey	Camaguey	1753-1780	Marriages

For instructions on how to request and view these and other LDS microfilms see our description of LDS Church Resources.

Cuban Genealogical Society Transcriptions of Parish Records

Indices to Transcriptions of Parish Records

The following five books were published by the Cuban Genealogical Society, PO Box 2650, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.

The books are alphabetical indices of surnames appearing in transcriptions of Parish records collected by Francisco Javier de Santa Cruz (Count of Jaruco) and his associates. The indices provide the surname, name, sex, date of the event or ceremony, type of event and whether the individual was a principal in the ceremony or a related participant in the ceremony, such as a relative or witness. The entries also provide the transcription source and page number as well as a reference to the Cuban Genealogical Society's REVISTA volume and issue where the event was originally listed.

The REVISTA listings are not alphabetical but instead provide the names of all the persons involved in each ceremony together as a single entry. If, after consulting the index and the REVISTA, you find an entry that is of interest, you may request (for a nominal fee) a printout of the transcription from the Cuban Genealogical Society (PO Box 2650, Salt Lake City, UT 84110), or you can check the original transcription in person at the Family History Center on 8500 SW 8th Street, Suite 248, Miami, Florida.

[E introduction] Alphabetical Index of the Parish Registers of Camaguey.
[E introduction] Alphabetical Index of the Parish Registers of Habana.
[E introduction] Alphabetical Index of the Parish Registers of Las Villas.
[E introduction] Alphabetical Index of the Parish Registers of Matanzas.
[E introduction] Alphabetical Index of the Parish Registers of Oriente.

Transcriptions of Parish Records

[E] REVISTA Vol. 1 No. 1 (January 1988) to Vol. 8 No. 4 (October 1995), Magazine published by the Cuban Genealogical Society, PO Box 2650, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.

This quarterly magazine was mostly devoted to listing groups of names appearing in transcriptions from Parish registers in Cuba (see note above). The REVISTA ceased publication at the end of 1995.

A cumulative Index to the Revista has been posted in this web site with the Society's permission.

African Ancestry Records digitized by Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University has a project of researching Eclesiastical Records and Historical Research on the African Diaspora to Brazil and Cuba. As part of this project they have digitized sacramental records of individuals of African ancestry at several churches in Habana and Matanzas, Cuba. For a list of records and links to the actual images click this link. (Thanks to Mariela Fernandez for this information).

Asian Ancestry Records

Vanderbilt University (see above) also has digitized the records of deaths of individuals of Asiatic ancestry of the church of Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje in La Habana. For a link to the actual images click this link.

Information from Cuba

We have been told that some individuals have written local Parish priests requesting information on Church records with varied results. According to Miguel Angel Fernández González, who was for more than a decade in charge of the archives at the Parish of San José de Jatibonico y Arroyo Blanco, and now resides in Spain, their Parish Office always answered any requests for genealogical information and he knows this was true also of other nearby Parishes. He also indicated that under the initiative of a former Papal Nuncio, Monseñor Beniamino Stella, a plan was started to computerize all the Cuban ecclesiastical archives. Mr. Fernández tells us that he witnessed with his own eyes a young man performing this task in the Diocese of Ciego de Ávila last year. This will be a priceless gift for our future generations. Some of these archives date back to 1652 (Sancti Spiritus) and 1585 (Trinidad).

In any case, be aware that mail to and from Cuba is very slow and may or may not get to its destination. Be very patient.

One of our readers, Jorge Gregorisch, reports success in telephoning a local Parish Church in Cuba and requesting information by phone. He reports that although he didn't find the exact information he was looking for, they were very helpful and it cut the waiting time. Several months of delay is typical to get any documents.

If you have any personal experience (positive or negative) in obtaining genealogical data from Cuba and are willing to share it, please send us an e-mail to teh address at the bottom of the page, or post the information to the CUBA-L discussion list for the benefit of others.

Cuban Addresses and Phone Numbers

We have posted listings of addresses and telephone numbers in Cuba of interest to Cuban genealogy. These listings include all archives, churches, cemeteries, civil registers, religious offices, religious communities and fraternal lodges.

To reach these phone and address lists please click here, or you can reach them directly through the left menu bar on our home page.

Catholic Archdiocesis and Diocesis

The Conference of Catholic Bishops in Cuba (Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Cuba) has a web site at www.iglesiacubana.org.

Selecting Diocesis on the menu at the upper right of their home page will take you to a list of the various Diocesis by provinces. Clicking on a particular province will take you to the address, telephone number and e-mail address of the corresponding Diocesis. Selecting Contactos on the menu at the upper right of the home page will take you to the address, telephone number and e-mail address of the Conference.

The Catholic Church in Cuba is currently heirarchically organized into three Archdicocesis and eight Diocesis as follows. Clicking on the link will take you to the address and telephone listings extracted by us from a 1999 Cuban Telephone Directory which was kindly provided to us by one of our readers. We recommend that for the Diocesis you use the above link as it probably is more up to date.

Diocesis and Church Phone Book Listings (1999)

Archdiocesis of La Habana

Archdiocesis of Camaguey

Archdiocesis of Santiago de Cuba

Catholic Hierarchy

The Catholic Hierarchy Organization lists the Dioceses and Bishops of the Catholic Church in Cuba, both current and historical. This is a private web site run my Mr. David Cheney and is not officially sanctioned by the Church.

Catholic Churches

The Cuban Catholic Church had a web site. Unfortunately is seems to be out of service (9/09).

The site does not list the names and addresses of the churches in Cuba, It does, however, list the names addresses and phone numbers for all the religious orders currently represented in Cuba - click the link titled Estadísticas (statistics) and then the links for Comunidades religiosas femeninas (Female religious communities) or Comunidades religiosas masculinas (Male religious communities) .

The Research Guide for Cuba, published in 1995 by the Cuban Genealogical Society, lists the names and founding dates of 359 Parish Churches in Cuba. Unfortunately, the addresses are not listed, but the ones that still exist are listed in the telephone listings of the previous section.

Here are limks to some web sites of Cuban churches that we have found:

Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje - Habana, Cuba

Baptist Churches

Convención Bautista de Cuba Oriental (Baptist Church Organization of Eastern Cuba) web site with a lot of information and phone numbers.

Seventh Day Adventist Churches

Seventh Day Adventist Church of Santa Clara

Other Denominations

For the current addresses and phone numbers of churches of all denominations in Cuba please refer to our listings of Cuban Addresses and Telephone Numbers of Genealogical Interest.

Cuban Church Records - Updated 18-Oct-2009