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 books were published and are for sale 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. You can now download the digitized issues of the REVISTA from this link.
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] Supplement for Habana, with Pinar del Rio.
-
[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, Magazine published by the Cuban
Genealogical Society, PO Box 2650, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.
The REVISTA was published from 1988 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2007, with a single Special Issue published in 2009. The magazine was mostly devoted to listing groups of names
appearing in transcriptions from Parish registers in Cuba (see preceding section). The Society closed in 2009. Thanks to the generosity of Mayra Sanchez-Johnson, who ran the Society and published the REVISTA, we have been given permission to digitize and post the Cumulative Index and all 57 issues of the magazine.
The Cumulative Index and digitized isues of the REVISTA are available via this link.
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.
The web site includes a listing of the current Dioceses in Cuba, with their address and phone numbers, starting at the following page:
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:
Baptist Churches
Seventh Day Adventist Churches
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.
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