Mexico, Michoacán, Catholic Church Records, 1555-1996

Catholic Church records created by parishes and dioceses in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. These records include: baptisms, confirmations, parish censuses, marriages, pre-marriage investigations, marriage dispensations, deaths, indexes, priest applications, testaments, and miscellaneous administrative documents.

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Mexico, Michoacán, Catholic Church Records

What is in This Collection?

This collection of Catholic Church records for the State of Michoacan covers the years 1549 to 1909. Often in Catholic Church records, separate books were kept for baptisms, confirmations, marriage information documents, marriages, and deaths. However, in smaller areas, all records may be recorded on one register. In larger parishes a separate book was usually maintained for confirmations, while in smaller parishes the confirmations may have been included with the baptisms. In larger parishes, most of the marriage banns (informaciones matrimoniales) may be registered separately. In smaller parishes, these records were included in the marriage entry or the confirmations may have been included with the baptisms or even with marriages. In larger parishes, a separate book of confirmations was usually maintained.

These records are in relatively fair condition, with the exception of some older records that may be damaged and, therefore, hard to read or missing some information. Most of the older records are handwritten in narrative style and follow a common text with some variations depending on the style used by the priest. Newer records are handwritten in formatted registers; some are even written in ledger style registers.

Computer Aided Indexing (CAI)

Some or all of the indexed records for this collection were created using Computer Aided Indexing (CAI) from records digitized by FamilySearch or its partners. For more information on CAI see FamilySearch Computer Aided Indexing.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Reading These Records

These records are written in Spanish. For help reading them see:

FamilySearch Learning Center videos:

If you speak Spanish, the following free online lesson may be helpful to learn how to use the information in these records:

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Mexico, Michoacán, Catholic Church Records, 1555-1996.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism

  • Date and place of baptism
  • Child's name and gender
  • Child's date and place of birth
  • Legitimacy
  • Names of the parents
  • Godparents
  • Before 1820, social class of the parents
  • Sometimes, the person’s race

Marriage

  • Marriage date and place
  • Groom and Bride's names, marital status, occupation, age, origin and residence
  • Groom and Bride's birth and baptism date and place
  • Parents' names
  • Legitimacy
  • Witnesses' names

Death

  • Name and age of the deceased
  • Name of spouse and children
  • Cause and date of death
  • Burial location

Collection Content

For additional details about these records and help using them see Mexico Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records.

Sample Images

Collection Details

Record Type: Vital
7,178,319 Records
35,091,272 Personas
5,283,986 Images

Language

Spanish

Location of Original Records

Parroquias Católicas, Michoacan (Catholic Church parishes, Michoacan)

Cite This Collection

"México, Michoacán, registros parroquiales y diocesanos, 1555-1996." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 30 July 2026. Parroquias Católicas, Michoacan (Catholic Church parishes, Michoacan).