Waiting for reply from church

[cargor]

I sent a letter, written in Italian, enclosed a small donation and IRC for postage for records on my great-grandparents to a church in Civitaretenga. It was sent out about Jan. 5th, 2011 and still no reply back from them. Do I knudge them with a follow-up letter or am I being impatient since it's been a little over a month? I don't want to be rude by bothering them. Plus, I don't know if the earthquake from a couple of years ago had damaged the area churches there. Any ideas or suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

[JPMessina44]

cargor - I would wait it out a bit more for a response. (perhaps try an email if they have access and you can find it.) I've seen comunes respond within weeks, months, and never but its also good to stay proactive with this since we are talking about trying to get information from around the world.

My opinion is wait another month or so then follow up, Italian postal service is not known for their reliability, so it could take a week or two just to make it there.

Good luck with everything.

[cargor]

Thank you for the pep talk! I had no idea that it could take so long for a letter to get there. I shouldn't assume that the mail moves as quickly there as it does in the U.S. I'm not ready to give up yet. I just hope the San Salvatore Church in Civitaretenga is up and running. Thank you again.

[Italysearcher]

Actually I find the mail moves quite well here in Italy. Its the people who have to mail the letter that are slow.

[maestra36]

Unfortunately, some parishes never reply, even when you have sent a donation and IRCs. At least, this has been my experience.

Also, not all parishes have resident priests. Some priests are administrators of more than one parish, even in neighboring towns, and simply may not have the time to search their books for records.

[cargor]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'll just sit it out and wait to see what happens. You never know, maybe I will be surprised one day when the papers arrive in my mailbox.