What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

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Josie07M11
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What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by Josie07M11 »

Hi everyone,

I've been looking through old forum threads to figure out how to send and receive mail from a parish in northern Italy. I have searched and could not find an email to contact the Parrocchia di S.Maria Assunta, Foppolo (BG) in Lombardia. I have found an address, however, and intend to write to the priest asking for a birth record for Cristina Berera (b. 5 Feb 1827). I've learned that you can no longer use International Reply Stamps, so what should I do to stamp a self addressed and stamped envelope if they find the record they need? Do I send an envelope without it being stamped and promise to pay them back? Without an email it doesn't seem likely that they would use Paypal or any other online payment services. I am hesitant to send euros in an envelope. :/

Any advice?

Thank you,
Josephine
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adelfio
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Re: What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by adelfio »

I have never gotten a email response from a church in Italy all my results have come by mail I would send 10 euro for a donation to the parish and self address return enevelope. The problem with church records a lot of the records I have dealt with have changed location to different parishes so that's why they don't respond
Heres a letter I have used and got records back

Parrocchia S. Agata la Pedata
Via del Vespro
90127 Palermo (PA)
Italy
Oggetto: risposta da Parrocchia S. Maria della Pieta al battesimo di Salvatore Adelfio di Antonio a nato Sant’Agata Palermo

Egregi Reverendo Padre,
Mi chiamo Martino Adelfio. Sto facendo una ricerca sui miei antenati e ho bisogno delle informazioni dai vostri registri. I miei antenati provennero da Sant’Agata Palermo.
Vi chiedo di spedirmi l’delle fotocopie dell’atto di battesimo o di l’estratto completo dell’atto di battesimo di queste persone:
Nome e cognome: Salvatore Adelfio
Data di nascita: 1755-1759
Luogo di nascita: Sant’Agata Palermo
Nome e cognome del padre: Antonio Adelfio
Nome e cognome della moglie: Francesca Scardamaglia di Giuseppe nato a Sant’Agata Palermo il 1770-1774
Se non avete i registri corrispondenti, potete fornire l’indirizzo dell’archivio dove in cui i registri possano essere trovati?
Per coprire le vostre spese, sto accludendo un contributo alla vostra parrocchia ed il pagamento per l’affrancatura di ritorno.
Vi ringrazio in anticipo per il vostro gentilezza e premura.
Distinti saluti
YOUR NAME ADDRESS



the Parish of St. Agatha
Via the Vespers
90127 Palermo ( PA)
Italy
Subject: response from the Parish of St. Mary of the Pieta to the baptism of the Savior born in Sant'Agata Adelfio Antonio Palermo

Dear Reverend Father,
My name is Martin Adelfio . I'm doing a research on my ancestors and I need information from your records . My ancestors came from Sant'Agata Palermo.
Please send me the photocopies of the act of baptism or the complete extract of the baptism of these people :
Name: Salvatore Adelfio
Date of Birth: 1755-1759
Place of birth: Sant'Agata Palermo
Name and surname of father : Antonio Adelfio
Name and surname of his wife Francesca Scardamaglia of Joseph born in Sant'Agata Palermo 1770-1774
If you do not have registers, where you can provide the address of where records can be found ?
To cover your expenses , I am enclosing a contribution to your parish and pay for the return postage .
Thank you in advance for your kindness and thoughtfulness .
regards
YOUR NAME ADDRESS

Marty
Researching Trabia, Palermo surnames Adelfio, Bondi, Butera, Scardino,Rinella, Scardamaglia

Marty
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Josie07M11
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Re: What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by Josie07M11 »

Thank you so much Marty, that's really helpful!
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Re: What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by Italysearcher »

The civil records for Foppolo are not on line. Since you know the birth date (exact) I assume you have the civil birth record from somewhere. The parish record usually provides less information than civil records. The only information that would be in addition are the names of the Godparents. IF the priest includes them. The Vatican didn't give me that information!
Ann Tatangelo
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Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
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Re: What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by Josie07M11 »

I have contacted the Comune di Foppolo for the civil records, but have had no reply yet. I actually got the date of Caterina Berera's birth from my client whose ancestor gave the information to them from their own research. The researcher did not put any sources for their information or have any proof. So I am attempting to trace the information and provide proof for all of these dates of birth / death / marriage. I'm writing to the parish just in case the Comune does not reply :)
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Re: What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by Italysearcher »

In my experience priests are worse than Comune. With the Comune you have a right to the information, but the priest makes his own rules.
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Re: What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by erudita74 »

In my experience, it really just depends on the parish priest and whether or not you will get a reply. In one instance, I found an email address for a parish in the southern Italian town my husband's cousin was going to visit. She emailed the priest in English a list of what records she needed. He not only spoke and wrote English, but had friends in the States and had made multiple trips here. When she and her husband arrived there a few months later, he had a huge gathering of about 200 people in their honor. He had even retrieved records for her from a neighboring parish. For another cousin, at the time when there were no microfilmed records available for the city of Benevento, I wrote letters to all 13 parishes in the city. One parish priest responded that the ancestors' records were in his books. My cousin wired a donation of $50 and the priest sent him, not only photocopies of the original pages from his parish books, but also typed in Italian all of the records, as he didn't know my cousin had me to decipher the old script. Another time I wrote to two neighboring parishes in Sicily. One never responded, but the priest in the other one did. I had taken a $5 bill and wrapped it in an extra sheet of printer paper. He sent me copies of a few records twice, having forgotten that he had already sent the records to me. It was actually this priest who wrote on one of the records he had newly created by hand that my grandmother's father was from another Sicilian town, something no one, even my grandmother, ever knew. But with parishes it's a hit or miss thing. Many others to which I wrote never responded. At the time, I did include IRCs, but I really don't know if the priests ever used them. I never included self-addressed envelopes. I think one problem today is that, with the shortage of priests, there may not be a resident priest in a parish. Some priests administer to multiple parishes and are more like financial managers of those parishes. They may simply not have the time or staff to go through their old parish books to locate records for the many people who request them, or they may not be as familiar with their records as the older priests were years ago. Hopefully though you will get lucky and get a positive response.

Erudita
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Re: What is the process of sending/replying to a Parish?

Post by Andrew Palscoy »

adelfio wrote: ...
Mi chiamo Martino Adelfio.
...
My name is Martin Adelfio.
...
Stumbled across this thread by accident. I was wondering if translating your first name from English to Italian was more likely to get a response from the parish, because you did it here.

Would I be "Andrea Palscoy", "Andrea Palscoia" or "Andrea Pallascoia"? (My family's original surname was Пальской (Palskoy) in Russian)
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