Corrections of certificates
Who can ask for Baptism / Marriage / Death Certificates
Baptism / Marriage / Death Certificates are to be requested from the Parish where these events were celebrated. The approximate date/year should be told to the Parish Priest.
Certificates are given either on the standard format of the Archdiocese or as teor (the document, word-to-word, as it appears on the Register)
One can ask for one’s own Baptism or Marriage Certificate or for the Certificates of one’s descendants in the direct lineage. It is to be noted that the Baptism / Marriage / Death Registers and the Certificates issued therefrom are meant to be for the sake of ecclesiastical record. If a party other than the direct descendants of the person concerned need the above Certificates to settle some civil issue, they may ask the civil authority to request the Parish Priest to issue the same.
What are the procedures to be followed in order to correct Baptism / Marriage / Death Certificates?
Those desiring to correct the details in Baptism, Marriage and Death Certificates, should petition the Parish Priest in writing. Only the direct descendants or a spouse can ask for correction in a deceased person’s certificate. While doing so, it must be made sure that there are no other interested parties (close relatives like children, siblings) who may be adversely affected by the correction requested.
Proof of the requested change should be made available through an authentic and appropriate civil document (eg. Civil Birth Certificate, Civil Marriage Certificate, Civil Death Certificate). The civil document produced should be dated not more than 6 months before the submission of the petition. The Parish Priest then studies the matter and, if found deserving, petitions the Diocesan Authority for the requested correction and forwards the documents received.
The Chancery Office tries its level best to process the petitions as soon as possible. The procedure of scrutiny and issuing of the Order of correction could even take up to 15 days. The Order is collected from the Chancery Office and the Parish Priest enters the gist of the Order on the margin of the pertinent Register of the Parish Church. The Parish Priest then issues a new Certificate to the party.