Parochial Archives Research Articles

Volunteering for a Cause: Gender, Faith, and Charity in Mexico from the Reform to the Revolution

In Volunteering for a Cause, Silvia Arrom unveils the history of the Mexican Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and reassesses the religious history of Mexico from 1844 to 1913. By tracing the foundation and development of this charitable society Arrom presents a history of Catholics that has been overlooked by traditional historiography, which has focused on the efforts of the liberal governments to undermine the power of the Catholic Church and deprive it of its assets.This book explains how Catholics as a community survived, adjusted to the changing times, and prospered. The author argues that Mexican Catholicism is complex and should be analyzed with this in mind, as well as the fact “that Catholicism is not necessarily an obstacle to progress” (p. 8). Challenging the thesis, held by most studies, that religion and charity were feminized, Silvia Arrom shows how both men and women were active in the society and in charitable activities, but there were important gender differences. Men practiced a different variant of charity that was complementary to women's activities. Men and women were equally devoted, and they both “contributed to the Catholic restoration and to the provision of social assistance, albeit in different ways” (p. 9). In the course of shedding light on these activities, Arrom sensibly explains how, despite the efforts of the Reforma, militant Catholicism reemerged toward the end of the nineteenth century and how, as the Mexican Revolution approached, it was possible to rapidly and efficiently fund the National Catholic Party.The Vincentian lay groups left a weak paper trail because they were not a central part of the national narrative and because, at different times during the period covered in this book, it was in their best interest to keep a low profile. Silvia Arrom embarked on something like a detective mission to obtain the sources to write this book. She uses both published and unpublished records from different national, local, and parochial archives in Paris, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Culiacán. The memorias, noticias, boletines, rapports, and informes that the author was able to examine were incomplete, with many issues lost. The sources also have the disadvantage of emphasizing the activities of the conferences rather than the people involved. Unfortunately, the names of the recipients of charity were also not listed. Still, the author is able to reconstruct the history despite the incomplete sources by drawing on her profound knowledge of the topic and the time period.The book is organized into six chapters that follow a chronological and thematic order. The first two chapters cover the birth of the Mexican chapter of the society and its expansion. They also show how the men's branch of the society expanded until 1870 and then retreated while the women's branch thrived. Additionally, these two chapters show how despite the anticlerical position of Liberal leaders, they still valued the place of Catholic organizations in providing social welfare. Chapters 3 and 4 examine the gender differences within the society. Arrom presents the emergence, scope, and relevance of the activities of the Ladies of Charity by focusing on the energy and labor of women. She also compares the activities of male and female volunteers and shows how their joint collaboration was meant to achieve the mission of the society as a whole. Chapter 5 presents the case study of Jalisco, a key state both for the Vincentian society (because of their large presence there) and for the entire nation (due to its political and economic importance). The concluding chapter summarizes the contributions of the Vincentian society.This book brilliantly explains the complicated relationship between gender, faith, and charity in Mexico from the Reforma to the revolution. Silvia Arrom is able to reconstruct the history of the Vincentian volunteers by bringing together different strands of evidence. The task is not an easy one because she is writing the history of a constituency more interested in achieving its mission than in leaving evidence for posterity. The members of this society had to organize in order to work efficiently and effectively, but the ultimate authority to which they had to give an account was not of this world. Arrom does a masterful job at making history count; she rebuilds the statistics and puts them in context with prodigious skill. She uses the numbers to tell the story and brings the members of the Vincentian society to life. This book is a perfect combination of solid research and analysis with historical imagination. Volunteering for a Cause is an invitation both to rethink the history of Mexican Catholicism from a broader perspective and within a transnational context, and to reconceptualize women's history beyond the traditional assumptions of a linear progression in women's participation in public life.

The Pastoral Function of Church Archives: A Reflection on the Theological, Juridical and Pastoral Context of Roman Catholic Diocesan Archives

This article explores the theological, juridical, and pastoral context of Roman Catholic archives, and diocesan and parochial archives in particular, through the lens of a letter circulated by the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church, The Pastoral Function of Church Archives. The letter acknowledges the spiritual importance of church archives for the believing community as a vector of the tradition but also recognizes the cultural and historical significance of church archives both for Catholics and the wider community. While the legal requirements of canon law are fundamental to the discussion, the commission invites the church to move beyond a narrow juridical understanding of archives. A convincing contribution to an emerging theology of church archives, with concrete suggestions for the establishment and improvement of diocesan archival services, the document constitutes a particular challenge to Irish dioceses where the archival sector remains underdeveloped.

Les congrégations religieuses en Belgique sous l’Occupation: typologie des archives utilisables

The historian desirous of studying the religious congregations in Belgium during the German Occupation has at one’s disposal a set of sources. In practice however, he will need patience and judgment for the access to it. Before the beginning of the work inside the archives of the religious institute itself, a good knowledge of this latter will be necessary. In return for which, men will consult with benefit the annals, the stories of the Flight (may-june 1940), the proceedings of the General Council, the accounting, administrative and statistical documents (registers of entrance, registers of taking vows, of profession, the necrologies), without forgetting the booklets and bulletins published in the immediate after-war. Moreover, the useful sources don’t exist only in the archives of religious houses. The diocesan archives, for the congregations not subject to the exemption of the religious, can maybe occasionally supply interesting documents (survey of after-war, canonical visitations, statistics on the communities). As for the parochial archives, they will enlighten the researcher on the subject of the complicated terms between the priest and the religious communities settled in his parish. Beyond the archives strictly religious, the civil archives, as private as institutional, will be consulted for events or persons very precise.

Peregrinations of the Baja California Mission Registers

Unique sources of historical, demographic, toponymic, and linguistic information, the mission registers (baptisms, matrimonial inquiries, marriages, burials, and census) of Baja California have been used in varying degrees to good effect by Carl Sauer, Peveril Meigs, Sherburne Cook, Homer Aschmann, and Pablo L. Martínez, among others. What is, alas, not so unique, but true of many parochial archives in Mexico, is the fact that until quite recently they were often left exposed to the elements, rodents, insects, and looters. Gerhard attempted to make an inventory of the known surviving registers in 1952-1953, when he found some of them totally unguarded and uncared-for. This work was followed by Woodrow Borah in the 1970s, and since 1971 Mathes has brought this calendar upto-date, and has obtained or personally produced microfilm of the entire corpus, including certain folios which have since disappeared. Here we shall summarize the tortuous history of the dispersal of these documents.

Gestion des archives du sol en milieu rural Expérience de prospection systématique à Lion-en-Beauce (Loiret)

In 1976, a systematic experimental survey has been conducted on a parish in che 3eauce region : Lion-en- 3eauce (Loiret) ; on che 1400 acres of this parish (most of it on ploughed land), 61 sites have been recorded after a bibliographical study, an analysis of che parochial archives and cadastral survey, interviews with che inhabitants, field survey (on equidistant strips) . These sites (maindly settlements) extend from Prehistoric times to the modern period. These results can be considered as statistically valid for the greatest part of the Beauce region. This kind of "model" can be used mainly for the care of "earth archives", here in a rural environment.

K vprašanju identitete in otroštva Marija Kogoja

K vprašanju identitete in otroštva Marija Kogoja

Nuovi dati desunti dallo spoglio di un archivio parrocchiale di tre secoli

SUMMARYIn this work the author by making use of parochial archives in Busnago (Milan) has controlled the long life proceeding of 187 among the 259 twins-pairs numbered during a period of three centuries (1632-1962). The author has verified the mothers' age at the moment of childbirth.He has been able to point out a greatest concordance in the average life time of the MZ pairs in comparison with the DZ ones, which agrees with the hypothesis of a genetic long life factor. The mothers' average age, studied on a small group of population during a period of three centuries resulted, in the 159 cases the author could peruse, to be from 30 to 35 years, of age in agreement with the data collected by Gedda on the global Italian population during short periods of time.This average age supports the hypothesis that among the factors of multiple pregnancies may be numbered besides mothers' age a geographic (racial) variability.

Saggio di indagine sulla gemelliparità in un archivio parrocchiale

SUMMARYThe author made use ot parochial archives for a genetic research. All parochial archives keep the registers of the newborn, the dead, the marriages, the confirmands, the amounting of the population in a parish. According to the canon 1813 (§ 1), these registers are public and ecclesiastical documents, and they form a mine of biological and genetic information too.In this work the author, by making use of parochial archives in Busnago (Milan), — starting in 1634 — has controlled the proceeding of multiple pregnancies. These appear to have a percentage of 1,53% — superior to that of the Italian population (1, 13%) and to that of the human population officially numbered (1, 25% according to Caullery).During the three centuries considered by the author, the proceeding of these multiple pregnancies shows a certain periodicity, but, from 1764 to 1804, there is an abrupt fall occuring at the same time of an endemic pellagrous disease. A further inquiry on 23 twin-pairs selected during the last forty years, and a research during the three centuries considered did not show any relationship between consanguinity and multiple pregnancies. On the contrary, this research showed a periodical proceeding of the frequency of multiple pregnancies on the total of the newborn with cusps, every quarter of a century, which seems to support the hypothesis of the existence of a dominant hereditary factor. At last, the greatest number of percentage of multiple pregnancies on the mother's side, as compared with the father's one, makes us think of a hereditary factor on the mother's side.