Researching Catholic Parishes

The researchers at the Minnesota Genealogical Society have noticed an increase in the number of questions on researching Catholic Parish records.

These are some suggestions to help a researcher find a Catholic Parish where his ancestors might have attended Church, and through which they were baptized, married, and buried.

1.Determine the addresses that your relatives were living at the time you are looking for records. Addresses can be determined from Census, Address directories, and many miscellaneous sources such as obituaries or old letters. (Note the MGS library has many directories for Minneapolis and St. Paul.) These addresses are helpful because until recently Catholic parishioners attended the closest Catholic Church to their home. Using a good street map plot out your addresses and the nearest Catholic Parish. Often two parishes would be close together. Check to see if one was predominately Irish, Polish, or another ethnic culture. (See the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis film listing: http://www.mngs.org/catholic/stpaul1.shtml)
2.Many Parishes have closed or moved since the early 1900's. Check the Directories again and look at the section under Churches. Look for a Catholic Parish that would include the areas where your ancestor lived.
3.Check the Parish list on MGS website http://www.mngs.org/catholic/. Do we own the microfilm for the Church records you are researching? Also, check the MGS library catalog (http://216.160.0.102:210/m3/apps/m3opac/MGSLibrary) for printed material on specific churches. The Minnesota Historical Society at http://www.mnhs.org/index.htm might also have printed information that would be of interested.

The Catholic Diocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis information is located at this website: http://www.archspm.org/. This site will provide you with the telephone number for the Archives office as well as the addresses and phone numbers of present Catholic Parishes in St. Paul and Minneapolis. In order to research at the archives an appointment is needed and the charge is $30.00.

The five other Minnesota Dioceses include:
Diocese of Crookston (Northwestern Minnesota)
http://www.crookston.org/
Counties include: Becker, Beltrami, Clay, Clearwater, Hubbard, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau.

Diocese of Duluth (Northeast Minnesota)
http://www.dioceseduluth.org/index.php
Counties include: Aitkin, Carlton, Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, Pine, and St. Louis.

Diocese of New Ulm
http://www.dnu.org/
Counties include: Big Stone, Brown, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Nicollet, Redwood, Renville, Sibley, Swift, and Yellow Medicine.

Diocese of St. Cloud (Central Minnesota)
http://www.stcdio.org/
Counties include: Benton, Douglas, Grant, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Otter Tail, Pope, Sherburne, Stearns,Stevens, Todd, Traverse, Wadena, and Wilkin.

Diocese of Winona
http://www.dow.org/
Counties include: Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Jackson, Martin, Mower, Murray, Nobles, Olmsted, Pipestone, Rock, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, Watonwan, and Winona.

Catholic Cemeteries in St. Paul and Minneapolis
http://www.catholic-cemeteries.org/resource.htm

MGS also has many cemeteries in Minnesota that have been recorded.

This page last updated March 25, 2008
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