CBCP Donates Four Centuries Worth of Church Records to UST
Church files that date back from the early 1600s until the first decade of the 20th century have been donated by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to the archives of the University of Santo Tomas, the university announced on Wednesday (April 5).
The actual turnover by the CBCP through its president, Pablo Virgilio David, to UST, which was represented by its Rector, the Very Reverend Richard Ang, happened on March 28, 2023.
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According to UST, many of the records were of meticulously written historical ledgers and canonical books digitized thanks to an initiative by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Latter-Day Saints made a similar donation to the Catholic Church in 2019.
The records on microfilm contain information on baptism, confirmation, marriage, and death of the Catholic faithful through the centuries.
CBCP President David thanked the UST “for serving as guardians of these important documents—microfilm form of the same documents.” David recalled how the Latter-Day Saints worked with Catholic bishops in producing the records, and how encouraging it is that despite the changes in media technology, “the old can always be transferred to the new one.”
David added that the transfer of the documents to UST will “make the data more readily available for research work.”
“Malaking bagay po ito na ipinagkatiwala sa amin ng CBCP,” Rector Ang said. “Parati kaming handang tumulong sa pangangailangan ng CBCP.”
The CBCP said that it chose the UST to house the records because its Archivo dela Universidad de Santo Tomas is the oldest existing archive in the country.
The Deed of Donation signed on March 28 stipulates that UST will ensure that the materials will be placed in an environmentally controlled space that ensures the proper handling and use of the digital files. It will also provide access to the contents to researchers, including graduate students, professors, genealogists, journalists, and other academics while complying with the provisions of the Data Privacy Act.
