PREAMBLE:
The Church
(Greek ekklesia (ecclesia) is “the
people of God”, members of “Christ’s Faithful” (Canon 204 CIC – 83); “a perfect
and imperfect institution”. Thus St. Gregory (Book V. Epistle 18)
writes: “Sancti ante legam, sancti sub lege, sub gratia, omnes … in memberis
Ecclesive sunt constitute” (The saints before the Law, the saints
under the Law, and the saints under grace – all these are constituted
members of the Church)2.
Theologically,
it signifies the whole body of Christ’s faithful, including not merely
the members of the Church who are alive on earth but those, too, whether in heaven
or in purgatory, who form part of the of the one communion of saints.
Considered thus, the Church is divided into the Church Militant, the Church
Triumphant.
The definition
of the Church given by Bellarmine is that usually adopted by Catholic
theologians: “A body of men united together by the profession of
the same Christian Faith, more especially of the Roman Pontiff,
the sole vicar of Christ on earth” (Coetus hominum ejusdem Christiana
fidei professione, et eorumdem sacramentorum communione colligatus, sub
regimine legitimorum pastorum et pracipue unius Christi in Terris vicarii
Romani Pontficis.3 (Cf.
Bellarmine, De Eccl., III, ii, 9)
“A perfect
church because it is the “sacrament of Christ, who is the sacrament of God”, “Summum Bonum” and has the divine means
of salvation. It is “imperfect because of its constitution, of “imperfect
being”, the Pilgrim church”, “the church militants”. Precisely because of this (its imperfect nature) that we can talk about
keeping records.
THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING RECORDS IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH
KEEPING RECORDS:
“Keeping
Records” or keeping track of important files and documents has been a long –
standing tradition in human history4.
It is an essential part of our history and our culture. It is a process of
scientific documentation. It is a process of safeguarding information. Documentation
or keeping records can be done on “a paper”, on line, digital or analog media,
software documentation5,
et cetera.
The science of
keeping records in today referred to as “information science” 6. In the ecclesiastical
context, we shall be using interchangeably these terms: “keeping record” and
documentation”.
Documentation
may include
·
Written
information for any read, projection or technical performing,
·
Data
media of any format and for any reproduction,
·
Other
content.
Common types of
documentation include “… user guides, white papers, on – line help, quick –
reference guides”7. It is
less common to see hard – copy (paper) documentation. Documentation (modern) is
distributed via websites, software products, and other on – line applications.
Historically,
the earliest forms of written languages that we know of like “stone tablets and
papyrus scroll”; seem to have been driven by our need to record our society’s
laws, governing entities, births and deaths, medical records and other
important information. As our cultures became more sophisticated, so did our
records of those societies: from the scrolls and clerks of Rome to the centers
of learning in monasteries in the Middle Ages8, we have always tried to keep track of our ever –
changing communities and regions. In the 21st century, our record
keeping has evolved to include mechanically typed and electronic data filing
systems, made simpler by advances in the computer industry allowing for data
storage and electronic documents.
Canon 535 of the 1983
code of Canon Law is the principal canon dealing with sacramental registers. It
states:
"In each parish there are to be parochial
registers, that is, of baptismal, of marriage and of deaths, and any other registers
prescribed by the Bishops' Conference or by the Diocesan Bishop. The parish
priest is to ensure that entries are accurately made and that the registers are
carefully preserved.' (Par. 1)
"In the register of baptism, a note is to be made
of confirmation and of matter pertaining to the canonical status of Christ's
faithful by reason of marriage, without prejudice to the provision of canon
1133, and by reason of adoption, By reception of sacred order, the making of
perpetual profession in a religious institute or a change of rite. These
annotations are always to be reproduced on a baptismal certificate." (Par.
2)
"Each parish is to have its own seal,
certificates concerning the canonical status of Christ's Faithful, and all acts
which can have juridical significance, are to be signed by the parish priest or
his delegate and secured with the parochial seal." (Par. 3)
"In each parish there is to be an achieve, in
which the parochial books are to be kept, together with Episcopal letters and
other documents which it may be necessary or useful to preserve. On the
occasion of visitation or at some other opportune time, the diocesan Bishop or
his delegate is to inspect all of these matters. The parish priest is to take
care that they do not fall into unauthorized hands." (Par. 4)
"Older parochial registers are also to be
carefully safeguarded, in accordance with the provision of particular
law."[1]
(Par. 5)
Its
parallel in the 1917 code is canon 470:
"The pastor shall
have parochial books, namely, a book of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and
deaths; he shall also take care as far as possible to produce a book on the
status of souls, and all of these books, according to the approved use of
Church and the prescriptions of his own ordinary, he shall complete and
diligently preserve…” (Par.1).10
This canon contains
substantially the same provisions. Canon 535 of 1983 Code mandates that every
parish must maintain records of baptisms, marriages and deaths, as well as any
register prescribed by the conference of Bishop or the local ordinary/diocesan
bishop. It further describes the type of information which must be noted in the
baptismal registers be kept in a parish achieve, and also requires that older
parish books be carefully preserved in accord with the norms of particulars
law.
Canon 895 stipulates
that the record of confirmation is to kept in a diocesan register, unless the
conference of bishops of the diocesan bishop had provisions for confirmations
to be recorded in parish registers. Other canons of the 1983 code also refer to
various sacramental registers. (cc. 877, 897, 1053, 1081, 1121, 1122, 1122,
1123, 1133, 1182, 1185.1706).
The canons on this
subject matter allow some other person, other than the pastor to make the entries in a way that is more
legible. The obligation in law of the pastor is to oversee this work and to provide for the preservation of the
registers. 11
Clearly, church law
values sacramental records and expects that information be accurately and
carefully entered. There is an urgent pastoral
call to check against the carelessness with some sacramental registers are
kept.
CAUTION:
Some parishes might already be using COMPUTER DATABASES12 for their sacramental records. However, there are legitimate concerns about the safety and
longevity of storing information solely in computer memories. The law
presently envisions WRITTEN REGISTERS, and for the time being modern
information retrieval formats would best be used supplements for permanent
written records.
It is worth noting that to ensure the integrity of any
vital record within a particular system of law, and to ensure as closely as
possible against contradiction of records across legal systems, changes must be made only in the form of addendum,
(where possible, and only after the changes has first been ruled for a civil
record by a civil court or administrative tribunal within that same legal
system- in other words, legal confirmation via affidavits.
Functionally, a record keeping system allows a person or
organization to file, track and manage documents and records. These can include financial information, legal documents records of payments and
credits, and other important business or personal
records.
Most systems follow a set of rules input and output of documents and provide
specific requirements for anyone using, transmitting, copying, or moving data13.
Most record keeping system can be classified in one of two ways:
1.
PERSONAL:
Everyone’s record-keeping system is a little different, and there’s no stand
method to follow when creating your own. Most people use a filing system for
bills, legal documents and other important records, and many also have a system
for incoming and outgoing mails. Some people create household budgets, to-do
lists and other tasks to keep their records in order and provide stability to
their everyday activities. However, you can create a system with only the
elements that feel comfortable to you; it’s important to have a system that you
will actually use rather than one you dread working in. Generally, if you’re
considering creating your own filing system for personal or home use,
experiment with a few different ways before settling on one that’s most comfortable
for you.
2.
PROFESSIONAL: Outside
the home and at the professional level, you’ll find that many organizations
have specific filing requirements that are used across a discipline or
specialty. Accountants, auditors and tax advisers all have a set system of
rules to follow in their record-keeping; many grant and loan agencies require
recipients to keep their records in a particular system. Governments are
required to keep certain formats of records for a specific number of years to
comply with open records laws. Ecclesiastical institutes in their merits
juridic persons, enjoy this idea of professional method of record keeping.
From the ecclesiastical perspective, we can present the church’s forms of
keeping sacramental records to include:
1. RECORDS OF SACRAMENTS/SACRAMENTAL
REGISTERS SKETCH OF THE REGISTERS
(i) BAPTISMAL REGISTER: Its sketchy content:
No & Place
& Date of Bap.
|
Bapt. Name
|
Other Name
|
Surname
|
Date & Place if Birth
|
Home Town
|
Name of Parents
|
Name of Godparent
|
Name of Minister
|
1st Holy Com.
|
Conf.
|
Re-mark
|
(ii) CONFIRMATION REGISTER
S/N
|
Conf. Name
|
Bapt. Name
|
Surname
|
Date of Conf
|
Place of Conf
|
Sponsor
|
Minister
|
Reg. of Bapt.
|
Date of Bapt.
|
Home town
|
Remark
|
(iii) MARRIAGE REGISTER
S/N
|
Date & Place
|
Names of parties
|
Age
|
Bapt. place
|
Bapt. Date
|
Bapt. No
|
Bapt. Minister
|
Dispen-sation
|
Parent
|
Witnesses
|
Remarks
|
(iv) DEATH
S/N
|
Name
|
Surname
|
Home town
|
Bapt. Date
|
Conf. date
|
Marriage date
|
Death date
|
Remark
|
2. GREEN ANALYSIS BOOK
This principally forms the sacred and financial returns
2(a) SACRED RETURNS
Year
|
Parish
|
Last Return
|
Members
|
Spirituals/ Sacraments
|
Catechists
|
Catholic Actions
|
Medical
|
Priesthood/ Sisterhood
|
Edu.
|
Members (4) would include returns of:
- Adult & Infant baptisms.
- Catechumens
- Church goes
- Christian families
Spiritual – Sacraments (5) include:
- Paschal communion
- Devotional Communion
- Bapt. In danger of death
- Confirmations
- Marriages
- Anointing of the sick
Catechists:
- Full time, Part time and
voluntary ones.
Catholic Actions – refers to the various religious/pious Associations.
Lastly, we have the reports of the number of medical institutes, the number of Priests, seminarians, religious in the parish and educational institutes.
2(b) FINANCIAL RETURNS
Canon 537 highlights the importance of finance committee thus:
“In each parish, there is to be a finance committee to help the parish
priest in the administration of the goods of the parish. Without prejudice to
canon 532; it is ruled by the universal law and by the norms laid down by the
diocesan Bishop and it is comprised of members of Christ’s faithful selected
according to these norms.” 14
Some dioceses have provisions for annual reports of parish accounts. An
example of the format reads thus:
a. ORDINARY INCOME:
S/N 1
|
AMC
|
AMOUNT
|
2.
|
STOLE FEE
|
|
3.
|
MASS STIPEND
|
|
4.
|
Daily/SUNDAY
COLLECTIONS
|
|
5.
|
DONATIONS/LAUNCHINGS
|
|
6.
|
PROJECT
SUNDAY/SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
|
|
7.
|
HARVEST/BAZAAR
|
|
8.
|
SALES
|
|
9.
|
SALARIES/WAGES
|
|
10.
|
BANK INTERESTS
|
|
11.
|
MISCELLANEOUS
(SPECIFIED)
|
b. ORDINARY EXPENDITURE
S/N 1
|
CULT/CHURCH
REPAIRS/CHARITY
|
AMOUNT
|
2
|
FOOD/DRINKS/CLOTHING
|
|
3.
|
DIOCESAN LEVIES/
COMMON FUND, PROJECT SUNDAY COLLECTIONS
|
|
4.
|
HOUSE MAINTENANCE
|
|
5.
|
FUEL
|
|
6.
|
CAR MAINTENANCE
|
|
7.
|
BUILDINGS
|
|
8.
|
VOCATIONS
|
|
9.
|
OFFICE/DRUG/HOSPITAL
BILLS
|
|
10.
|
SALARIES/WAGES
|
|
11.
|
MISCELLANEOUS
(SPECIFIED)
|
In some dioceses too, there is provision for monthly financial reports in
this format:
END-OF-MONTH – SUMMARY ACCOUNT (PARISH/MISSION)
Month ………………………
1
|
Total Monthly
Income
|
N k
|
2.
|
Total Monthly
Expenditure
|
|
3.
|
Credit Balance
|
|
4.
|
Cash in the Bank
|
|
5.
|
Cash at Hand
|
|
6.
|
Total Cash
|
|
7.
|
Creditors/Debtors
|
|
8.
|
Grand Total
|
OTHER “SACRAMENTAL DOCUMENTS INCLUDE”
(I) CATECHUMEN CARD:
Diocese
|
Parish
|
Station
|
Name
|
Other name
|
Surname
|
Father
|
Mother
|
Sponsor
|
Part 1
|
Part 2
|
Part 3
|
|
(II) BAPTISMAL CARD:
No
|
Place
|
Name
|
Other name
|
Surname
|
Birth
|
Address
|
Home Town
|
Father
|
Mother
|
Sponsor
|
Minister
|
(III) A.M.C (Annual Mission Collection)
AMC
|
Name
|
Station
|
Society
|
Status
|
Occup.
|
Date
|
Parish Priest
|
Confess
|
Remark
|
(IV) MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES, etc
This is to certify that
|
Mr. ………………………………………………….
|
Miss. ………………………………………………..
|
In the Catholic Parish of ………………………………………
|
On the ………………. Day of ……………….. 20 ………….
|
In the presence of ………………… and …………………….
|
The Rev. Fr. ………………………………………………….
|
Presiding over the ceremony
|
……………………
…………………..
Bride
Groom
|
…………………...
……………………
Witness
Witness
|
…………………………………………….
Parish Priest
|
Given at ……………………….. this ………………….
|
Day of …………………….. 20 ………………………..
|
THE
IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING RECORDS IN LIFE OF THE CHURCH
The benefits of staying organized extend beyond simply being able to find
something when needed. Studies have shown that people who feel organized often
also feel more in control of their lives and are often healthier than those who
feel overwhelmed or chaotic. Additionally, having a working system of record
keeping—and sticking to it—can open more opportunities for the you in your
career and home life, by allowing you the access to records and background that
you need for nearly any business transaction, large purchase, of life change.15 At the business or government level, successful record keeping can mean
the difference between running a business efficiently and losing valuable time
and resources in trying to sort through the hundreds of documents created each
month. What more in the church that is historically identified with files
preservations – the importance of keeping records can never be overemphasized.
Saints Jose Maria Escriva, in his presentation of the importance of
keeping record in the life of the church, re-titles it, “plan of life”, which
in his explanation, is a daily affair. It plans our life daily; it is life
companion, a guide and a close “neighbour”16
In conclusion, given the significance of sacramental records, whatever
format chosen should maximize as much as possible the dangers of having records
lost or destroyed because of our all too human tendencies to carelessness.
Given new possibilities for record keeping that exist today, particular
legislation drafted after approximate research into the various possibilities
could do an important service.
The import of keeping records in the life of the church extends to her
spiritual life, the welfare of the ministers, social services and her upkeep.
Examples:
- Keeping
records assists in the preservation and maintenance of the sacramental
documents or registers.
- It
assists in the organization and orderliness of the pastors (both personally and
spiritually)- Josemaria Escriva- the place of “plan of life”.
- It assists the Church to
care and sustain her Ministers.
- It assists the Church in
her mission/evangelization.
- It
assists the Church in the provision of social services to the faithful, to
mention but a few.
NOTES/REFERENCES:
1. 1983 CODE OF CANON LAW, Canon 204.
2. Confer: St. Gregory (Book V, Epistle 18)
3. Cf. Bellarmine, De Eccl., III,
ii, 9.
4. About Record Keeping/eHow.com
http:www.ehow.com/about_4610476_record-keeping.html#ixzzltkpFSheD
5. N/A. “A Guide to
Documentation Styles”. http://www.somers.k12.ct.us/common/guide_to_doc.pdf.
Retrieved 12 June 2009.(dead link)
6. CGRP. “A Guide to Documentation
Styles”.
http://www.sfsu.edu/~carpl/pdf/A%20to%20Document%29Styles.pdf. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
7. N/A. “A guide to MLA
documentation”. http://www.sunjcc.edu/jamestown/library/pdf/mla.pdf.
Retrieved 12 June 2009. (Dead link)
8. Berger, David.
“Procedures and Documentation”. http://www.maintenanceonline/content_images/pll%20Trans%20View-20080410-222135.pdf. Retrieved 15 June 200.
9. Canon 535 (CIC’ 83)
10. Canon 470 (CIC’17)
11. Cf. Code of Canon Law
Annotated, Montreal, 1993, Canon 535.
12. Springhouse. Complete
Guide to Documentation.
http://books.google.com/books?id=mlfPFVJIi6gC&pg=PA87&dq=initle:documentation&lr=&as_drrbis=b&as_minm_is=las_miny_is2005&as_maxm_is=6&as_maxy_is=2009&as_brr=0#PPPl,Ml. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
13. Cf. Tampere University
of Technology. “thesis Writing at the Tampere University of Technology”. http://www.tut.fi/public/english/Guide/thesisguide.pdf.
Retrieved 12 June 2009.
14. Canon 537 (CIC’ 83)
15. Cf. Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine, University of Prince Edward Island. “A Guide for the
writing of Graduate These”. http:www.upei.ca/avc/files/avc/guidetowritingthesis.pdf.
Retrieved 12 June 2009.
OTHER REFERENCES FOR CONSULTATION
16. Cf. University of
Waikato “Writing and Submitting a Dissertation or Thesis at the University of
Waikato”. http://www.waikato.ac.nz/library/learning/g_thesis.pdf.
Retrieved 12 June 2009.
17. Cf. Journal of Food
Science. “Manuscript submission”. http://members.ift.org/IFT/Pubs/JournalofFoodSci/jfsmanuscripts/.
Retrieved 12 June 2009.
18. Cf. Analytical
Chemistry. “Information for Authors”. http://pubs.acs.org/page/ancham/submission/authors.html.
Retrieved 12 June 2009.
19. Cf. Cropper, Mark; Tony
Dibbens (2002). “GAIA-RVS Documentation procedures”. http://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/gaia-ru/document_repository/MSSL_GAIA-RVS_AD_00l.0l.pdf.
Retrieved 12 June 2009.
20. Cf. N/A. “GLNPO’s
Quality System Document Review Procedures and Tracking”. http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/qmp/Appendix%20S/Quality_Doc_Review_Procedures.pdf.
Retrieved 15 June 2009.
21. Cf. UK Data Archive
(2009). “Data Services Process Guides: Documentation Processing Procedures”. http://www.esds.ac.uk/news/publications/UKDA_DSS_DocumentationProcessngprocedures.pdf.
Retrieved 15 June 2009.
22. Cf. UK Data Archive
(2007). “Data Services Process Guides: Documentation Processing Techniques”. http://www.esds.ac.uk/news/publication/UKDADocuProcessingTechniques.pdf.
Retrieved 15 June 2009.
23. Cf. Rader Brown,
Rebecca (2009). “The Gang’s All Here: Evaluating the Need for a National Gang
Database”. Columbia journal of Law and Social Problems 42: 293 – 333.
PROTOCOL:
From the Author - My Lord Bishop,
my brother Priests, beloved members of Christ’s Faithful, it is a great honour
for me, to stand before you and to share with you this day, my reflection of
the place of documentation in the life of the church, especially for us pastors
and Christ’s faithful. Thank you for inviting me. On a special
note, I accept the short comings of this paper. They are purely mine,
especially stenographic and grammatical misrepresentations. Considering the
oral terms of reference and postulated audience (Clergy and Lay faithful), I am
not expected to present purely scholastic work – but more of praxis, of
pastoral exigencies.