roman catholic church records

[jon attwood]

As part of my family history research I may have to get information from the Roman Catholic church records. My grandmother came to england from Hong Kong in the 1920s, I can find no record of her before her arrival, but I know some of her friends who came to england later traced her through the Roman Catholic church, I have been told that the church will have records of her birth, confirmation and other events which could be very useful in building a picture of her life.
I have been told that the Roman Catholic church is very reluctant to share information, especially with non catholics!, so if I write a letter to their archivist in Hong Kong are there any specific forms of address that I should use? or perhaps there is a proper channel for enquiries of this nature? I don't want to cause offence to people who might be looking for an excuse to ignore my enquiry!
Any ideas or suggestions would be very welcome.

Jon

 

[pauline clark]

hi jon the roman catholic church has changed over the years.
just write a letter telling them who you are and what you want
you should have no probs.thats the only way i could get my g/grandmothers marrage cert,they were very helpfull.
pauline

 

[sterico]

Hi Jon,
My suggestion would be to go and have a word with your local priest, explain what you are doing and see if he can help with advice on any formalities that might have to be observed.
Personally I have found my local parish priest very helpful with the protocol of the catholic church in other countries.
regards Sterico