GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 1: Eastern United States
Puerto Rico: PR-2

Catholic Church. Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico. Chancery
570 Arrigoitia
P.O. Box 9021967
San Juan, PR 00902

Phone: 787-977-0672

 

Cathedral of San Juan
151 Cristo Street 
P.O. Box 9022145 
San Juan, PR 00902

Phone: 787-722-0861

 

History: The See of San Juan was erected, 1511, as the Diocese of Puerto Rico and a suffragen, first of the Province of Seville, Spain and then of the Province of Santiago de Cuba. San Juan’s name was changed to the Diocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico, 1924, and it was elevated to an archdiocese, 1960. The diocese was restricted to the Island of Puerto Rico after previously including portions of the Caribbean and present-day Venezuela, 1791. Evangelization of Native Americans began, after 1511, and the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista was erected, 1522. Taino Indians and Mestizos have been among the parishioners of this and a number of other parishes established before the 19th century.

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:

Inclusive dates: 1510s-present

Volume: Many volumes

Description: Includes sacramental records (e.g. baptisms, marriages, burials) for Taino Indians, Mestizos, and their descendants in the Cathedral of San Juan and other early parishes.

 

Unless otherwise noted, the repository on this page holds (or held) the records described here and they are not held at the Marquette University Archives.

new2006/rev2017