1) For baptism certificates valid for the performance of sacramental acts, please contact the parish (or other ecclesiastical body) responsible for the place where the baptism was conferred and, as regards their possible authentication, the Service for the discipline of the Sacraments (sacramenti@diocesi.milano.it; t. 02/8556230). When necessary, the same Service will request the authentication of the Archbishop’s Chancellery.
2) For baptism certificates, including historical ones, requested for their civil value in order to apply for citizenship or for genealogical research, please contact the following subjects:
a) If the date of birth is prior to 1866, the parish (or other ecclesiastical body) competent for the place where the Sacrament was conferred;
b) If the date of birth is after 1866, it can be assumed that the registrations were also made in the Municipality, given that in 1866 began in the Italian Municipalities the production of registers with the acts and publications of birth, marriage, death. It is therefore necessary to contact the Municipalities for certification after 1865;
c) For the suppressed parishes of the city of Milan – with the exception of requests relating to genealogical research – the diocesan historical archive must be contacted (archivio@diocesi.milano.it);
d) In the case of ancient documents only (19th century or earlier), in addition to the certificate itself, a photocopy of the baptismal register may also be requested from the parish, relating only to the data of one’s ancestor. To have legal value, the document must be accompanied by the wording “certified copy of the original kept in the archives of the parish of …” with the autograph signature of the person responsible (the parish priest or another priest), the parish stamp and indication of the place and date of signature;
e) The person requesting the certificate must declare that he or she is a descendant of the person for whom the certificate is requested, attaching an identification document. In the case of intermediaries, a delegation or letter of assignment is also required with the document of the interested party and the intermediary attached;
f) the documents are issued by the above-mentioned subjects without any administrative fee, but the Parish or the Historical Archive has the right to request an adequate fee to cover the overall costs incurred (approximately 50 Euros).
The Chancellery does not have any data relating to baptism certificates and does not act as an intermediary point or as an information centre compared to the relationship between applicants and the bodies responsible for obtaining the certificates themselves, as mentioned above.
3) For the certificates referred to point 2, once the required documents have been obtained, it will be possible to contact the Archbishop’s Chancellery for their authentication, according to one of the following options:
a) By going in person to the Archbishop’s Chancellery. Due to the rules for access to the Archbishop’s Curia, it is necessary to make an appointment with the Chancellery, agreeing on the date and time (cancelleria@diocesi.milano.it; t. 02/8556.221-314). It has to be specified the name of the person who will be present and the title of competence (a representative of the parish, the interested party or his representative), delivering the original of the document (which must not be more than six months old). The authentication is issued immediately, once the procedures for its production have been completed. The financial compensation is expected to be 5 euros for each authentication carried out.
b) Sending the document by regular mail, registered mail or courier (copies cannot be authenticated; therefore it is not possible to use email). Once the document has been received (sent to: Cancelleria Arcivescovile; piazza Fontana, 2; 20122 Milano MI; Italy), if it is an original and recent (not older than six months), it will be authenticated and returned by regular mail. The financial compensation is expected to be 5 euros for each certification carried out, to which are added the shipping costs (the pre-paid envelope for subsequent sending may also be made available). For payment, if not otherwise provided, the Chancellery will indicate the IBAN code for the bank transfer. Documents from parishes are returned to them (and not to the original applicant), unless a pre-paid envelope is also sent for sending elsewhere. The Chancellery is not responsible for timing, disservice or any missed deliveries chargeable to the postal service.
