Manuscripts

The textual archives of the Latin Patriarchate consist of documents produced since 1847. Correspondence, accounts, registers, reports and other types of documents, handwritten or typed, are in various languages such as Arabic, French, English, Italian and German.

The archival files are classified into themes reflecting the activities of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Here are the main ones:

• General administration: this part concerns registers of sacraments, certificates or statistics about parishes as well as documents related to justice or finances.
• Assemblies: the archives contain documents related to ecumenical and catholic assemblies, episcopal conferences, associations and commissions, documenting their activities.
• People: this section contains archival files on clerics and laypeople. Thus, there is information on priests, patriarchs or lay people in relation with the Latin Patriarchate. These documents are mainly incoming and outgoing letters.
• Parishes and vicariates: important historical sources, the files on the parishes help us to understand the social and daily history of their inhabitants. Some documents date back to the creation of each parish.
• Congregations and religious orders: the Latin Patriarchate collection contains numerous files on each congregation, both male and female.
• Educational institutions: the activities of the seminary as well as several universities, colleges and schools of the Patriarchate are preserved in the archives.
• Local and international correspondence: political and religious, these letters connect the Latin Patriarchate to consulates, other religious institutions and with lay people.
• The history of parishes, holy places, and religious events
• The archives of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher: a room is dedicated to the conservation of these archives. The documents concern the different lieutenancies of the order as well as part of its administration. Some files also concern other equestrian orders.