Documents and Policies

Closure Rules

A decision of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, following advice from the CAS, places a 110-year closure period on all sacramental records. The CAS has liaised with all public and diocesan archives to ensure that this requirement is upheld.

The Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church

The Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church has produced a number of important documents which provide helpful guidance on matters relating to the preservation and promotion of ecclesiastical archives, libraries and museums, as well as guidelines for the education and training of future priests on these matters.

Further information can be found here

Documents

All these policy documents have kindly been supplied free of charge by various archives and records offices for members of CAS to adapt and use as they see fit. Please bear in mind that the documents were written for a specific organisation and so may require modification. While all current at the time of upload, the policies may become out of date due to legislative and other changes.

Managing Your Archives. Archives Policies for Small Religious Repositories’: This guidance, which is available on the Religious Archives Group website, is intended as a simple introduction to good practice in producing archives policies.

Advice Leaflets

These are produced by society members and professionals within the archive and heritage profession. Suggestions for new topics are always gratefully received. The full free list of leaflets can be found here

Closure Rules

The Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church

Documents

Advice Leaflets

Collections Management

Personal Papers

Volunteer Management

Searchroom Management

Data Protection & Confidentiality