Start by identifying the institution
Check the church name, town and diocese together. Two churches may share the same dedication. A parish may have several worship sites, and a building can retain a familiar name after the community’s administrative arrangements change.
A parish is a community entrusted to pastoral care; its church building is a place where that community worships. A cathedral has its particular relationship to the bishop’s chair. These distinctions help you decide whether you have found the right institution, rather than merely a similar name.
Separate a location from an entrance
A map point helps locate a church. It may not mark the accessible entrance, office, car park or chapel door. Before traveling, compare the recorded address with the official parish website and any visitor directions.
For diocesan context, use Find a diocese and read the public profile. A nearby diocesan seat alone does not establish which jurisdiction a parish belongs to, especially where different Catholic Churches have overlapping territories.
Read the source and date for the fact you need
Look for the source link and any date attached to the schedule or field. A date can describe when a source was read, when a statement was published or when an event takes place. Those are different things. A page retrieved this week can still contain an old notice.
Follow the source to its current context. Check whether the statement refers to a recurring pattern or one occasion, and whether a newer notice replaces it. The record’s provenance statement explains our sourcing approach, while the ontology defines the entities and relationships.
Handle missing or conflicting information
An empty field is an unknown in our record. It is not a negative finding. No listed website does not prove the parish has no website, and no recorded Mass time does not prove Mass has stopped.
When sources disagree, preserve both source links and their dates. Ask the institution which information applies now. Avoid treating a plausible interpretation as a confirmed fact, particularly for parish closures, mergers or changes of name.
Send a correction that can be checked
A useful correction names the record, the field, the proposed value and the public source supporting it. For a schedule, include the date or recurring day and the exact church building. For a website, include the institution’s own confirmation of the new address where available.
Use Contact us to send the record URL and source. A submitted correction still needs review; sending it does not change a published fact automatically. Keeping the record explains why that distinction matters.
Prepared by Catholic Intelligence with AI assistance. Church teaching is linked to the cited sources; practical checklists are our editorial guidance. Suggest a correction.