Confraternity

A confraternity is a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created to promote special works of Christian charity or piety and approved by the Church hierarchy, with member organizations focused on two primary objectives: practicing personal piety and conducting charitable works, under rules and by-laws that members commit to follow, though these constitute organizational guidelines rather than formal religious vows. Each confraternity maintains its own governance structure and specific membership requirements, with some restricting participation to men, others to women, and others to youth exclusively, and confraternities represented, according to historian Konrad Eisenbichler, the most sweeping and ubiquitous movement of the central and later Middle Ages, becoming so deeply embedded in medieval and early modern European community life that it would have been difficult for someone not to be a member of a confraternity, a benefactor of one's charitable work, or at least aware of a confraternity's presence in the community. The Catholic Church maintains formal oversight of confraternities, with certain ones granted authority to establish affiliated groups in multiple locations and earning the designation archconfraternity, and contemporary examples, including the Confraternity of the Rosary and various penitential organizations, continue this medieval tradition into the present day.