The Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore and Lido is a voluntary association that is part of the Confraternities of Mercy Movement, founded in 1244 in Florence by Pietro da Verona, later Saint Peter Martyr. Today the Confraternities of Mercy are present in Italy and abroad with over 700 Confraternities.
HISTORY
The Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore was founded as “Confraternity of Death of Camaiore” about 4 centuries ago, exactly in 1632. In the publication edited by Confrere and Professor Giuseppe Bertacchi, entitled “Charity on the Move”, reference is made to some writings and historical citations that would identify the date of establishment as 1450, linking it to the preaching of Saint Bernardino da Siena at the Church of Suffrage in Camaiore, today the historic headquarters of the Confraternity of Mercy. This date was accepted by the National Confederation of the Confraternities of Mercy of Italy (Florence, 1966 p. 21), placing the Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore among the 10 oldest in Tuscany. In the 19th century, after the annexation of the Republic of Lucca to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, the Confraternity of Death of Camaiore assumed the current title of Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore, exactly on July 29, 1879, and in 1902 it became part of the “Federation of the Tuscan Confraternities of Mercy”. Over the centuries up to the present day, this presence of “Charity on the Move” in the Camaiore community has taken responsibility for the care of the dead, the sick and, in general, the weakest citizens, developing works to support poor people in need of help and assistance at local and national level, also on the occasion of the most dramatic natural disasters, in the awareness that “faith without works is dead”. In the years following the First World War, at different times, the Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore activated social and health services for the resident population in the territory of Lido di Camaiore, but only in October 1970 was the section of the Confraternity of Mercy of Lido founded, also thanks to the extraordinary commitment of many young confreres and sisters who activated excellent initiatives and services for the many residents and very many tourists, as the late National President Merlini often recalled. Subsequently, in 1980, the section of the Confraternity of Mercy of Seimiglia was established, with its headquarters in Valpromaro. In 1989, following some management difficulties and an eviction from the historic headquarters in via Trieste, the Lido section was welcomed back by the “Mother House” of Camaiore, forming the Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore and Lido. After 5 years of unified management, once the new headquarters in Lido di Camaiore had been completed, begun at the end of the 1970s, the separation of the two realities and the creation of the Confraternity of Mercy of Lido di Camaiore, better known in the following years as “MiseLido”, was jointly determined. From the end of 2015, following management, associational-life and economic difficulties, the Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore was placed under administration by the National Confederation of the Confraternities of Mercy of Italy. The project that gradually took shape, bringing together the confreres and sisters of Lido and Camaiore, was to combine the peculiarities of the two realities (history, wider territory to serve, user base, consolidated organizational model …) so that an innovative management experiment could be launched which, through a merger project, could also serve as a model for other territories where situations of functional criticality are increasingly frequently being created. The two Associations Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore and Confraternity of Mercy of Lido di Camaiore approved the attached merger project, highlighting the reasons, the method and the procedural process, as well as this Statute, in their respective assemblies of 26/10/2019 and 25/10/2019, determining that the new associative reality resulting from the merger process would take the name “Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore and Lido”. As of March 11, 2020, following a specific deed by Notary Iantaffi, the Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore and Lido is a reality.
ACTIVITIES
The activities carried out by the Confraternity of Mercy of Camaiore and Lido are the following
- SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
- EMERGENCY SERVICES
- DAY CENTERS FOR THE ELDERLY
- HOUSE AND VILLAGE AGENCY
- MIGRANT RECEPTION
- CIVIL PROTECTION
- FUNERAL SERVICES
- PERSONAL ASSISTANCE
- SOLELUNA PROJECT
- LIBRARY AND AFTER-SCHOOL SUPPORT
- MISESPORT AND CSI LIDO
- CIVIL SERVICE RECEPTION
- G.eMMe PROJECT – YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE CONFRATERNITIES OF MERCY