The Venerabile Arciconfraternita di Misericordia di Sarteano is a volunteer association that belongs to the Movimento delle Misericordie, founded in Florence in 1244 by Pietro da Verona, later Saint Peter Martyr. Today, Mercy associations are present in Italy and abroad, with more than 700 brotherhoods.
History
On 17 July 1674, the Compagnia di San Bonaventura was founded in Sarteano at the initiative of several devout philanthropists. It was dedicated to charitable works, comforting the poor and assisting the sick. To carry out these Works of Mercy more effectively, several rooms were converted into an infirmary. A folder dating from 1848 in the Misericordia archives mentions a plan by several brothers to establish a Compagnia della Misericordia, an institution already widespread in many Tuscan towns. No further trace of this plan appears until 1862. In October 1862, the brothers of the Compagnia di San Bonaventura, having met several times in assembly, acknowledged the organisation’s gradual decline and the brothers’ limited participation in its services. On the evening of 26 October 1862, a meeting of the brothers of the Congregazione dei SS. Bonaventura e Ignazio was convened under the chairmanship of Prior and Provost Luigi Selvani. Twenty brothers were present. The Prior explained the Congregation’s difficulties in carrying out its charitable works because of the brothers’ limited participation, particularly in funeral services. Monsignor Ermidio Selvani, who was attending the meeting while on holiday in his native town, asked to speak and expressed his regret at the decline of the Oratory at a time when all of Italy aspired to sovereignty equal to that of other nations. He proposed transforming the Oratory into a Confraternita di Misericordia. Prior Luigi Selvani “wholeheartedly agreed” and stated that this desire had been discussed several times in the past. He formally proposed to the Assembly that the Compagnia di San Bonaventura be transformed into a Confraternita di Misericordia. On 30 October, an invitation was issued to all “local residents” to join the new organisation, called Confraternita della Misericordia, and to attend a public meeting to be held at 10 a.m. in the Chiesa Collegiata di San Lorenzo. On ° November, the first meeting of the Confraternita di Misericordia was held with the committee of promoters and founders in the Chiesa dell’Oratorio. The meeting was chaired by the nobleman Giovanni Fanelli. The Very Reverend Corrector Luigi Selvani was present, together with 40 members comprising brothers of the Oratory and founding members. On 13 December 1862, the Prefect of the Province of Siena approved the elevation of the Congregazione dell’Oratorio di San Bonaventura to the status of Confraternita della Misericordia.
Activities
- Care Home – R.S.A. “Piero Bargagli” – Authorised to accommodate n.52 non-self-sufficient elderly people. Volunteers work within the facility alongside the employed staff.
- Durante e Dopo di Noi – Progetto Abitare Dopo di Noi – A permanent residential facility with low-intensity care, designed for orphaned people with disabilities to live together and to promote their independence. The facility has n. 5 beds, as required by regulations.
- Emergency Service in collaboration with “Siena 118” – Our Misericordia is a PET (Local Emergency Point) headquarters and, under an agreement with Azienda USL Toscana Sud Est, provides ordinary transport services with n.5 ambulances, n.5 cars and n.7 equipped vehicles.
- Social Protection – transport for students with disabilities attending upper secondary school and various community transport services.
- Food Bank Donations – In collaboration with Banco Alimentare Toscana ODV, the Misericordia distributes food aid to people in need from the European FEAD programme and fruit and vegetable products from national and EU market programmes.
- School Supplies Collection – In collaboration with Coop di Sarteano, the Misericordia organises an annual collection of school supplies to distribute to children from families in need. Our volunteers set up a station outside the Coop di Sarteano store to encourage purchases of stationery for schools.
- Every month, our premises are made available free of charge to the people of Sarteano for the delivery and collection of samples for colorectal cancer screening in collaboration with Azienda USL Toscana Sud Est.
- Agreement with the Tribunale di Siena for a sentence reduction through community service.
- Sarteano “Cardioprotetta” – inspection and monitoring of n.8 AEDs installed in the municipal area.
- Lay BLS-D courses.
- Progetto “ASSO” – A Scuola di Soccorso – A project to raise students’ awareness and knowledge of first-aid practices.
- Other services (accompanying elderly people to the cemetery to visit the deceased, companionship visits, assisted shopping, transporting users to doctors or healthcare facilities for appointments and diagnostic tests, collecting medical reports, and temporarily lending healthcare aids such as crutches, wheelchairs, beds and walking frames) provided to elderly people who are alone and/or in need.
- Missionary Experience – The Misericordia di Sarteano joined the HIC SUM project by spazio + spadoni, which promotes the global dissemination of the experience of the Mercy movement through twinning between brotherhoods and religious and missionary congregations. It therefore signed a document with the three parties involved: Misericordia Sarteano, spazio + spadoni and Congregazione delle Religiose di Maria Immacolata – Missionarie Claretiane. It subsequently hosted the lay missionary Mirian Fermina Aguilar Villanueva, born in Peru on 24/11/1990 and from Lima, Peru, who undertook an internship at our Misericordia from 26 April to 22 July 2022.
- Civil Protection
Contacts
Viale Umbria, 18 – 53047 Sarteano (SI)
Tel: +39 0578266881