The Archconfraternity of the Holy Family is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

archconfraternity An archconfraternity () is a Catholic confraternity, empowered to aggregate or affiliate other confraternities of the same nature, and to impart to them its benefits and privileges. History In 1569, Charles Borromeo started archconfraternities i ...

, founded in 1844 in Belgium.

Foundation

This archconfraternity owes its origin to Henri Belletable, an officer in the Engineers' Corps, Liege, Belgium. He resolved to establish a society, which he would divide into companies of twelve in military fashion. The first reunion was held on the evening of Whit-Monday, 1844, in the room of a carpenter. When their numbers outgrew the room, the

Redemptorists The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scala ...

placed an oratory at their disposal, and Father Victor-Auguste-Isidor Deschamps, rector at Liège, took up the work. He brought it to the notice of Bishop von Bommel, who gave it his formal approval on 13 February 1845, erected it into a confraternity with the title of Holy Family, 7 April following, and remained its lifelong promoter. Its purpose was to honor the Holy Family of Nazareth, and to encourage each other in the practice of Christian virtues. The statutes then drawn up were later presented to

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, who approved them by Briefs dated 20 and 23 April 1847, raised the society to the rank of an archconfraternity, enriched it with indulgences, and made the rector of the Redemptorists' Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Liege, its director. The development spread from Belgium to the Netherlands, and finally throughout the Catholic Church. The Archconfraternity was a particular apostolate of the

. It was established in 1861 at the parish of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Manhattan; there was also an active confraternity at St. Alphonsus Liguori Church in St. Louis. An Archconfraternity for men was founded in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in 1868, where street processions were an important feature of the Archconfraternity until the late 1930s.

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, when he established his own association of the Holy Family and suppressed all other associations of the same title, wished this archconfraternity to continue its work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archconfraternity Of The Holy Family Confraternities Catholic lay organisations