THE LAST CENTURY

The Confederacy was born in 1899 with the name "Federazione" (Federation) in Pstoia, where the first National Congress of the Misericordia (Mercy) took place; 45 confraternities took part to it. In that occasion Cesare Sardi (a member of the confraternity from Lucca) was nominated the first National President, and with commitment and devotion has paid honour to his task for more than 20 years, following the point he made in his congress intervention speech. (The whole text is available in the Documents section)
The second National Congress took place the 27th and 28th May 1900, and it was given hospitality by the ancient Florence Misericordia.
After the Florence Congress, the publication of the "Gazette of the Misericordie" ("Bollettino delle Misericordie") started, and it has continued till the beginning of the First World War (1914).
During the war time, the Misericordie associated to the Federation have carried on an important activity of assistance and aid, dedicated in a specific way to the painful and problematic requests of help by the internal population and by the refugees.
The first Congress after the end of the war took place in Prato, August 1921; a new national president was elected: Guido Donati (from the Florence Misericordia).
In this period the publication of the "Gazette" restarted after being interrupted during war time, and the Federal Team (Squadra Federale), was created to rush to the help of all the people in the destroyed places.
A great task was carried out, particularly when a series of earthquakes struck the areas of the Garfagnana, the Mugello, and the Lunigiana.
The Federal Team was composed by 15 Confraternities among the most important and best equipped ones, and could count on 200 members completely equipped besides nurses and doctors. At that time, the aid initiatives towards natural disasters had just begun; those initiatives are now defined as civil protection and only during the last years have been directly controlled by the Government.
At that time there were only the army and the fire brigades (not a national institution, and only in some particular places).
The creation of the Federal Team represented an important step forward in the civil protection field. 
During the fascist period, a great attack to the independence and to the future of the Team occurred. 
The fascist government, with the purpose of collecting every assistance organization in itself, passed the famous bill which cancelled all the voluntary service associations without legal status and confiscated all its money and equipments in order to create the State assistance institution: the Italian Red Cross.
In this way, a situation of great hardship was created: all the Misericordie (included those who had to follow the Crispi Bill about the public Institution of assistance and charity) feared the application of the law, that is to say to be damaged by the public power which could collect them and transform them into different associations.
Fortunately this didn't happen: the Crispi Bill (1890), allowed the State to control their activities, without transforming them or eliminating them, in order to create the Italian Red Cross. 
In September 1926, the King intervened at the National Congress of Viareggio to testify his affection towards the Misericordie, while in the following Pisa Congress (1930), a great exercitation of the Federal Team took place.
After the death of president Donati, 2 December 1930, the Congress was set in Florence, in order to nominate a new president.
It was decided that a triumvirate (composed by Renato Macarini-Carmignani, Angelo Badiani and Paolo Guicciardini), should lead the Federation.
Other Congresses and other interventions of the Federal Team occurred: in the meantime, not only did the Team create its own sections in the numerous Misericordie, but it also created its own "fire brigades", basing itself on the experiences of what other Confraternities in the previous years had already achieved.
Thanks to these achievements, the Federal Team represented in that moment, one of the strongest national assistance organizations in the country.
The outbreak of the Second World War reduced the activity of the Federation considerably.
The Misericordie, in their various seats, carried on an important activity, intense as well as the Team did, giving aid and assistance to the population in various shapes, and intervening to save the injured people even while heavy bombardments were occurring.
A lot of members died in heroic ways during bombardments time, or other sad war episodes, trying to aid injured and needing people.
During their withdrawing, German troops plundered heavily the whole Misericordie centres, taking away households effects, medical tools, ambulances, so that in 1945, when the ordinary life began again, all the Misericordie found themselves in a sad situation of re-starting.
No sooner had the war tragedy ended, than the Federation was ready for the renewal. 
Congresses were organized in Pescia and in Pisa. 
A National Congress took place in Florence the 8th of January: the text of the new statute was approved and the tasks of the Federation were increased, because it became a national association. 
Moreover the brother Angelo Badiani was nominated President, and the brother Roberto Crema was nominated actual national president.
The Confederacy was transformed and renewed by the new energies of its members, and it increased its activity, in fact, besides coordinating the Misericordie (as it did in the past), it became a generous, spiritual, planning organization. 
The Confederacy was given the task to go over the general problems of the association, to explain and analyse them especially to the Government and to the Parliament, the public institutions. 
From that point on, a series of National Congresses has taken place, and the Confederacy Holding planned a system of frequent visits to each single confederacy headquarters, and to give aid to every headquarter in a difficult situation. 
There was a particular great effort (coming from all the Misericordie), in trying to re-build the machineries destroyed by the war. 
During those difficult years, but however full of charity and freedom desire periods, numerous new Misericordie have been created.
In 1962 Crema, the national president, passed away because of a plane accident, leaving a sad, empty space among his collaborators. 
So Alfredo Merlini took his place and, he guided the Confederacy till 1985.
In 1963 a new organization was created: FRATRES (Brothers); it operated mainly in the environment of blood donation. 
In 1985 Francesco Giannelli succeeded to Alfredo Merlini, who was a brother and the head of the Florence Misericordia. 
The 14th June 1986, almost 10.000 brothers of the Italian Misericordie were received by the Holy Pope in audience.
"That's the task I give you… be the promoters and the creators of the civility of Love, be tireless witnesses of the charity culture", this is what John Paul II said in the crowded room "Paolo VI", giving a brand new light to the life of the organization: the Misericordie had to make the way of charity their own. 
These words represented a turning point for the Misericordie.
This sorrowful exhortation from the Pope, testify with charity service the commitment in the rebuilding of a new kind of civility based on charity, peace, sharing, became a point to refer to, in a new vitality and in new initiatives.
IIn 1989 the Confederacy created a new magazine, whose name (full of meaning), was Civility of Love. 
In 1990 the FRATRES organization acquired a legal status as an independent association, but always connected to the Confederacy, under the name of "National Fratres Association of the Italian Misericordie". 
In November 1992 the Misericordie got together for the first time in their history, in the World Congress, in Florence, with the participation of more than 200 delegates, coming from every continent, representing almost 40 nations.
The most important result of the Congress was the commitment to the creation of the European Union of the Misericordie: the representants of the Italian, Monaco, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Armenian, Bielorussian, Russian, Georgian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian Misericordie. 
The 14th November 1992, the Pope waving with affection the Misericordie' brothers reminded how "it can be said that in every continent the Misericordie represent a peaceful army of promoters and creator of the civility of Love, tireless witnesses of the charity culture".
The Pope confirmed his exhortation at "testifying the provident presence of God", and He concluded His speech with a serious invitation to make their own the commitment of brotherhood: "The Holy Virgin bless , - said John Paul II - also the efforts made by you all, in order to increase the reciprocal estimation among the believers by planning some interventions together with Organizations and Misericordie of other religions, so that, among the men of good will, the authentic civility of Love will be created soon".
Following this exhortation, the Confederacy was given the task to develop with charity spirit, the contacts, the collaborations, the relationships with the brothers who believe in different religions, and in particular with the Muslim brothers, in Italy, but also in their provenance countries.
This effort produced two important results: in January 1993 the Misericordie together with a charity Muslim organization (the Human Appeal International), organized two kinds of aid for the populations seriously affected by the civil war in the lands of the ex-Yugoslavia. 
In the early July 1994 the first Christian-Islamic lecture took place in Florence: it was based on the analysis of three crucial situations. 
Firstly Sudan, in the middle of a civil war and tried by the difficult cohabitation of the Christians, the Muslims and the Animists; secondly the Iraq-Kuwait, who was tackling mainly the release of 1000 Kuwait citizens, that were then detained in the Iraqi prisons; and last but not least the Caucasus, destroyed by the civil war. 
The congress ended with a very spiritual moment in which Catholics, Muslims and Orthodoxies were united, in a unique prayer for hope and aid from merciful God.
In 1995, the management Centre of the Mass Emergencies was created (U.G.E.M.-Ufficio Gestione Emergenze di Massa), and it had to re-organize all the Confederacy civil protection activities with a specific Regulation.
Thanks to the new structure, the Confederacy was able to give aid when the Versilia Flood occurred (1996), and also during the Umbria Marche Earthquake (1997).
In the meantime the fusion of the icon of the Misericordie (strongly supported by Giannelli), was completed by adopting the national yellow-cyan uniform.
The ’98 Meeting in Assisi re-nominated, with a plebiscitary election, Francesco Giannelli as Confederacy president, but he had to redeem after two months only.
He was succeeded by his Vice-president Enzo Fani. but only for a short time, till the next Meeting (Pistoia, 1999), in which Gianfranco Gabelli was elected.