Statutes-Bulls - (Liguria)

Confraternity of Santa Chiara

The foundation of the Confraternity of Santa Chiara in Bogliasco dates back to 1403. In those years the memory and the ferment left by the passage along the Rivieras of the Bianchi di Provenza movement of 1399 were still alive. The Confraternity of Santa Chiara in Bogliasco, like other brotherhoods Ligurian, arose precisely behind this push, and from the beginning it was aimed not only at mutual aid between its adherents, but also and above all at the suffrage of the dead and their entombment.

Of its existence, already in the sixteenth century there is numerous documentation in notarial deeds; another fundamental document that confirms the headquarters of the Confraternity, in a religious building is the report of the Apostolic Visit to the churches of the Diocese of Genoa, made by Mons. Francesco Bossi in 1582.

The Confraternity gave itself a precise internal organization in the 18th century, with the Statute approved by the ecclesiastical authority in 1654; in it were defined the various functions and the various positions within it.

There are many works of inestimable value that are kept in the Church of the Confraternity.

Finally, the majestic crucifixes carried annually in procession on the occasion of the patronal festivities deserve a mention for their spectacularity. (NS del Carmine, July 16, Santa Chiara, August 11). They are works of this century and of almost unknown artists; however, the spectacle of the procession through the streets of the town is grandiose, with these crucifixes weighing very close to the quintal and even more, carried in particular balance by the confreres of S. Chiara.