Confraternities

thumb|300px|A confraternity of penitents in Italy mortifying the flesh with disciplines in a seven-hour procession; [[capirote are worn by penitents so that attention is not drawn towards themselves, but to God, as they repent.]] Flagellants are practitioners of a form of mortification of the flesh by whipping their skin with various instruments of penance. Many Christian confraternities of penitents have flagellants, who beat themselves, both in the privacy of their dwellings and in public processions, to repent of sins and share in the Passion of Jesus.

thumb|Members of a confraternity of penitents leading a [[Lent procession in Spain.]]

Public association of faithful of the Catholic Church, canonically established in the Basilica of Our Lady and St. Anthony of Mafra, Portugal.

historical scuola (confraternity house), now art gallery, in Venice, Italy

Religious group

Roman Catholic confraternity or spiritual association

confraternity or sodality institutions in Venice

religious confraternity in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

medieval society (usually guild or confraternity) to patronize music and poetry

Confraternal order of chivalry founded in 1755

cloister in Florence, Italy, known for its cycle of frescos

Pan-Africanism and Social Organization

lay confraternity founded in Florence in the 13th century

Roman Catholic religious confraternity under the spiritual authority of the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes

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.

In Christian theology, a sodality, also known as a syndiakonia, is a form of the Universal Church organized in a specialized, task-oriented society, as opposed to a local, diocesan body (a modality). In English, the term sodality is most commonly used by groups in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church and Reformed Church, where they are also referred to as confraternities. Sodalities are expressed among Protestant Churches through the multitude of mission organizations, societies, and specialized ministries that have proliferated, particularly since