Abbreviation F.A.M. | ||
Type Catholic religious order Website www.amormisericordioso.org | ||
The Congregation of the Sons of Merciful Love (F.A.M.: Congregatio Filiorum Amoris Misericordis) is a Roman Catholic religious order of priests founded in Rome in 1951 and approved by Pope John Paul II on June 12, 1983.
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History
The Congregation was founded in Rome by the Spanish Sister Esperanza Jesus Alhama Valera (September 30, 1893 - April 2, 1983) on August 15, 1951, when three novices made their profession of faith. On August 18, 1951, Alfonso Maria de Sanctis, Bishop of Todi, hosted the community within his jurisdiction, in the hamlet of Collevalenza. Since that time other houses have been opened in Matrice and Fermo, and in 1963 in Lujua (diocese of Bilbao).
The Sons of Merciful Love were raised to the status of a religious congregation under diocesan direction by a decree of Norberto Perini, Archbishop of Fermo, on July 28, 1968. The Holy See approved the Congregation as an institute by a decree of June 12, 1983.
On December 31, 2005, the Congregation had 18 houses and 116 religious, 90 of whom are priests.
The Congregation's priests are dedicated to the support and the sanctification of the diocesan clergy and also to charity and social work. They work in Brazil, Germany, Italy and Spain. The seat of the Congregation's head is in the Sanctuary of Merciful Love (Italian: Santuario dell'Amore Misericordioso) in Collevalenza (Perugia).