Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Franca

FSCMF is a group of non-profit hospitals organization founded in 1897 in Franca, São Paulo-Brazil. See the history about the fraternities of the mercy.This history is well known in Portuguese-speaking countries,but they are almost unknown in the rest of the world. The text above was extracted from SCMS website (http://www.scms.org.br/), the first mercy in Brazil. Lady Leonor de Lencastre, widow of King Dom João II, founded the Irmandade da Misericórdia de Lisboa (Fraternity of the Mercy of Lisbon) on August 15, 1498, installing it in the Capela da Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Chapel of Our Lady of the Piety). She nominated her confessor, Friar Miguel de Contreras, as its provedor (provector, president). The Fraternity took over the maintenance of the Hospital de Nossa Senhora do Amparo (Hospital of Our Lady of the Aid ) and later of the Hospital Real de Todos os Santos (Royal Hospital of All the Saints). Thousands of Irmandades da Misericórdia (Fraternities of the Mercy), also called Misericórdias (Mercies), consisting of lay people from the local communities, and their hospitals, known as Santas Casas da Misericórdia (Holy Houses of the Mercy), were created in Portugal and in its colonies. They play an important role in the medical and hospital care in their regions, accounting for two thirds of the hospital beds in Brazil alone.The predecessor of the Mercies was Lady Isabel of Aragon, the Saint Queen, wife of Dom Dinis, ‘The Farmer’. The outstanding Fraternities of the Mercy are among the most widespread and longer lasting humanitarian institutions.