Among the entities of devotion and hospitality closely linked to Saint Peter’s Basilica, an important role is played by the Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, established in 1540 on the initiative of the Chapter of Saint Peter, for the devotion and worship of the Blessed Sacrament in the Basilica.
«1540, marzo. Recordo come per el Capitolo de S. Pietro de Roma per dar principio che in detta chiesa ce fussi una Compagnia del Corpo di Cristo, aciò che con magior diligentia et culto quello se havessi da honorar et custodire»: so wrote the priest Giacomo Ercolani, cleric and curate at Saint Peter’s, remembered as the “pious author of this company”, recalling the birth of the Confraternity of the Body of Christ (later “Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament”).
The Archconfraternity has promoted numerous pious and merciful activities in its almost five centuries of life.
On 1 August 1658, after the Church dedicated to Saint Catherine, until then the seat of the Confraternity, was demolished to make way for the construction of the colonnade erected by Bernini around Saint Peter’s Square, the Church of Saints Michael and Magnus, exclusive property of the reverend Vatican Chapter, was entrusted to the venerable Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.
Known in the Middle Ages as the Church of the Schola Frisonum, the Church of Saints Michael and Magnus is still managed by the Archconfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament and the Dutch parish community in Rome.