A confraternity in the Catholic church denotes an association of lay worshippers founded to perform works of piety and charity, with regular organization and a place of worship used for meetings. The confraternities, whose members do not take vows nor live together, are instituted in a church by formal decree of the ecclesiastic authority, which alone may alter or suppress them. They have a statute, a title, a name, rules, and a particular style of dress.