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The Catenian Association History

CatenianMasterLogoA Brief History of the Catenians

The Catenian Association was founded in 1908 at the suggestion of Bishop Louis Casartelli, then Bishop of Salford. The Association began life in Manchester with the rather old fashioned title of “The Chums”. In those early days of Catholic emancipation, young Catholic laymen needed support in their faith in the day to day life they lived.

The social environment in England for Catholics was still rather hostile at that time. By way of background, the law preventing Catholics from practising their Catholic beliefs had only been abolished some 60 years before, so attitudes were slow to change against the Catholics.For example, in the English middle classes, deep paranoia over the role of the Catholic Church, especially in education remained.
Catholic laymen also experienced difficulties in relation to employment and this in turn affected their family life and the lives of their children. In 1915, the Association changed its name to the Catenian Association, derived from the Latin word “catena” meaning chain. The Association was made up of branches called “circles”, each forming a link in a chain of Catholic brotherhood.

This chain has now grown and spread worldwide under the auspices of the Holy Spirit from Manchester, where it was first forged, all the way to Australia. The brotherhood have circles in Eire, Malta, Zimbabwe and recently India. Currently, over 10, 000 members have joined circles (or smaller groups) of brotherly love and support.

Catenian values can be summarised in the words, faith, family and friendship:

*The Catholic faith is central to the Catenian Association and all brothers are required to be practising Catholics.
*Family plays a huge role both individually and also in the wider Catenian family. Wives and other members of the family are regularly involved in social activities.
*Friendship and brotherhood is the cement upon which the whole Catenian Association is based. Want to know more? Click here