Founded in 1908, there are now eleven thousand or so members in the UK, South Africa, Australia, Ireland, India, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malta.
Bound by their Catholicism, members of the Association have a number of objectives:
* to be proudly Catholic;
* to foster deep and long lasting friendships amongst the members and their families;
* to provide spiritual, financial and moral support for those in difficulty or need;
* to provide support to the Catholic clergy;
* to assist young Catholics as they seek their way in careers.
The Association is structured geographically to enable members (or 'brothers' as they are known within the Association) to join collectively in the practice of their Faith, to enjoy the company of each other and to collectively support their parishes and their dioceses.
Members belong to 'circles', of which there are seventeen in Province 10, which covers Lancashire, South Cumbria and part of West Yorkshire.
There are monthly meeting, usually followed by a dinner or buffet. in addition to a range of other social and spiritual activities, often involving other family members.
There is an indefinable bond which makes the Association remarkably different from other organisations - some of the older members have been in the Assoctiation for over fifty years whilst some of the younger members have yet to reach their thirtieth birthday.
Potential members are invited to get to know the Association by observing meetings before they make a decision to join - there is nothing secret about the Catenian Association.
The Association's name is derived from the Latin word, 'Catena' ( a chain) with the Circles being the links in the chain and the emblem denoting a continuous chain of links surrounding a cross.
Further information can be obtained from:
The Administrator,
The Catenian Association,
2nd Floor
1 Copthall House
Station Square, Coventry, CV1 2FY
Tel: 02476 224533
(The above is adapted from the Province 6 literature)