Welcome
A very warm welcome to the Southampton Catenians website. We are one of the founding branches (or ‘Circles’ as we are known) of the Catenian Association having been inaugurated on 9th April 1913, just 5 years after the Association was established.
The Catenian Association is an international organisation of Catholic laymen and permanent deacons. We have a focus on family, friendship and fun with the common factor of sharing the same faith. Many Catenians have a prominent role in their local parishes and Diocese as well as Catholic lay organisations.
We meet on the 1st Monday of each month, unless a Bank Holiday, at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Southampton.
Visitors from other Circles are always welcome and please contact our Dining Secretary by the preceding Thursday if possible. Alternate months are ladies nights. In addition to Circle meeting evenings we have a very active social programme. Please look at our “Meetings” page for more details.
Additionally we welcome Catholic men who would like the opportunity to meet others to build lifelong friendships with them and their families. If you are interested then please come and meet us and see how we can enrich your lives and you can enrich ours.
Please look at our membership pages for details of how to become a member and frequently asked questions.
A Message from Southampton Circle President, John Singleton
When invited to join Catenians in my late 30s, some 34 years ago, I was employed in full-time agriculture and rural estate management, an occupation with very few Catholics, so I rarely mixed with catholic men other than attending Mass on a Sunday or at family parties. Catenians gave me a great opportunity to meet and relax with others sharing the same faith from all walks of life, a hugely rich and enjoyable experience which continues to this day. I cannot recommend highly enough the fraternal friendship of the brotherhood and would recommend all catholic men to investigate membership of the Association.
Although ostensibly we are a men’s organisation, our wives are welcome to and get fully involved in the social life of the Association. We welcome new blood and ideas as we progress in our second century as an association.
The mutual support of our fellow brothers and their families and the widows and families of deceased brothers is at the core of our association, but we do look to the wider community in many ways. Funds are raised every year for presidents charities (This year my charities are Send a Cow, a charity founded by UK farmers some 30 years ago to help poor in Africa to produce their way out of poverty and Two Saints, helping the homeless on Southampton to get off the streets) and as a circle we particularly support and encourage youth through our contacts and affiliation with the Southampton University Catholic Society of Students (CATHSOC) and our Catholic educational establishments. On a national basis the Association through its Catenian Bursary Fund provides financial assistance to youth, helping with Lourdes pilgrimages and awarding grants to Catholic youth undertaking charitable projects.
Do come and have a look at us without commitment and hopefully you will like what you see and be motivated to join us.