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 Mercure Dolphin 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 the President, Pat Feighery FCIOB

Pat Feighery

It took me a few years in membership to get under the skin of The Catenians. Is it just a Catholic Businessmen’s Dining Club ? It has been said that the Catenian Association is not a section of the people of God dressed for dinner but Catholic action at rest! I have sometimes heard us referred to as “the virtuous idle”.

As is ever the case, life’s experiences usually bring home to us the value and meaning of something we become familiar and complacent with. In my own case, this was when I required serious surgery for a tumour on my spine, which was developing rapidly. Our family were overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness, concern and prayers of the brothers of my Southampton Circle. It was a humbling time in that respect, how can you possibly acknowledge and repay that love and kindness?

The strap line on our Catenian letterhead says; “Strengthening family life through friendship and faith”. Membership of our Catenian Association and involvement at Circle level is a privilege. We are all bound together by fraternal love and friendship. The spirit is real, the energy of our Brothers, the kindred spirits, the enthusiasm, the camaraderie, our Catholic faith. All combine to make the soul of the Catenian Association that beckons us to its fold and binds us together.

In my case it is now time to give back and I am delighted to accept the nomination as President of Southampton Circle, the 12th Circle of The Catenian Association, for 2017/2018.

As individuals it is difficult, in the United Kingdom, being a Christian never mind a Catholic. Catenians are challenged to observe faithfully the obligations of our Catholic Christian life, to be forbearing in temper and slow to condemn. As a lay organisation that is how we go a long way towards “Strengthening family life through friendship and faith”.

Catenians are drawn from all walks of life, our belief in family values and our Catholic faith being our bond. Today, The Catenian association faces the same challenges as our Catholic Church, suffering as it does from complacency and indifference among the faithful.

For our Southampton Circle I have a very simple plan for my year as President. I want to bring in to the Circle more Brothers, younger and committed. I want to break out of the shackles of convention and in some cases xenophobia. I will be inviting the priests of our Circle area to come to our meetings as observers. I will be expecting them to identify and nominate parishioners who would consider becoming members. I want Southampton Circle to reflect the ethnic diversity of our parishes. I will be inviting the students of CathSoc, with whom we now have an affiliation agreement in place, to also attend our Circle meetings, regardless of gender.

The Catholic community is more racially diverse than the population as a whole, as a glance at the typical congregation at Sunday Mass will tell you. This is not reflected in Catenian membership at the moment. Why not? Are we too elitist, too insular, too secretive?

There are no strangers in the Catenian association, only friends you haven’t met yet. We seek to be friendly and welcoming and always humble. We are ordinary people and practicing Catholics.