Swanley Catenians - Circle Number 306

The Catenians have been around for a long time in fact over a hundred years but there are a few myths surrounding what the Catenians are and what they do. 

What the Catenians are NOT:

• It is not the Catholic's answer to the Freemasons.
• It is not a networking society just for professionals and businessmen - although there are a few accountants in our ranks, we also have builders, electricians and plumbers together with numerous retired men.
• It is not a Catholic action group although we have very active members.
• It is not a small elite English club.  There are over 10,000 Catenians in Great Britain, Australia, Ireland, Malta, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and recently in Goa.

The Catenians are:

• Catholic men, who share a whole range of similar thoughts, standards and aspirations.
• The Catenians can be summed up in three words:
  • Faith,
  • Friendship and
  • Family.

• Meetings - Catenian Circles meet formally once a month for prayer, discussion and to socialise. This friendly and social environment leads to the development of warm friendships. If anyone is interested in becoming a Catenian they are invited to one or two of these meetings to meet the existing members and get to know more about our activities. Many Catenians are also active members of their own parishes.
• Bursary Fund - An important part of the Catenian contribution to Catholic society is through our Bursary fund which provides financial help to any young Catholic between the ages of 16 and 25 who is prepared to work - unpaid, helping under-privileged people anywhere in the
• Charity – The President of Swanley circle for his year in office chooses a charity. A number of events throughout the year are organised – money collected and raffles taken, and at the end of his year in office a cheque is presented to that charity. Individual events by brothers have included, a sponsored abseil down Battersea Power Station for CLIC Sargent, and a 10km sponsored walk around Leeds castle in Kent for The Alzheimer’s association.

Catenians recognise their Christ-given duty to help their neighbour so that those who suffer misfortune are sympathetically and generously helped. For example we have an on-going project working with CAFOD on a project to raise money to fund clean water projects in Africa.

The friendships made in the Catenians tend to last a lifetime. Friendships of course extend to wives and families of Catenians.

Our social calendar is in fact one of the biggest attractions of the association. Circles tend to be very socially active and we have a varied calendar

• dinners,
• quiz nights,
• clay pigeon shooting,
• bowling,
• picnics
• and days out.