Catenians
The Catenian Association is an international body of Catholic men who are committed to their Faith, their families, to those in need and to each other. Our primary purpose is to establish a network of friends, which enhances our family life, strengthens our Faith and sustains us in difficult times. We support each other, the Catholic Church, young people and those in need.
Our friendships are developed through meeting together locally once a month and enjoying a varied programme of social events together with our families and the widows of members.
Each year as part of our support to youth, the Catenian Associations Bursary fund gives cash grants of over £100,000 to young Catholics between the ages of 16 and 24, who volunteer on projects around the world.
You do NOT need to have any knowledge of, or acquaintance with, the Catenian Association to be eligible for a grant, but you must be a Catholic, or a member of a faith in full communion with Rome. To find out more (and apply) go to https://catenianbursary.com/.
SALISBURY CATENIANS (includes Amesbury, Salisbury, Tisbury, Bulford and beyond)
There are approximately 40 families involved in the Salisbury Circle. We meet monthly in the
evening and our meetings are usually followed by a meal. We organise various events – some are purely social in nature and others are for fund-raising or to support the activities of our respective parishes.
We also play a key role in the organisation and running of various Church events across the Salisbury parishes.
The Catenians are non-political. They are actively involved in Church and parish life and the membership is drawn from a wide spectrum, reflecting the diverse nature of society.
Membership is open to any Catholic man over the age of eighteen.
If you are interested in joining the Catenians or simply would like more information please contact the secretary Albert Rhodes email [email protected]
More information can be found on the Salisbury Catenian website at: https://www.salisburycatenians.org/
Previously, Salisbury Catenians have awarded bursaries to young people in our immediate area to support:
- going to Rwanda to spread the Christian ethics through sporting contacts
- to spend 9 months with the National Evangelisation Team (NET) Ministries in the USA
- to spend 9 weeks in Sri Lanka to gain experience in a clinical setting via teaching projects for Mental Health and Special Needs; followed by 1 week in India in Mental Health.
A president is elected
each year to serve a twelve month term.
For the two years 2020 - 2022 the president was Adrian Holloway and his chosen charities were RNLI which received £2,200 and Morning Star which received £391.50
For the Year 2019 -2020 the president was Jim Rollestone and his chosen charities were Society of our Lady of Lourdes and Salisbury Street Pastors raised a total of £2,700.
For the Year 2018 - 2019 the president was Chris Burnell and his chosen charity Action for Children raised £2,734.00 .
Salisbury Circle President 2020-2022 - Adrian Holloway
I joined The Catenian Association and Salisbury Circle in January 1981, not so long after my father John Holloway had formed the Circle in 1972 and became the first President of Salisbury. Over the years I have been President a few times. I have now, once again, been given this honour, in what I can only describe as the most difficult times that 95% of our current population have faced in their lifetimes. The only thing worse being the dreadful loss of life during the second World War, but even that did not threaten the lives of every single man, woman and child of the United Kingdom! The only things we can do at this time and that we must do is firstly, pray to Almighty God for his Divine intervention in finding a cure for this dreadful disease. We cannot even pray together as for the first time ever in history the Churches of all denominations are closed. Therefore, we must offer our prayers individually as I’m sure all of us are already doing. We can at least get some form of contact through the various technological mediums that we have today, but it is definitely not the same as the real thing! Secondly, as a Circle we have to make sure we look after all Brothers and their families, so if any Brother needs help of any kind or is aware of someone who does, please do not shy away from letting me or any other Brother know, so that we can do whatever we can to provide that help.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Immediate Past President, Jim Rolleston and his wife Francis for the excellent way in which he steered the Circle over the past year. A year which has been a very positive one in terms of enrolling new members and totally reversing the national trend. Also, many congratulations to them and the Circle for raising the fantastic amount of over £3000 for his two Charities. I would also like to thank Graham Brown for his many years of sterling work as Secretary of the Circle.
Obviously for the first few weeks and quite possibly months of my year, there will be no contact events like we are used to, so there is no visiting or social events on the calendar at the moment, but God willing we will come through this and be able to reintroduce a social programme when it is safe to do so.
For now, all most of us can do is wait and see what happens and I will do my best to guide the Circle through these uncertain times, in fact the only thing that is certain is the uncertainty that will be with us for some time to come, we will be feeling the effects of what we are living through now for many months and even years to come. Let us all lead by example and look after our own as well as others in any way we feel able to do so.
May God keep you safe and let us keep each other in our prayers.
Adrian Holloway
President of Salisbury Circle (266) of The Catenian Association