History of The Catenian Association

Salford Cathedral
The Catenian Association undoubtedly owes its existence to the vision of Bishop Casartelli, who became Bishop of Salford in 1903. At that time there were only one and a half million Catholics in England and Wales and they were still viewed with suspicion by many of the population. These Catholics were divided between the very rich, landed Catholic gentry and the very poor: especially the recent immigrant Irish who had arrived over the previous 50 years.

However there were signs of an emerging Catholic middle class, which was unsure of its place in society. Bishop Casartelli recognised this, and in October 1903 in his first Pastoral letter, 'The Signs of the Times' he called on Catholic laymen "to go forth to all the interests of the commonwealth of which we are part", going on to say that he wanted the laity to play their role "…in matters social, municipal, philanthropic, educational, artistic, literary in which we may use the powers we enjoy".

In 1906 a Liberal Government, pledged to abolish Voluntary (including Catholic) schools was returned with a massive majority. In the Salford Diocese Bishop Cassartelli formed the Catholic Federation to fight this. Two years later in 1908, and with the active encouragement of the Bishop, a number of Federation's leading lights became the founder members of 'The Chums Benevolent Association', which two years later adopted its present title 'The Catenian Association'. The name is taken from 'Catena' the Latin for chain.