Catholic World News News Feature
Concern About "Secret" Catholic Brotherhood September 29, 1999
LONDON (CWNews.com) - British Home Office ministers are reported to be concerned about the alleged secret activities of the Catenians, a Catholic brotherhood which helps and supports members in business and personal matters.
According to a report in The Independent newspaper, a House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has highlighted fears that "members of the Catenian Association, which is thought to include top-ranking police officers and judges, are using their influence to pervert the course of justice."
The position of the Catenians was raised during a two-year government investigation into the Freemasons, the secret association whose membership includes senior members of the police and the judiciary. The report, Freemasonry in the Police and the Judiciary, estimated there are around 11,500 Catenians and raised concerns about "their influence on the criminal justice system.
"Where points of principle relating to secretive societies are made in this report," it continued, "they apply equally to other organizations of the same nature."
Like the Freemasons, the Catenians are an exclusively male group and members are usually influential Catholic businessmen and professionals. Members take an oath of allegiance to their brethren and wear special insignia. However, their actions in Britain are publicized in their monthly magazine, Catena, and, far from being a secret society, they regularly gather with their wives and families for Mass in cathedrals and public churches.
The Catenian Association is more amused than angered by the story. "It's just one of those reports which creates a drama," said a spokesman. "There are a lot of secret societies around which people are unaware of. I don't know where they get this notion about us from." Catholics are forbidden to be Freemasons and for 200 years the Vatican banned performance of Mozart's great Masses in St. Peter's Basilica because his opera, The Magic Flute, made reference to his Masonic affiliation.
