Our Circle

London Charterhouse Circle

London Charterhouse Circle is a Catenian Circle within Province 14, offering fellowship to Catholic gentlemen in central London.

Fellowship is a rich and multifaceted word. Its original Greek, koinōnia (κοινωνία, cf. 2 Corinthians 13:14), carries several layers of meaning. It speaks of the warm bond and friendly feeling shared by people with common interests. Yet it goes deeper still, denoting communion—the holy unity and shared spiritual life that binds believers together.

We take this understanding of fellowship very much to heart. Indeed, every activity we undertake is intentionally directed towards embodying this rich vision of koinōnia—both in its fraternal sense and in its deeper spiritual reality.

One of the challenges of life in a great city like London is that it can be remarkably difficult to make friends, let alone Catholic friends. As a Circle, we seek to address this through genuine fellowship: fostering the spiritual growth of our members, creating opportunities for lasting friendship and mutual encouragement, and helping one another to "live visibly and confidently in the faith", as St John Henry Newman encouraged us to do..

We take our name from the former Carthusian Monastery in Farringdon, close to where our members first gathered at our foundation in 1920. We have met continuously ever since — including during the Blitz, when the Luftwaffe destroyed our venue and the Brothers held their meeting under a lamppost.

Our name is more than a historical reference. Through our prayer, fellowship and witness, we seek to keep alive England's Catholic story, especially as it has been lived out in London, and to play our own part in that story for generations to come.

We meet principally at Challoner Hall, part of Warwick Street Church — a former Embassy Chapel with a rich and storied Catholic history, and now the London home of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

We are so fortunate to have London at our doorstep and we make a point of making the most of it. We have celebrated Mass at historic churches and at the Newman House chaplaincy. We explore London's great culinary venues, and invite private chefs to enhance our own gatherings. Each year we walk our London Camino: six miles through seven churches in central London, praying the Stations of the Cross. And we host our Church and State Night, a grand annual networking dinner at the East India Club.

Our Brothers come from all manner of professions, united by a delight in the great spiritual and cultural traditions of the Church.

Our tie is blue and gold — colours with deep Catholic resonance: blue for Our Lady, gold for the great feasts of the Church. Between them they say something true about who we are.

We always close our meetings by singing a seasonal antiphon to Our Lady: Salve Regina, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, or Regina Caeli, according to the Liturgical Season.

We deeply value our Circle's name and cherish our Catholic Faith as central to our identity.  Whether you are a lifelong London Catholic or newly arrived, we invite you to join us in this living tradition of prayer, friendship, and faithful witness.