The History of Cursillo

The Cursillo Movement did not develop by accident nor by blueprint faxed from heaven. It began in the latter part of the 1940's with a group of men in Majorca, Spain, who dedicated themselves to bringing young men of their city to a fuller knowledge of Christ. They prayed and worked and talked together and shared their thoughts about the state of the world and the effectiveness of their efforts to bring the light of Christ into the world. It is the story of how God taught a group of men how to work for God in an effective way, a way that bears fruit.

A Roman Catholic Bishop, Juan Hervas, struggled for years with the problem of why the church was out of touch with the people of Spain. (This was the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War while the rest of the world was occupied with World War II) He wanted to use modern methods of re-establishing communications in order to make Christian life alive in the diocese. After a national pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James at Compostella in 1948, he brought together a group of priests and layman to study how best to do it. Legend has it that hymns and ballads were sung by the young men and women of Spain as they made their pilgrimage - some of which were about the colorful roosters seen along the way. "God's living colors."

Out of their working together as a team - studying, praying, talking, planning, and acting - they arrived at two major areas of focus. First, the need to provide a method of determining what is fundamental for being a Christian. And second, how to structure Christian life. In 1949 the first Cursillo weekend took place and the Cursillo Movement was born. There have been some changes and refinements made since then, but today's Cursillo weekend remains basically the same today as for those first Cursillos for men in Spain.

The movement began as a local one on the island of Majorca, but quickly spread all over Spain and then to other countries. The first Catholic Cursillo in the United States was in Waco, Texas, in 1957. The first Episcopal Cursillo was held in the diocese of Iowa in 1970. The first Cursillo weekend in Arkansas was in 1977, led by a team from Oklahoma. The Arkansas Cursillo movement officially began a year later when Bishop Keller attended his Cursillo in Louisiana. He appointed the first Secretariat to guide and direct the movement in the diocese. Today the Secretarial is made up of three clergy (one of whom is the Spiritual Director for the movement), nine lay persons, all appointed by the Bishop.

The Cursillo movement is NOT seen as an organization - either within or alongside the Church. It is a "movement" designed to recruit and train the laity of our church to work for the Christianization of the environments in which they live, work, and play. It is a movement with a method which makes the living of what is fundamental to being a Christian for those who make up the movement.

There are secondary purposes which are good in themselves such as personal renewal, bringing new life to our parishes and education, but these are not the primary purpose which is apostolic action within our environments.

Cursillo can bring spiritual vitality to both individuals and parishes. It can be a valuable tool for Christian education. However, it cannot do any of these things for long if it loses its focus of bringing others to Christ and on bringing the Spirit of Christ into the places where we live, work, and play. Cursillo is simply a method for us to grow spiritually by placing the needs of others first.

Thanks to our friends at St. Andrews for sharing this.

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