Presbyterian Cursillo Movement
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''Cursillos in Christianity'' ( es, Cursillos de Cristiandad, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. It was conceived in Spain between 1940 and 1949 and began with the celebration of the so-called "first course" from January 7 to 10, 1949 at the Monastery of San Honorato, Mallorca.


Description

Cursillo is the original three-day movement, and has since been licensed for use by several mainline Protestant denominations, some of which have retained the trademarked "Cursillo" name, while others have modified its talks/methods and given it a different name. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, Cursillo is a
registered trademark The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or wor ...
of the National Cursillo Center in
Jarrell, Texas Jarrell is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2001. The total population is 1,753 according to the 2020 census. History Founded in 1909 by real estate developer O.D. Jarrell, along with E. C. Ha ...
. The ''Cursillo'' focuses on showing Christian laypeople how to become effective Christian leaders over the course of a three-day weekend. The weekend includes fifteen talks, called ''rollos'', which are given by priests and by laypeople. The major emphasis of the weekend is to ask participants to take what they have learned back into the world, on what is known as the "fourth day." The method stresses personal spiritual development, as accelerated by weekly group reunions after the initial weekend.


History

Cursillos first appeared in Spain in 1944. A layman named Eduardo Bonnín and group of close collaborators started celebrating them on different places on Majorca at about one per year. When endorsed by the bishop in 1949, it picked up strength and began spreading to Spain and the rest of the world, to the point that it became an active renewal movement in the Church. In 1957, the movement had spread to North America, when the first American ''cursillo'' was held in
Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. In 1959, the Cursillo spread throughout Texas and to
Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
,
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. In August of that year, the first national convention of spiritual directors was held, and ''Ultreya'' magazine began publication. In 1960, growth of the Cursillo quickened in the
American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
, and weekends were held for the first time in the East in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and Lorain
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Until 1961, all weekends were held in Spanish. That year the first English-speaking weekend was held in
San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
. Also in 1961, first weekends were held in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
;
Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...
; Lansing, Michigan; Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; and Gallup, New Mexico. In 1962, the Cursillo Movement came to the Eastern United States. Weekends were held in Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Saginaw, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, Baltimore, Grand Rapids, Kansas City and Boston. In the West, the first weekends were held in Monterey, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Pueblo and Yakima. The movement spread rapidly with the early centers carrying the Cursillo to nearby dioceses. By 1981, almost all of the 160 dioceses in the United States had introduced the Cursillo Movement. The Cursillo Movement in the United States was organized on a national basis in 1965. A National Secretariat was formed and the National Cursillo Office (currently in
Jarrell, Texas Jarrell is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2001. The total population is 1,753 according to the 2020 census. History Founded in 1909 by real estate developer O.D. Jarrell, along with E. C. Ha ...
) was established. It is joined to the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...
through an official liaison in the person of Bishop Emeritus Carlos A. Sevilla S.J. from the Diocese of Yakima, and through the Bishops' Secretariat for the Laity in Washington, D.C. The spiritual advisor for the movement in the United States is Rev. Alex Waraksa from the
Diocese of Knoxville The Diocese of Knoxville ( la, Dioecesis Knoxvillensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Tennessee. It was founded on May 27, 1988 from the eastern counties of the Diocese of Nashville. This dioces ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. In 1980, the Cursillo Movement established a worldwide international office, the OMCC (''Organismo Mundial de Cursillos de Cristiandad''). The international office is located in Portugal for the 2014–2017 term. Today, Cursillo is a worldwide movement with centers in nearly all South and Central American countries, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, Australia, New Zealand Aotearoa, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and in several African countries. The movement is recognized by the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
as member of the International Catholic Organizations of the
Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their co ...
in Rome.


''De Colores''

In the Cursillo movement, being "in colors" is to be in God's grace. For that reason, Cursillo participants (cursillistas) greet each other with the phrase "''De Colores''" (in Colors). A story from the early days of the movement in Spain tells of an occasion where a group of men were returning from a Cursillo weekend when their bus broke down. They began to sing '' De Colores'', a traditional folk song. The use of the song in Cursillo took hold, and has held up as the movement has spread outside the Spanish-speaking world and to other denominations. The use of a multi-colored rooster as a symbol for the Cursillo movement is believed to have originated from one of the verses of that song.


Use by other Christian denominations

This retreat is also used by Episcopalian/Anglican Cursillo, Presbyterian Cursillo/Pilgrimage, Lutheran Via de Cristo, Mennonite Way of Christ, The United Methodist Church's Walk to Emmau
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Analogous retreats

The Cursillo method is used by ACTS, Encounter, Antioch, Search, Awakening (college students), Cum Christo, DeColores (adult ecumenical), the Great Banquet, Happening, The Journey (United Church of Christ), , Kairos Prison Ministry, Kairos (retreat), Kairos (for older teenagers), Emmaus in Connecticut (for high school age teens), Gennesaret (for those living with a serious illness), Koinonia, Lamplighter Ministries, Light of Love, LOGOS (Love Of God, Others, and Self) (Lutheran teen), Teens Encounter Christ (teen ecumenical), Residents Encounter Christ (REC) (a jail/prison ministry), Tres Dias, Unidos en Cristo, Via de Cristo (Lutheran Adult), Chrysalis Flight (Methodist Youth), Walk to Emmaus (Methodist Adult), The Walk with Christ (interdenominational), Anglican 4th Day (Anglican Adult), The Way of Christ (Canadian Lutheran adult), Tres Arroyos (
Charismatic Episcopal Church The Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), officially the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC), is a Christian denomination established in 1992. The ICCEC is a part of the Convergence Movement. Within North America, mos ...
). and Journey to Damascus (Catholic hosted Ecumenical with weekly reunion groups for alumni) in the Corpus Christi, Houston, and Austin, Texas, areas,.. A derivative retreat for Catholics is called "Welcome." It is a 2-day retreat, normally Saturday and Sunday, and therefore does not qualify for the term "cursillo" meant to apply to a 3-day retreat. Another derivative movement called 'Emmaus' was developed from the Cursillo at a Catholic parish in Miami, Florida, and has made some inroads. Its 3-day format borrows significantly from the Cursillo manual, but is primarily focused on the parish and not on the 'environments' of the world. Emmaus also has no formal method of '4th day' continuity such as the Cursillo 'friendship groups' and 'service sheets' to keep members accountable in their practice of the method.


See also

* Manuel Aparici Navarro


References


Further reading

* . * . Authorized English translation of the official Spanish work. * .


External links

* . * . * . {{Authority control Christian organizations established in 1944 1944 establishments in Spain 1944 in Christianity International associations of the faithful Spiritual retreats