Cursillos in Christianity (Spanish: Cursillos de Cristiandad, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church. 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 Sant Honorat, Mallorca.
Cursillo is the original Catholic three-day movement, and has since been licensed for use by several 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, Cursillo is a registered trademark of the National Cursillo Center in Jarrell, Texas.[1]
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, promoted by subsequent group reunions after the initial weekend.[2]
History
Cursillos first appeared in Spain in 1944. A layman named Eduard Bonnin 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 Americancursillo was held in Waco, Texas.[2] In 1959, the Cursillo spread throughout Texas and to Phoenix, Arizona. 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, and weekends were held for the first time in the East in New York City and LorainOhio.
Until 1961, all weekends were held in Spanish. That year the first English-speaking weekend was held in San Angelo, Texas. Also in 1961, first weekends were held in San Francisco, California; Gary, Indiana; 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) was established. It is joined to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 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, Tennessee.
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.[3]
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 as member of the International Catholic Organizations of the Pontifical Council for the Laity 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,[4] Presbyterian Cursillo/Pilgrimage,[5] Lutheran Via de Cristo,[6] Mennonite Way of Christ, The United Methodist Church's Walk to Emmaus,[7] and various interdenominational communities as Tres Días.[8]
Analogous retreats
The Cursillo method is used by ACTS,[9] Encounter, Antioch, Search, Awakening (college students), Cum Christo, DeColores (adult ecumenical), the Great Banquet,[10] Happening, The Journey (United Church of Christ),[11]Kairos Prison Ministry, 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),[6] Chrysalis Flight (Methodist Youth), Walk to Emmaus (Methodist Adult),[12] The Walk with Christ[13] (interdenominational), Anglican 4th Day (Anglican Adult), The Way of Christ (Canadian Lutheran adult), Tres Arroyos (Charismatic Episcopal Church).[14] and Journey to Damascus (Catholic hosted Ecumenical with weekly reunion groups for alumni) in the Corpus Christi, Houston, and Austin, TX, areas.[15]
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.[16]
Another derivative movement called 'An Emmaus Experience' 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.[17] This 'Emmaus Experience' derivative movement is centered on the Roman Catholic faith (from which the Cursillo movement originated) and differs from the 'Walk to Emmaus' version which emphasizes non-denominational practices for an ecumenical audience.[18]
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. The word "bishop" here is derived via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term *ebiscopus/*biscopus, from the Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος epískopos meaning "overseer". It is the structure used by many of the major Christian Churches and denominations, such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anabaptist, Lutheran, and Anglican churches or denominations, and other churches founded independently from these lineages. Many Methodist denominations have a form of episcopal polity known as connexionalism.
Ecumenism – also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalism – is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ecumenical is thus applied to any non-denominational or inter-denominational initiative which encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches. Ecumenical dialogue is a central feature of contemporary ecumenism.
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and, sometimes, a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any established Christian church. Unlike a cult or sect, a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream. Most Christian denominations refer to themselves as churches, whereas some newer ones tend to interchangeably use the terms churches, assemblies, fellowships, etc. Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine; issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, biblical hermeneutics, theology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another. Groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as "branches of Christianity". These branches differ in many ways, especially through differences in practices and belief.
The Continuing Anglican movement, also known as the Anglican Continuum, encompasses a number of Christian churches, principally based in North America, that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion.
Christianity is the predominant religion in the Philippines, with the Catholic Church being its largest denomination. Sizeable minorities adhering to Islam, Dharmic religions, and indigenous Philippine folk religions are also present.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches.
A presiding bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.
The Three Hours' Agony is a Christian service held in Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches on Good Friday from noon till 3p.m. to commemorate the three hours of Christ's hanging at the cross.
The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae. It was at the Council that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was created. Those outside of the Catholic Church were categorised as heretics or schismatics, but in many contexts today, to avoid offence, the euphemism "separated brethren" is used.
"De colores" is a traditional Spanish language folk song that is well known throughout the Spanish-speaking world. It is widely used in the Catholic Cursillo movement and related communities such as the Great Banquet, Chrysalis Flight, Tres Días, Walk to Emmaus, and Kairos Prison Ministry.
Anglican interest in ecumenical dialogue can be traced back to the time of the Reformation and dialogues with both Orthodox and Lutheran churches in the sixteenth century. In the nineteenth century, with the rise of the Oxford Movement, there arose greater concern for reunion of the churches of "Catholic confession". This desire to work towards full communion with other denominations led to the development of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, approved by the Third Lambeth Conference of 1888. The four points were stipulated as the basis for church unity, "a basis on which approach may be by God's blessing made towards Home Reunion":
Panama is a predominantly Catholic country.
The Walk to Emmaus or Emmaus Walk is a spiritual retreat developed by The Upper Room. It is part of the three-day movement, and came out of the Roman Catholic Cursillo Movement. It started in the 1960s and 1970s when Episcopalians and Lutherans, and Tres Dias offered Cursillo. In 1978, The Upper Room of the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church trademarked Emmaus and adapted it into a primarily Protestant version.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Christianity:
The three-day movement refers to a network of religious groups conducting spiritual retreats to enrich the lives of fellow Christians. Sustained by secular clergy, the laity, and other previous participants, the movement is associated with a retreat spanning three days. Some adherents proclaim the life of an attendee transforms on the fourth day.
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as interpreted in the Bible. It is the largest religion in the world, with 2.4 billion people, known as Christians, that adhere to the religion.
The history of Christian flags encompasses the establishment of Christian states, the Crusader era, and the 20th century ecumenical movement.
Ralph C. Martin is a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary and was involved in the early Catholic charismatic renewal as founder of the Word of God (community) and cofounder of the Sword of the Spirit association of covenant communities.
Bonnin, Eduardo (1981), Cursillos in Christianity: The How and the Why, Dallas: National Cursillo Center.
——— (2007), Structure of Ideas (Vertebration), Dallas: National Cursillo Center.
Hughes, Gerald P., ed. (1992), The Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement (2nded.), Dallas: National Ultreya Publications. Authorized English translation of the official Spanish work.
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