COMMUNITY
tvc.dsj.org | September 5, 2017
7
U.S. Cursillo Movement Celebrates 60 th Anniversary
By Harvey I. Barkin
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The U.S.
National Cursillo Movement cel-
ebrated its 60 th anniversary at its 27th
annual Encounter July 27-30 at Trinity
University.
More than 700 Cursillistas came
from all over the U.S. and gathered
with four bishops, about 50 priests and
deacons, and four guests from over-
seas. Cursillistas who attended spoke
English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Filipino,
Portuguese, Korean and Chinese. Most
of the Cursillistas came from Texas.
The three-day, overnight confer-
ence was patterned after a Cursillo
weekend where attendees listened to
talks, participated in fellowship, prayer,
regional group meetings and even a fi -
esta showcasing cultural talents. This is
the second time the National Encounter
was held in San Antonio. The previous
Encounter in 2011 was held at Saint
Mary University.
Some of the surviving participants
of the fi rst May 24-27, 1957, Cursillo
Weekend at Saint Francis church near
Waco (less than 200 miles from this
city), were also allowed their time in
the spotlight: Louis Salinas, Father
Stephen Jasso and Gregorio Concha.
Also on hand were: Deacon Jesse
Fragga and Antonio Deleon who were
Cursillistas from the fi rst weekend in
San Antonio in 1959. Also, there was
Deacon Mike Perez, a Cursillista from
the San Antonio weekend in 1962.
The original bell from the first
Cursillo weekend was also on display.
The Cursillo (literally, little courses,
in Spanish) is a movement for Chris-
Salinas (4th from left) mugs with Cursillistas at
the 60th anniversary of the movement (Photo
by Robin Barkin) Louis Salinas at the 27th Encounter telling
what it was like at the fi rst Cursillo in Waco,
Texas, 1957 (Photo by Robin Barkin)
tian renewal that began after the Span-
ish Civil War and the start of World
War II. The eff ects of both wars and
the indiff erence of the faithful in Spain
gave birth to the Cursillo movement.
Father Juan Capo and Eduardo Bonin
are the acknowledged founders of
the Cursillo movement. The Cursillo
methodology’s focus on the layman’s
role to spread the faith pre-dates even
Vatican II. The Cursillo is supported by
th e Roman Catholic Church.
The methodology was adapted by
the Episcopalian-Anglican Cursillo,
the Presbyterian Cursillo Pilgrimage
and the Lutheran Via de Cristo.
Cursillo methodology can also be
recognized in several high school and
college retreats, the Kairos prison min-
istry, Emmaus, Tres Dias, Gennesaret
(for those affl icted with serious illness)
and others with derivative names.
By Salinas’ account, in April, 1957,
Spanish pilots Bernardo Vadell and
Agustin Palomino visited Father Ga- briel Fernandez. All three had experi-
enced Cursillo weekends in Mallorca,
Spain, with Bonin and a plan was
made to have one in Waco. It was the
fi rst Cursillo weekend in Texas and
in the U.S.
Vadell became the fi rst rector; Palo-
mino, the fi rst Dean (“professor”); and
Father Fernandez, the fi rst Spiritual
Director. The fi rst Cursillo weekend
had 16 all-men candidates, averaging
around 21 years old. The second Cur-
sillo weekend had 22 candidates and
was held in July 28-31, 1957. Auxiliaries
were fi rst used in the second weekend.
A third weekend was planned on
August 23 that year. The team was
amazed at their continued success be-
cause some of them did not know how
to read and write in Spanish – at that
point, all the Cursillos were conducted
in Spanish. But their success also came
with the core team being broken up.
Stephen Jasso had decided to be-
come a priest and was leaving for the
Multifaith Prayer Service and Call to Action Held
On August 20, at the Emmanuel
Baptist Church in San Jose, a multifaith
prayer service, which included a call for
public action to eradicate racism and all
forms of bigotry from public life, was
held in response to the tragic events in
Charlottesville.
Attending the service were members
of PACT – People Acting in Community
Together, as well as Father Jon Pedigo,
Director of Advocacy and Community
Engagement for Catholic Charities of
Santa Clara County, NAACP, PACT,
America Muslim Voice, Jewish Commu-
nity Relations Council, Islamic Network
Group, Catholic Charities Santa Clara
County, Faith Leaders from America
Leadership Forum and throughout
Santa Clara County, San Jose Mayor Sam
Liccardo, San Jose Police Chief Eddie
Garcia, and other public offi cials from
Santa Clara County.
Faith leaders are deeply concerned
that the political climate is toxic and that
they can no longer remain quiet about
what is happening not only in Charlot-
tesville, but here in Silicon Valley.
Among the religious groups gather-
ing together, the common belief is that
human dignity is not defi ned by nation-
ality, race, ethnicity, gender, religion,
sexual orientation, immigration status,
age, physical or mental ability, class, or
level of education. As people of faith,
they believe all people are created equal.
The event showed the communi-
ties’ commitment to working together
in partnership with public officials
to build a community where all are
welcome.
seminary. Vadell and Palomino had
set their sights on Mission, also in
Texas, for the next Cursillo Weekend.
And so, at 18, Salinas became the fi rst
American Rector.
From Waco, Cursillo weekends
were held in San Antonio, Houston,
San Angelo (where the fi rst English-
speaking Cursillo was conducted in
1961), Wichita Falls, New York, Puerto
Rico, and New Mexico.
American Cursillistas brought the
movement to the Philippines in 1963.
In 1965, Filipino Cursillistas with the
South Vietnamese forces spread the
movement in Vietnam. Then in 1967,
Filipino Cursillistas went to Korea and
in 1968, Taiwan.
By the early 1970s, the popularity
of the movement began to wane in
the Philippines. According to some
accounts, the Cursillo’s defi nition of an
agent of change was often interpreted
as the person with affl uence, rather
than infl uence. Soon, politicians, ac-
tors and high-profile personalities
in the Cursillo had the unintended
consequence of making the Cursillo
appear as an exclusive club in the
country and elsewhere.
Since that time, the movement has
made the effort to be perceived as
inclusive.
In the early 1980s, Bonin’s writings
began to be translated by the Eduardo
Bonin Aguilo Foundation. In the ensu-
ing years, new Cursillo-related books
in Bonin’s own words were published
before his death in 2008.
In recent years, the U.S. National
Secretariat campaigned for a return
to the authentic charism as Bonin
originally envisioned it.
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