The Cursillo Movement in Latin America

Some highlights (**)

• The first American country to host the Cursillo Movement was COLOMBIA, in 1953. Fr Gabriel Fernandez, head of Catholic Action of Colombia, went to Mallorca in 1952, experienced a Cursillo weekend, and returned home determined to establish it in his country as soon as possible. Not only was it the first cursillo weekend outside of Spain, but it was the first ever cursillo for Women, and that aroused much controversy.
  
  The MC of MEXICO came from Colombia, Texas and Spain, in 1957. In 1962, Father Francisco Suárez and Eduardo Bonnin traveled several times to Mexico, and together they toured the major cities giving cursillo weekends, helping to deploy and meet with leaders of the Mexican CM. It was in Mexico, that same year, that Eduardo Bonnin and Francisco Forteza published "Vertebración de Ideas", an important work on the essence of the cursillo method and the founding charism but that nobody had dared to publish in Spain and has been subject of much dispute.
  
  
• The Cursillo Movement started in BOLIVIA, in 1957, in the Diocese of La Paz.
  
  
• The Cursillo was founded in PERU in 1958.
  
  
• In VENEZUELA, the CM is known for its remarkable dynamism. A few years after its foundation, in 1959, this country could already supply teams to many countries : Miami and Argentina (1962), Chile (1963), Costa Rica (1964), Paraguay (1966), etc. It is probably the best organized country of Latin America : not only does it have its own Cursillo House, but it also administers a Publishing House which publishes the magazine "Tripode" and two religious book per month.
  The culprit of this extraordinary development is Fr. Cesáreo Gil (whose cause for canonization was introduced in Rome) who has been the spiritual leader for 30 years of Venezuela Cursillo Movement. Having given cursillos in many countries, he founded the International Cursillo Review "Testimonio" and contributed to the development of international structures of the Cursillo Movement. It is he who inspired the publication of "The Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement"
  
  
• PUERTO RICO. Two particularities worth mentioning : For one, the Spiritual Adviser is the same one since the foundation in 1961, and it is none other than Father Jaime Capo, brother of Father Juan Capo, pioneer of the CM; and then it is, without a doubt, the diocese in the world which gives the most Cursillos, that is one every two weeks, year long.
  
  
• The Cursillo Movement started in PANAMA in 1961.
  
  
• Founded in 1962, the Cursillo Movement in BRAZIL is among the countries where it has the most widely spread. It has 224 Diocesan Secretariats. In recent years, much emphasis has been given in Brazil on the postcursillo to ensure that the CM is in communion with active and effective pastoral guidance of the Church.
  While seat of the Cursillo Movement World Organization (OMCC) from 2002 to 2006, Brazil has had two major achievements: the official recognition by Rome of the OMCC Statute and the organization in 2005 of the Sixth World Encounter.
  
  
• After a first Cursillo in 1958 which was short-lived, the first official Cursillo in ARGENTINA was held in 1962. (see MCC de Argentina - historia) Since then, more than 4,000 other weekends have been given, and the CM is now active in 56 of its 62 dioceses. Cursillistas from Quilmes, B.A., have put on Editorial DeColores, a website worthy of mention. It makes a significant contribution in the current debate on the history and the foundational charism of the Cursillo Movement.
  
  
• The Cursillo Movement continues to spread like wildfire in South America. 1962 also marks the founding of the CM in GUATEMALA
  
  
• 1962: Founding of the CM in DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
  
  
• 1962: Founding of the CM in EL SALVADOR
  
  
• 1963: Founding of the CM in CHILE.
  
  
• 1963: Founding of the CM in NICARAGUA.
  
  
• 1964: Founding of the CM in COSTA RICA.
  
  
• 1964: Founding of the CM in HONDURAS.
  
  
• 1966: Founding of the CM in PARAGUAY.
  
  
• 1970: Founding of the CM in GUYANA.
  
  
• 1972: Founding of the CM in URUGUAY.
  
  
• The most recent Latin American country to implement the CM is CUBA. The foundation took place in March 1998. A Jesuit priest, Father Augustine Toranzo, Cursillo spiritual leader to Panama, was assigned to the Diocese of Cienfuegos in Cuba. The CM was introduced with the blessing of the Bishop, Monsignor Emilio Aranguren, and the help of fellow cursillistas from Panama. Since 1998, more than 50 cursillo weekends have been given.