Cursillo Movement > World expansion > North America > United States

The Cursillo Movement in the United States

In 1956, two young cursillistas from Majorca arrived in Texas for their military service, and met a religious cursillista, also from Majorca, ready to collaborate with them.

In 1957, they animated two cursillos at Waco, Texas. Many more were given in Spanish, and then, in 1961, a first cursillo was given in English in San Angelo, Texas.

In 1965, a national secretariat was set up and was named the National Cursillo Center. Its expansion throughout the country was amazingly fast. In less than twenty years, almost all the Catholic dioceses in the United States had embraced the Movement.

Today, this is one of the countries where there are the most cursillistas in the world : nearly one million. Many language groups make up the Cursillo Movement in the United States – English, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Moreover, while expanding throughout the United States, the Movement has reached many Protestant churches, notably the Episcopalian church and the Methodist church, and has developed in various ways and under various names. (See the many denominational and interdenominational sites listed in our Cursillo Worldwide Directory).

For more information see Catholic Cursillos in North America.

 

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