History of Via de Cristo

The movement originated as “Cursillo^®” in the late 1940’s in the Spanish Catholic church and moved to the United States in the late 1950’s. It began in the Lutheran church when lay people and clergy attended a Catholic Cursillo in 1971, both in Iowa and Florida. The first Lutheran sponsored weekends were held in 1972 in Iowa and Florida and have now been held in over 25 states and some foreign countries. Via de Cristo is the Lutheran expression of this method which is currently being used in many denominations including: Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and Reformed churches.

In 1986, the National Lutheran Secretariat, representing all existing Lutheran Cursillo communities, voted to become ecumenical and changed our name to Via de Cristo, meaning “Way of Christ.”

History of Cursillo

Cursillos first appeared in Spain in 1944 when the country was under the rule of dictator Francisco Franco, who made Spain a quasi-theocracy based on the principles of Roman Catholicism as interpreted by the Falange. A layman named Eduardo Bonnín participated in the early years of the “short courses” in Majorca and helped develop the cursillos 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, Texas. 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, the growth of the Cursillo quickened in the Southwest, and weekends were held for the first time in the East in New York City and Lorain, Ohio.

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. Today, Cursillo is a worldwide movement with centers in nearly all South and Central American countries, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, Australia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and in several African countries. The movement is recognized by the Pope as member of the International Catholic Organizations of the Pontifical Council for the Laity in Rome.

In 1980, the Cursillo Movement established a worldwide international office, the OMCC (Organismo Mundial de Cursillos de Cristiandad). This international office is currently located in Clayfield, QLD, Australia.

Being “in Colors” is to be in God’s grace. For that reason the Cursillo people (cursillistas) greet saying “De Colores” (in Colors) to each other.

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.

Additional 3 Day Movements

The Cursillo method is used by Alpha, Encounter, Antioch, Search (high school students), Awakening (college students), Cum Christo, DeColores (adult ecumenical), Happening, The Journey (United Church of Christ), Kairos Prison Ministry, Kairos (for older teenagers), Gennesaret (for those living with a serious illness), Koinonia, Lamplighter Ministries, Light of Love, Teens Encounter Christ aka TEC (teen ecumenical), Residents Encounter Christ (REC) (a jail/prison ministry), Tres Dias, Unidos en Cristo, Via de Cristo (Lutheran Adult), Chrysalis Flight (Methodist Youth), and Walk to Emmaus (Methodist Adult).

The ACTS (Adoration, Community, Theology and Service) retreat program was started in 1987 by three Cursillo instructors who wanted to broaden the scope of Cursillo and make it more relevant to the post-Vatican II Church.

A derivative retreat for Catholics is called “Christ Renews His Parish”. It is a two-day retreat, normally Saturday and Sunday, and therefore does not qualify for the term “cursillo” meant to apply to a three-day retreat.

The Cursillo is supported by the Roman Catholic Church. It is joined to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops through an official liaison in the person of Eusebio Elizondo Almaguer, Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, and through the Bishops’ Secretariat for the Laity in Washington, D.C. The spiritual advisor for the USA national movement is Rev. Peter Michael Jaramillo from Kansas City, Kansas.

Cursillo is a registered trademark of the National Cursillo Center.