Get into the MCC Charism

The Cursillo Movement has been formally recognised by the Church as having its own original charism, which characterises, identifies and distinguishes it from the other movements, associations and communities of the Church. In this charism is contained, implicitly, all the essentials of the Movement. 

Like all charisms, it is a gift of the Spirit to specific people for the good of the Church, of people, of the world. Initially, it became a reality in the group of initiators of the Movement (Eduardo Bonnín, Sebastián Gayá, Juan Capó and Bishop Juan Hervás) and subsequently in all those who, over time, have been living and integrating themselves into the Movement . Like all charisms in the Church, it has been discerned and recognised by the pastors: initially by Bishop Hervás himself, later by all the diocesan bishops who accepted the MCC in their dioceses, and finally by Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. 

It could be said that the charism of Cursillos is a gift that the Holy Spirit pours into his Church, which shapes a mentality and drives an ecclesial movement that, through its own kerygmatic method, enables the personal experience of what is fundamental for being a Christian and favours the creation of groups of Christians who leaven their environments with the Gospel. It is therefore a charism for evangelisation, for the encounter with Christ, for the renewal of Christian life and for the transformation of reality.  

The following aspects can be highlighted from this attempt at definition: 

• The charism shapes a mentality, which is what inspired the birth of the Cursillo Movement, which accompanies its natural and permanent growth and which shapes its identity.  
• The charism originates and drives an ecclesial movement: from the Church and in the Church for the world, to act in the field of evangelisation with its own specific mentality, purpose and method.  
• The charism determines the purpose of the MCC: to enable the conversion of people and the transformation of environments. It seeks and promotes the experience of what is fundamentally Christian, starting from the encounter with Christ (and with oneself, and with others), in order to encourage the creation of Christian groups from which to act, as a leaven, in the environments. 
• The charism also shapes the essential lines of the Cursillo method: it is a kerygmatic method, based on the joyful proclamation of Christian fundamentals by witnesses and through friendship, which is developed in three stages (pre-Cursillo, Cursillo and post-Cursillo).  

Therefore, although a precise and exact definition of the charism of the Cursillo Movement is difficult, it is clear that its essential elements are the kerygma, the triple encounter with Christ, with oneself and with others, conversion, the witness of life, friendship, the person, Christian groups and the fermentation of environments. The book “Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement”, in its third edition (IFMCC3) authentically expresses the self-understanding of the original charism of the Cursillo Movement and makes it explicit in the chapter specifically dedicated to it.