GECC: Europe

The GECC arose in 1972, when the National Secretariats of Europe, meeting in Mallorca, on the occasion of the III World Encounter of the Cursillo Movement, agreed to create what was then called the European Working Group (GET), as the European International Group of the Cursillo Movement. It thus joined the already existing Latin American Group of Cursillos of Christianity (1968), thus being the second international group to be created in the Cursillo Movement.

In its origins, the GET was formed by the National Secretariats of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, England and Ireland. At its constitution, the participating National Secretariats agreed on an internal regulation, which they called “TSG Operating Pact”, regulating the nature and functions of the Group, and a basic document reflecting the reality of the MCC in Europe, the so-called “Basic Agreements of the TSG”. At that early stage, the Austrian National Secretariat was chosen as the Group’s coordinator.

As the CQI expanded and settled in other European countries, other National Secretariats were created and joined the TSG. This happened with Yugoslavia (Croatia), Gibraltar, Hungary, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic… until reaching the 14 National Secretariats that currently make up the group. The latest incorporations correspond to the National Secretariats of South Africa, integrated in the European Group as long as there is a group of its own in Africa, and Ukraine, which lived the beginnings of the Cursillo Movement very recently, as of 2017. In addition to those National Secretariats currently incorporated in the Group, there has been contact and connection with Cursillistas and groups in other countries where there has also been some CQI activity, even without consolidating a National Secretariat, such as in France, Romania or Switzerland.

From its beginnings, the European Group was configured as a structure of service, coordination and exchange of information, experience and activities. It was a channel of communication with the other International Groups (GLCC, the English Speaking Group that existed for some years and later, the GAP and the NACG) and of integration in the OMCC: in fact, in the genesis of the OMCC are the meetings held mainly by the GLCC, the European group and some English speaking NS (United States). In Europe, the GECC was decisive for the expansion of the Movement, making possible the collaboration of the existing National Secretariats to reach new territories.

A key element in the life of the GECC has been the many international meetings, encounters and Ultreyas held over the years. Since its inception, it was agreed to hold a European Encounter every four years and to hold several Pre-Encounters in between. In fact, all the meetings (Pre-Encounters and Encounters) have been developed with basically the same approaches and objectives: mutual knowledge, communication, joint reflection, shared prayer, support and possible collaboration, all in the climate of friendship and fraternity that builds unity.

After the initial meeting in Palma de Mallorca, a constitutive meeting was held in Rocca di Papa (Italy), where the guidelines for the functioning of the group were established, and from there began the European Meetings that have been held to date:

– Madrid (España), 1980
– Zagreb (Yugoslavia), 1981
– Roma (Italy), 1982
– Viena (Austria), 1983
– Lisboa (Portugal), 1984
– Barcelona (España), 1985
– Múnich (Alemania), 1987
– Londres (UK), 1988
– Lisboa (Portugal), 1989
– Viena (Austria), 1991
– Leterkenny, Dublín (Ireland), 1992
– Seville (España), 1993
– Berlín (Alemania), 1994
– Budapest (Hungría), 1995
– Wiesbaden (Alemania), 1997
– Gibraltar, 1998
– Viena (Austria), 1999
– Troina (Italy), 2001
– Oporto (Portugal), 2002
– Brno (República Checa), 2004
– Córdoba (España), 2006
– Vicenza (Italy), 2007
– Esztergom, Budapest (Hungría), 2008
– Zagreb (Croacia), 2009
– Zadar (Croacia), 2011
– Viena (Austria), 2013
– Toledo (España), 2014
– Freising (Alemania), 2016
– Velehrad (República Checa), 2017
– Kremsmunster (Austria), 2018
– Asis (Italy), 2019
– Esztergom, Budapest (Hungría), 2023

In them, the incorporation of new countries became a reality, experiences, illusions and problems were shared, working documents and joint projects were discussed and elaborated, meetings and ultreyas were prepared? The unity and identity of the Cursillo Movement in Europe became a reality, in the different national realities and with the different circumstances and peculiarities of each country.

At present, the Cursillo Movement is fully present in THIRTEEN European countries: Germany, Austria, Croatia, Spain, Gibraltar (it has its own National Secretariat), Hungary, England and Wales, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Ukraine and South Africa (since there is no International Group in Africa, it is incorporated into the GECC). All these countries have duly constituted their own National Secretariats and are the components currently recognized in the GECC. In other countries there are some diocesan structures or groups, as in Belgium, France, Poland and to a lesser extent, Slovakia, Switzerland, Romania, but without having yet constituted a National Secretariat.

All these countries today compose the GECC and through the GECC are integrated into the World Organization of Cursillos in Christianity, the coordination structure of the Movement at the world level. Thus, they have maintained a notable participation in World Encounters and Ultreyas, some of which have been held in Europe.