GLCC: Latin America

Roberto Federico Caprotta 

Ana Pompeya C. Trigo 

In 1954, two young Bolivian university students had traveled to Madrid to complete their law studies. The first of them, Alfonso Prudencio, a man of great sympathy, good for jokes, and of a “prudently” administered irony, all of which had allowed him to acquire a certain reputation among the university youth of the Spanish capital, a man who, although he prayed from time to time, believed more in politics than in God. The other, Jorge del Villar, the “Indio” del Villar, a man of an overwhelming and imposing personality, of a preclar intelligence, and of a sympathy and reach to others difficult to match, a man very far from prayer, and who believed more in Marx than in Christ.

Given their marked characteristics of leaders, they were soon “in the sights” of the Cursillos, and first Prudencio and then Del Villar were invited, leaving them really transformed into committed Christians, immediately assuming tasks in the Movement, and arriving, very soon, both to be Rectors, and even the “Indio” del Villar to be National Responsible for Cursillos in the Superior Council of the JACE.

At the end of 1956 both young men and women returned to their homeland, and in a few months they provoked with great skill and enormous zeal an interest and a “hunger” for the Movement in the young men and women of La Paz, which provoked the first Cursillos for men and women in that capital at the beginning of 1957, obtaining the collaboration of Bishop Armando Gutierrez, Auxiliary Bishop of La Paz, who acted as Spiritual Director.
Soon after, the Cursillos spread to Cochabamba, Sucre, Santa Cruz, Oruro, etc.
Since there were no “specialist” priests, that is, who had lived the Cursillo, the rollos were given almost exclusively by the laity, and the priests who were able to be recruited attended to celebrate the Eucharist and to hear confessions. In practice, for a long time Prudencio would be “the” Rector and Del Villar would be the “Spiritual Director”, giving all the Mystical Rollos and Meditations. As an anecdote for history, it can be pointed out that until 1961 the Rollo Sacramentos would always be given in Bolivia by lay people.

Although in La Paz, perhaps for lack of greater priestly support, the Cursillos had a “slump” from 1958 onwards, the Movement gained strength in Cochabamba and Oruro. In this last place concretely, and thanks to the participation of Father Gaudet, Vicar Provincial of the Oblates in Bolivia, the Cursillos for adults will begin to take place, with which the Movement will achieve its consolidation, obtaining in a short time the approval and blessing of the Bolivian episcopate.

Corinto Luiz do Nascimento Arruda

The first Cursillo of Christianity in Brazil was held in Valinhos in 1962.
The Cursillo Movement found a terrain prepared for a remarkable expansion, since there were many pastoral initiatives and renewal movements that developed in almost all the Dioceses and Parishes of Brazil.
Throughout its history, MCC of Brazil has distinguished itself for its spirit of renewal, fruit of the work developed, from its beginnings, by the extraordinary and dynamic figure of the priest and apostle, Father Paulo Cañelles.
There are currently 224 diocesan Secretariats. For several years, the Brazilian Cursillo Movement has been committed to achieve a postcursillo that is in close communion with the pastoral orientations of the Church of Brazil.

Anny B. Yáñez Jaramillo 

Already by 1962 there are some group meetings of foreign cursillistas who, established in the country, feel the need to continue living what the cursillo generated in their lives. In 1963, in the Diocese of Temuco, a great Diocesan Mission is developed and the need to introduce the movement as a method of conversion and spiritual formation for all those lay people who wish to participate more actively in the church is suggested. To this end, a group of Cursillo leaders from Arequipa (Peru) was invited to begin to give the first Cursillos in the country.
Later, in 1964, and not without some setbacks, they were established in Santiago.
Today the movement is present in 28 dioceses in Chile.

• President:German E. M. Aparicio 
• Contact:                         
• History:
  In America, this was the first nation to know the Cursillos of Christianity. In February 1953, Father Rafael Sarmiento Peralta, later Bishop, traveled to Mallorca as Episcopal Delegate of the Colombian Catholic Action and participating in Cursillo No. 71.
• Upon his return to Bogota, really excited with the discovery of this instrument of apostolate, he decided to launch, at his own risk, the adventure of the Cursillos. The only thing he had for it was audacity, good intention and little or no experience of having lived his own Cursillo in Mallorca. He had no schemes, no literature, no technique, no fixed guidelines, much less lay leaders to collaborate with him. But he did not care, and with the collaboration of Fathers Manuel Segura C. M. and Enrique Acosta he undertook his adventure dictating the first Cursillos alone, without a team of lay leaders, much less a lay Rector.

Everything was in his hands, and as he was the only one who “knew”, he allowed himself some licenses, which, looked at in the perspective of time, allow us to better appreciate what the Grace of the Lord is.

The first Cursillo that he animated, not only was it the first Cursillo outside of Spain, but it was a Cursillo for women only. This caused a great controversy at that time.

Luis Mario Martinez

Celso Eloy Gaona Leiva 

The first Cursillo in Quito was directed by Joaquin Aparicio in 1960. The following ones were led by Gerino Casal, who was also in charge of taking the movement to other dioceses in the country. It was years later, when the Cursillos were consolidated in the country with the arrival of a group of Cursillistas priests to Cuenca from Murcia (Spain). But, with their return to Spain, the movement declined almost to the point of extinction, but flourished again in 1968 with the help of the secretariats of Colombia and Venezuela. Today, thanks be to God, the movement is very present throughout the country.

José Luis Urias 

Jorge Vinicio Raymundo Agustín 

Juan Emilio A. Vides 

Néstor Velázquez 

In 1957, Father Pedro Hernandez Duran, pastor of the Church of Fatima in Mexico City, traveled to Spain and participated in a Cursillo de Cristiandad in Ciudad Real. Inspired by the experience, he decided to bring the movement to Mexico, obtaining material and seeking the approval of the Primate Archbishop Miguel Dario Miranda, who supported the initiative.

After a year of preparation, in November 1958 the first Cursillo for Men was held at the Marist Brothers’ Queretaro Institute, with Father Hernandez as Spiritual Director. The success of the event motivated the realization of the first Women’s Cursillo in February 1959, directed by Father Vicente Lores. That same year the weekly Ultreyas and the School of Leaders were initiated in Mexico City.

The spread of the movement was rapid and in some cases it emerged simultaneously and independently in different dioceses. In 1958, the Cursillos reached Saltillo and Leon. In 1959, they expanded to Morelia, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi and Tampico. In 1960, they reached Puebla, Xalapa, San Andres and Torreon, with a great growth in 1961.

Mexico became the country where the movement grew most rapidly in America, consolidating itself with the first National Secretariat in the world. This growth was driven by strong support from Spain, with visits from key figures such as Juan Capó, Fernando Juárez, Jaime David, Juan Caro and Eduardo Bonnin.

The first Cursillo arrived in Javier (Nicaragua) by the hand of a team of Colombian leaders in 1963, with the spiritual help of Fathers Ángel de Jesús, Ortega and Álvaro Oyanguren.

A couple of years later, the movement was already being heard of in Leon and Chinandega. And so, from November 23 to 26, 1965 in Bella Vista, in a private property – that of D. Alfonso Callejas – the first cursillo for men was held in this Diocese. For which, Mexican cursillistas collaborated, both the rector and the spiritual director. The first Women’s Cursillo of Leon was held years later, from April 16-19, 1968.

In Nicaraqua, internationally renowned Cursillistas such as Monsignor Federico Argüello and Carlos Mántica are remembered.

Rosalía Espinales 

Carlos Torres Ayala 

Julio Hijar 

Mariela Anchen 

Felipe Vanososte 

Venezuela was one of the first countries to which the Cursillo Movement reached in its expansion, back in 1959. In addition, thanks to people like Father Cesáreo Gil, they acquired an incredible dynamism. Just a few years later, the movement contributed by sending entire teams to numerous countries: Miami and Argentina (1962), Chile (1963), Costa Rica (1964), Paraguay (1966), etc. It is one of the best organized Latin American countries, thanks, no doubt, to the one who was its spiritual advisor for 30 years, Father Cesáreo Gil. Today his cause is pending canonization. After giving Cursillos in many countries, he founded the international magazine of the Cursillo Movement “Testimonio”, he contributed to the construction of the structures of the Cursillo Movement and we owe him the edition of the “Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement”.