History of Cursillo

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Cursillo means “short course”. 

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The Cursillo movement began in Spain in the 1940s, emerging from post-Civil War efforts to revitalise the Christian faith among young people. The movement aimed to transform society by making it more Christ-centred.

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It began as a way to train leaders for a major pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, focusing on strengthening personal faith and fostering Christian action. As people were walking this walk people would offer support and encouragement to one another – Ultreya – which means ‘onwards’ is what they would shout as they saw other pilgrims on the way.

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What was emerging was the need and fruits of forming small groups. Groups of men (as it originally started out) would gather and talk about their faith, how they put their faith in action, and the impact this was having on their communities. The fruits being twofold – meaningful connections and relationships being established among Christians (needed in the post-Civil war recession), and a wider impact of blessing their communities by small acts of faith and love.

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In a way the heritage is similar to Taize or the Iona community – established at a point in time to serve a purpose – and has stood the test of time. The Cursillo focus is on discipleship.