By Tim Crow

This weekend some 40 women at Igantius House, just north of Atlanta, embark on a “cursillo,” perhaps best described as a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage.

There is nothing unusual about these women. They are of all ages and from many parts of the archdiocese. Included are nuns, single and married women, and all but a few are Catholics.

A recent cursillo candidate, Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan, said of the weekend experience, “…it gives me new hope, new hope for myself as a more effective instrument of Christ in the Church of Atlanta, and new hope for the Church of Atlanta because of these men who so inspired me.”

With these words the archbishop inspired the local movement when he put into capsule form one of the principal objectives of each cursillo: to enable the candidates to become more effective instruments of Christ in their communities at home, at work and in their church.

Cursillo weekends are centered on the Bible and Vatican II’s Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity. Talks, discussions and devotions are led by priests and laymen.

The movement was spearheaded in the archdiocese by ten Chicago families who spent ten days of their vacation in Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in August, 1965. At the invitation of Monsignor Michael J. Regan, pastor, the women served as babysitters while their husbands conducted a cursillo for men and men took charge of the children while their wives put on the first women’s cursillo.

Since that time representatives of 25 parishes and a number of Protestant churches have been candidates at 27 cursillo weekends. Upon completion of the weekend the candidates are known henceforth as cursillistas.

Bishop Juan Hervas founded the movement in Spain less than 25 years ago. Cursillos in Spanish are planned for our archdiocese in the near future, according to Fr. Richard Kieran, principal of St. Pius X High School, Atlanta. Fr. Kieran was appointed spiritual director of the movement here by the late Archbishop Hallinan.

Fr. Kieran points out that there has been a shift in emphasis in the movement so that currently there are three cursillos a year for men and three for women. This is fewer than before but more time is devoted to followup training, leadership sessions and formation programs to service parish communities. Monthly “ultreyas” which are rotated from parish to parish provide the opportunity for reunion with cursillistas from all parts of the archdiocese.

The cursillo movement is perpetuated by more and more laymen and women who enter the movement each year. The Atlanta movement has established a movement in Orlando and is laying the foundation for others in Alabama and Savannah.

A program for youth is underway and goals of the movement for the future include further outreach into areas of priest involvement, the black community and low income groups.

While the weekends for women are held at Ignatius House, the men travel to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers for their cursillos. For both, the weekend has come to be known as “a pilgrimage going through Christ to the Father under the impulses of the Holy Spirit as you bring your brothers along with you.”