The Cursillo Movement held a meeting in Vocklabruck, Austria, in June to re-examine the World Cursillo statutes. Gail Terrana, from St. Jude Parish in North Tonawanda and president of the North America Caribbean Group for the World Cursillo Movement, was present at the meeting.
“We had to make some changes to them because they’re being resubmitted to the Vatican,” Terrana said. “The changes are due in 2014.”
Terrana explained the changes were mostly to make the statutes more user-friendly.
”We just had them approved in 2004 but they were ad experimentum, (so) they tell you to live with them for a few years and see,” Terrana said. “There were just some minor changes to make them more understandable. We kind of made it a little simpler.”
Since the Cursillo movement is Spanish in its origins, some of the messages and meanings, Terrana said, had gotten lost or confused in translation. Fixing this was another goal of the meeting in Austria.
“I think some things got lost in translation,” Terrana said. “I think we have a very good movement but I think it can even be better, and we’re getting more translations from the founder which help us just make some small changes to truly be the gift that the Holy Spirit gave to us. We want to truly be that gift.”
In 2006, Terrana attended the World Congress for movements in the Church in Vatican City. What she learned at the congress has played a part in shaping the statutes and forming a better Cursillo movement.
“What I learned from the congress at the Vatican, or Pontifical Council, was that a movement serves the Church when its’ living its charism, so in order to live it, you have to study it and know it, so that’s kind of what we’re doing,” Terrana said.
The statutes serve two purposes: to outline the organization of the World Cursillo and to protect the charism of the movement. The next step is to plan a world encounter, at which the changes will be approved. A potential site for the encounter is Australia.
Besides planning for the world encounter, Terrana is staying busy close to her homefront. She and Carol Palesh, treasurer for the North America Caribbean Group, are holding the first North American Encounter. Taking place Aug. 19-22 in Niagara Falls, Canada, it will include cursillistas from Cuba, Mexico, St. Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad/Tobago.
“I don’t think there’s ever really been a gathering of North America because it’s always U.S. and Canada since we’re the biggest ones,” Terrana said. “I made contacts in the last couple years with the Caribbean and Cuba, and I’m very excited that Cuba’s coming. This is the first time we’re actually meeting with them face to face.”
The encounter, being held at the Carmelite Monastery, will lead the cursillistas in discussions and study sessions about the charism of the Cursillo movement.
“We will talk about the pontifical council, those two congresses that met on movements and their call to study the charism, and then we will go in to studying the charism together,” Terrana said. “We’re going to be publishing a book for them with all the talks in it and addresses from those congresses and it will include a couple talks from the founder, Eduardo Bonnin.”
The other main aspect of the North America Encounter will be to build friendships – a key Cursillo cornerstone.
“Basically, it will be establishing friendships because there’s nothing like meeting one on one to establish friendships,” Terrana said. “It will be beneficial because we will have made new friends, and the basis of Cursillo is friendship, sharing Christ with each other.”
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