Cursillo Movement > World expansion > in Asia-Pacific
The Cursillo Movement in Asia
The Cursillo Movement has been introduced in Asia in 1963.
Asia Pacific Group
In 1983, it became apparent that the Asia Pacific region was becoming strong enough to form its own International Group. Countries who attended this original Encounter were as follows -Australia, Taiwan, Guam, Macau, Philippines, Singapore, Sri-Lanka, Hawaii and the US Military in the Asia Pacific region. It was agreed to meet annually.
It was not until the 1990 Encounter held in Hawaii that it was decided to form an Asia Pacific Group that was approved by the OMCC. Asia Pacific Group continued to meet annually and all member countries attended the 5th World Encounter which was held in Korea. At the height of the group there were 14 active member countries.
At present there are nine official members in APG: Australia, CNMI (Saipan), Guam, Korea, Military Ctr. Japan, Oceania Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and Vietnam in Diaspora. Philippine Cursillistas who reside in the USA (Region XI) are also a part of this group. Hawaii has joined the USA APG.
The 19th Asia Pacific Cursillo Encounter took place at Sydney in 2006. Excellent account of this meeting with videos and mp3 recording. See: 19th Asia Pacific Cursillo Encounter Online Videos
| COUNTRIES | # of dioceses |
First Cursillo |
# of Cursillos |
# of cursillistas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 31 | 1963 | 990 | 17,222 |
| China > Taïwan, Macau, HongKong | ||||
| Korea | 14 | 1967 | 1,449 | 62,354 |
| Guam | ? | 1968 | ? | ? |
| Hawaii | 3 | 1965 | ? | ? |
| India | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Japan | ? | 1968 | ? | ? |
| Polynesia Fr. | 2 | 1995 | ? | ? |
| Philippines | 72 | 1963 | 700 | 140,000 |
| Saipan | ? | 1992 | ? | ? |
| Samoa | 1 | 2009 | 2 | ? |
| Singapour | 1 | 1971 | 55 | 953 |
| Sri Lanka | 9 | 1964 | 178 | 2,672 |
| Taiwan | 8 | 1968 | 180 | 7,500 |
| Tasmania | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Thailand | ? | 1968 | ? | ? |
| Viêt-nam | ? | 1967 | ? | ? |
A few countries in particular
It was the United States which brought the CM to the Philippines, to Sri Lanka and to Japan.
In JAPAN, at its foundation, the Spiritual Animator was Father P. Donal McDonald and it was the first Cursillo in the world with interpreters (1963), because neither the priest nor the team knew Japanese!
There may have been a Cursillo in JERUSALEM in 1967, but we have no details.
TAIWAN and HONG KONG have their Cursillos. They started in 1970, in Hong Kong, with a Cursillo in the English language, the second one was in Spanish and the third one in Chinese ; now they are all in Chinese.
In Africa, the Cursillos came in through the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. In Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), strangely, they have changed the name of the Cursillo by calling it : " The Catholic Leaders Movement ".
For more information,see Cursillo Worldwide Directory - Catholic Cursillos in Asia
Cursillo in American Samoa
E-mail from Omar Palacio, september 22, 2009
Dear friends :
At the beginnings of our Cursillo Movement, the seed from Mallorca spread to other regions within Spain. The Spirit kept on blowing, so it also spread to the American Continent & other parts of the world. Each country or town has its own account of how the Charism got there. A few years back, a group from Panama travelled to Cuba to spread the seed over there.
And The Spirit has not stopped blowing. He now blows toward American Samoa. You probably remember on a previous OMCC’s Newsletter we were informed of the plans to bring Cursillos to American Samoa. To bring it to fruition, a group from Australia is bringing the Charism to the people of American Samoa.
We all should pray for the success of this mission, and send our encouraging Palanca Letters so they know that we are all in this together. You might want to keep in mind that Samoa is across the international date line, so when is Wednesday in America , it is already Thursday in Samoa. Please send your Palanca letters to: Tam Nguyen Coordinator, Cursillo Asia Pacific International Group tamyen@iinet.net.au and tamyennguyen@gmail.com