Your service of proclaiming Christ by being his witnesses in your everyday environments, is an embodiment, a concrete renewal of the Baptism that we have received in Him and makes you disciples and missionaries of the Word, as this was expressed in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “Through their Baptism and Confirmation all are commissioned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself” (Lumen Gentium no. 33).
Make a friend,
Be a friend,
Bring a friend to Christ
Pope Francis and Cursillo
“I was introduced to Cursillo earlier and I had zero interest in it, but in February 2009 I was invited to make my Cursillo weekend and the timing was perfect. And I said yes to attending the Cursillo weekend that July.
I'm so glad I did. Cursillo and those I met helped catapult me into a deep relationship with God and for the first time I felt how much I was and am truly loved by God. Everything since has been a gift from My Father in Heaven.”
Matt Maddalozzo
What is Curisllo?
The Weekend
It is not easy to describe what goes on during the three days of the Cursillo.
The Tiny Seed of Cursillo
“The tiny seed planted in Spain more than 50 years ago has become a great tree laden with fruits of the Spirit”
Vancouver Cursillo Team
I’m Fr. Eslin FX Pereira cmf, an Indian by nationality, a Claretian since 1975 of the Chennai Province, India. I did my theological studies in St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary, Bangalore, India and was ordained Priest on the 8 th of April 1988. I was a pastor in various parishes in India and Germany, worked as formator in major and minor seminaries of the same Claretian Province. I was preaching retreats in and out of India for few years for priests, religious and parishes; and given courses on preparing men and women religious for first and final vows. I worked for 10 years in Germany. I learned the inculturated Indian meditative methods in the Himalayan region of India which enhanced my retreat preaching. Having personal interest in the Bible, took extra study with the help of scripture scholars and I’m able to help many to find joy in knowing God through it. I am in US-Canada province since 2015. I was pastor at St. Bernard parish, Ottawa since 2017 to 2024 before I came to Vancouver in August 2024. Presently I’m entrusted with the chaplaincy of Cursillo in the Arch Diocese of Vancouver, ministry of preaching retreats and Port-ministry, resident at Sacred Heart Parish Rectory, 525 Campbell Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6A 3K5. Fr. Eslin F.X. Pereira cmf. Claretian Missionary
LARRY BOWEN
I thank God for calling me to Cursillo in 2001. I had been baptized in 1977 after being married in the Catholic Church for 25 years, to Catherine. We raised our two sons in the Church. The gifts of my 4th day in Cursillo have been tremendous, with Ultreyas and small group reunions helping me keep a lively consciousness of my life of piety, study and action, through the open witness of others, sharing their triumphs and challenges. When I had two strokes in 2022, with five weeks in ICU, each day seemed it could be my last. Hundreds of Cursillistas who prayed faithfully were significant, I know in bringing about a miracle. After 8 months in hospital, I returned home to continually heal and enjoy many activities that doctors told me I would not return to. Having the security of our Cursillo movement is a great contributor to hope, living life in this very loving and supportive family.
I thank God for calling me to Cursillo in 2001. I had been baptized in 1977 after being married in the Catholic Church for 25 years, to Catherine. We raised our two sons in the Church. The gifts of my 4th day in Cursillo have been tremendous, with Ultreyas and small group reunions helping me keep a lively consciousness of my life of piety, study and action, through the open witness of others, sharing their triumphs and challenges. When I had two strokes in 2022, with five weeks in ICU, each day seemed it could be my last. Hundreds of Cursillistas who prayed faithfully were significant, I know in bringing about a miracle. After 8 months in hospital, I returned home to continually heal and enjoy many activities that doctors told me I would not return to. Having the security of our Cursillo movement is a great contributor to hope, living life in this very loving and supportive family.
CATHERINE BOWEN
Born and raised Catholic, there was so much more that I learned and embraced, both intellectually and spiritually, from my life in Cursillo, which began in 1999. I have stayed active for over 25 years and have always been refreshed, consoled and inspired with every encounter, whether Ultreya, group reunion, school of leaders or working as team on weekends. I remember reading that Cursillistas walking in friendship, live a permanent group reunion. I soon realized the treasure of what this means. I am never freer to speak from the depths of my soul than when with another Cursillo brother or sister. It’s the freedom we pray for when speaking with ‘far away’ loved ones. Through my two bouts with cancer since 2021 and enduring Larry’s critical condition from his strokes, I felt the security of my Cursillo family, here in Vancouver, across Canada and beyond. All the tools I desperately needed and clung to, came through my journey in Cursillo, much I’d learned from the witness of others, striving themselves, to accept and live the will of God. In my suffering with the gift of God’s grace, others have shared that they are inspired to rely on God’s grace to do the same.
Everyone's life has its ups and downs! It has been my involvement with Cursillo and the methods of Group Reunion and Ultreya that have sustained me thru it all and helped me to become closer and closer to Christ. De Colores!!
Randy and Janet are members St. Clare of Assisi in Coquitlam. They have been married since 1981 and have one son Andrew, who is married to Elaine. They are blessed to have two beautiful granddaughters. Randy and Janet did Cursillo weekends in 1990 and are deeply committed to working with the Holy Spirit and seeing the Cursillo movement thrive in the Vancouver Archdiocese. Randy and Janet have been PREP coordinators/teachers and have participated in Engaged Encounter as a presenting couple. Both are now retired and enjoy living part time in Palm Springs, California.
A Great Community of Christian Friends
Cursillo is a worldwide movement
