Cursillo

[CB_Catholic]

Thanks for your response. Although I would not have to leave at any point and could deal with things on a ‘break’ I guess it is a no go for me. Very sad about that.

I had a similar problem, and what I did was schedule my vacation for when the Cursillo was. It was totally worth every second.

 

[Nina237]

I’m on call during vacations as well

 

[gh4]

Thanks for your response. Although I would not have to leave at any point and could deal with things on a ‘break’ I guess it is a no go for me. Very sad about that.

While there are “breaks,” there really are no breaks. On breaks, you can’t leave the room, you can go to the bathroom (which was in a room in the main room), but you can’t go outside. There is no phone there. But without a phone or a beeper or the internet, I’m not sure how you would know anyone needed you to assist them in some way.
We were up well before day break, and didn’t eat dinner until dark and went to bed way after dinner. So there is NO free time. At all. Ever.

 

[Nina237]

It’s almost sounding ‘cult-y’ now, not allowing you to have 2 minutes to yourself. I think I’ll go to the other retreat that is offered. Thanks all for your time.

 

[KimberlyAnn0218]

While there are “breaks,” there really are no breaks. On breaks, you can’t leave the room, you can go to the bathroom (which was in a room in the main room), but you can’t go outside. There is no phone there. But without a phone or a beeper or the internet, I’m not sure how you would know anyone needed you to assist them in some way.
We were up well before day break, and didn’t eat dinner until dark and went to bed way after dinner. So there is NO free time. At all. Ever.

JUST a reminder as the OP here and I post over and over everyone has different experiences and we all have to honor what each other’s experiences are/were. Every diocese must do things a little differently.* I HAD breaks-honest-to-goodness breaks*. I walked to a gas station and bought some soda to share with others. The music director for the retreat was out for a walk herself–I saw it! We left the church property–a whole group of us. We were not chaperoned, we didn’t have to report where we were going or anything. We just knew when to be back. I took my phone with me. They did not take them away and we had clocks and watches.

Still very sorry people had bad experiences. I wish everyone could go to one through the Diocese of Green Bay

 

[Mummsie]

I almost feel as though I need to once again defend Cursillo. For me, It was an excellent experience. Windows open with sun shining in and able to take a walk outside. I was not deprived of anything (phone, laptop, watch). They did encourage us to keep our outside communications to a minimum, which allowed me to focus on myself and the Cursillo experience. I was very sad to read here of others’ totally horrid experiences. I had suggested we identify the “good” dioceses (mine was the Diocese of Gaylord). But we should also identify the diocese poorly managing (or not managing at all) the Cursillo extremists.

Gods Blessings to all.

 

[maryjk]

KimberlyAnn0218 and Mummsie,

I am glad you had a wonderful time. But please know that your experience isn’t what Cursillo is all about.

I have spend tons of time researching it. I have read books. (Yes, there are books about the Cursillo experience.) I have talked to people, in person and on line. I have tried as much as I can to get information from Cursillo, but as you know, it is all So Secret. So, I can only get what people have mistakenly posted on line.

The experience of gh4 is actually the experience people are suppose to have. They are suppose to take your phone, keys, money and anything else you might use to contact the outside world. They are suppose to fill you with carbs, to make you happy, happy, happy. They are suppose to never leave you alone.

All of that and more heighten the mountain top experience. And that is their goal. To force a mountain top experience. To have you continue that feeling, they get you, as fast as possible, to join others that have had that experience.

And that mountain top experience is great. Except for those that break. Because no one knows who will break. It could be someone that is strong, with no outside clues. It could be someone who holds it all in. Regardless, people break. And no group has the right to break anyone. It doesn’t matter how many people had a great time. It just isn’t worth it.

 

[gh4]

KimberlyAnn0218 and Mummsie,

I am glad you had a wonderful time. But please know that your experience isn’t what Cursillo is all about.

I have spend tons of time researching it. I have read books. (Yes, there are books about the Cursillo experience.) I have talked to people, in person and on line. I have tried as much as I can to get information from Cursillo, but as you know, it is all So Secret. So, I can only get what people have mistakenly posted on line.

The experience of gh4 is actually the experience people are suppose to have. They are suppose to take your phone, keys, money and anything else you might use to contact the outside world. They are suppose to fill you with carbs, to make you happy, happy, happy. They are suppose to never leave you alone.

All of that and more heighten the mountain top experience. And that is their goal. To force a mountain top experience. To have you continue that feeling, they get you, as fast as possible, to join others that have had that experience.

And that mountain top experience is great. Except for those that break. Because no one knows who will break. It could be someone that is strong, with no outside clues. It could be someone who holds it all in. Regardless, people break. And no group has the right to break anyone. It doesn’t matter how many people had a great time. It just isn’t worth it.

Breaking doesn’t always involve being “weak.” I got to the point where I said to myself “Tha’ts it, I’ve had it, no more of this ****, I refuse to be treated like a 2 year old for another moment of my life.” I got up and walked out of the rollo room and went to my bedroom, amidst people yelling at me that “You can’t leave, you can’t do this.” I’m not the kind of person to let people walk all over me. I was yelled at by a priest who burst, uninvited, into the bedroom I paid to sleep in and listened to him tell me what a terrible person I was. I sat for 2 hours in the cold waiting for a ride home and the entire time I was questioned and berated by this priest and 2 of the women from the giving team. It was not a pleasant experience. One of the women on the giving team told me I was ruining HER experience and she was pissed at me for doing this to her. HELLO???

I am not a weak person. I buried a husband at 28, I raised 2 boys alone, went to school full time, worked full time and was there for my boys as well. I paid my way through collage all the way through the masters program. I worked in ICU and ER for years while I took care of my kids and continued to go to school. I managed to pay off my house early and paid off every penny of every every school loan I had. Later in life, I took care of my parents for 7 years, they both had Alzheimer’s. I moved across the US with 6 retired racing greyhounds and a standard poodle, all alone. I moved to a strange town and managed to make new friends, find new things to do and fit in this small town. All this time while owning my own business and building it up. So no, I don’t think I’m a weak person or a person that one would think would “break” over a weekend. I went to a CRHP weekend back in Ohio and LOVED it.
And ultimately, this cursillo weekend was the beginning of end of the catholic church for me. I stayed away from mass for about 3 months after cursillo, went to talk to my priest and then went back. But other things about the church bothered me so badly that I am now attending another church and will soon join that church.
Would I have made the decision to leave the catholic church if cursillo had been a wonderful experience, probably not, but with the experience I had, I began to really question things, it truly was the beginning of the end.
I too have done a lot of research, online and off. And even people who make it through the weekend report that it was a terrible experience for them. Funny thing is, that during the weekend, no one seems to notice or care if someone isn’t loving the weekend, they just keep forging blindly ahead doing unknown amounts of damage to other people. The sheer number of rollos that are forced upon people are done this way so you don’t really remember much of what was said during any particular individual talk. It all becomes jumbled in your mind, even though you take notes. Then add to that the talks by the deacon and the priest, and you really have no idea what anyone is talking about! I just needed to be as far away from these people as possible. It was a very demeaning and humiliating experience for me.

 

[EvangelCatholic]

There is a Cursillo thread on the Non-Catholic forum where many express how wonderful and inspiring the experience is for them. I have been involved in cursillos for years and have never heard one complaint except on this site.

 

[CB_Catholic]

KimberlyAnn0218 and Mummsie,

I am glad you had a wonderful time. But please know that your experience isn’t what Cursillo is all about.

I have spend tons of time researching it. I have read books. (Yes, there are books about the Cursillo experience.) I have talked to people, in person and on line. I have tried as much as I can to get information from Cursillo, but as you know, it is all So Secret. So, I can only get what people have mistakenly posted on line.

The experience of gh4 is actually the experience people are suppose to have. They are suppose to take your phone, keys, money and anything else you might use to contact the outside world. They are suppose to fill you with carbs, to make you happy, happy, happy. They are suppose to never leave you alone.

All of that and more heighten the mountain top experience. And that is their goal. To force a mountain top experience. To have you continue that feeling, they get you, as fast as possible, to join others that have had that experience.

And that mountain top experience is great. Except for those that break. Because no one knows who will break. It could be someone that is strong, with no outside clues. It could be someone who holds it all in. Regardless, people break. And no group has the right to break anyone. It doesn’t matter how many people had a great time. It just isn’t worth it.

You know, I was very active in Cursillo for a number of years, worked a team, served on Leader’s School, have read, and have in my library a number of books published by the Cursillo Movement itself, and never have I read any of what you claim about feeding people with carbs to make them high, etc. We never asked people not to bring money, we did not take keys, we did ask people to not wear a watch–voluntarily, they could leave at any point in the weekend, they were not held prisoner, they were given breaks, nobody follows someone every where. I would request that you provide documentation for your claims, esp. the parts about the food and it being the aim of Cursillo to get people to experience a “high”. And I don’t mean documentation from a disgruntled candidate. I mean from Cursillo itself. There is a website and every bit of literature Cursillo publishes is available for purchase. The site says for Cursillistas, but in purchasing, it does not even ask for that information. All the so-called “secrets” are there for anyone to acquire. No secret code needed. The website is public, does not require a password even.

Now what every center does, I don’t know. I do not doubt that people interpret their experience differently, or that some centers deviate from the format. There is no question that the weekend is not for everyone, and it is defitnitely not for people who are emotionally or spiritually unstable. That however, does not merit the blanket statements you have given without one iota of proof. What you have posted is nothing but gossip as you have posted it.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

KimberlyAnn0218 and Mummsie,

I am glad you had a wonderful time. But please know that your experience isn’t what Cursillo is all about.

Unless you have been apart of leadership in the Cursillo movement I don’t think you can assert this. There are specific guidelines for how a weekend is conducted and so on. The taking away of keys, money etc. are not in those guidelines

I have spend tons of time researching it. I have read books. (Yes, there are books about the Cursillo experience.) I have talked to people, in person and on line. I have tried as much as I can to get information from Cursillo, but as you know, it is all So Secret. So, I can only get what people have mistakenly posted on line.

What you have found are people who have experienced a weekend that can’t really be called Cursillo if that was the emphasis. I’m not disputing that this happened; I’m saying that the weekend and how it was conducted isn’t Cursillo.

The experience of gh4 is actually the experience people are suppose to have. They are suppose to take your phone, keys, money and anything else you might use to contact the outside world. They are suppose to fill you with carbs, to make you happy, happy, happy. They are suppose to never leave you alone.

No, it is not the actually the experience they are supposed to have. Absolutely not.

All of that and more heighten the mountain top experience. And that is their goal. To force a mountain top experience. To have you continue that feeling, they get you, as fast as possible, to join others that have had that experience.

I have experienced this kind of manipulation on a similar type of retreat so I do know what you are talking about. I have been critical of that retreat in my diocese and warn/discourage people about those particular things. It’s interesting that these practices happen primarily when certain people are in charge. I don’t think these are a authentic part of that movement either.

And that mountain top experience is great. Except for those that break. Because no one knows who will break. It could be someone that is strong, with no outside clues. It could be someone who holds it all in. Regardless, people break. And no group has the right to break anyone. It doesn’t matter how many people had a great time. It just isn’t worth it.

My mom was involved in Cursillo and she and the others involved in leadership here worked to eliminate weird or cutesy additions to the weekends. It obviously happens A LOT. There was often someone new to the group who heard about some “addition” that was just wonderful (from a friend or relative in an other area) and so they suggested those things not knowing that that practice had nothing to do with Cursillo.

I imagine the people who go for the taking away the keys ect. would find an authentic Cursillo experience kind of dry. They really do get fixated on those things. I suspect that a lot of those people are spiritually immature and latched onto goofy things that are more appropriate at a sleepover.

 

[maryjk]

**I would request that you provide documentation for your claims, esp. the parts about the food and it being the aim of Cursillo to get people to experience a “high”. **And I don’t mean documentation from a disgruntled candidate. I mean from Cursillo itself. There is a website and every bit of literature Cursillo publishes is available for purchase. The site says for Cursillistas, but in purchasing, it does not even ask for that information. All the so-called “secrets” are there for anyone to acquire. No secret code needed. The website is public, does not require a password even.

Sure, come on over and read my notebooks.

You did see that I have read books, right? Sorry, I don’t plan on typing all of that information onto the computer. Same goes with putting “people” on line. Can’t do that.

The best I can do is to tell you to do your own research because I don’t plan on writing a dissertation for you.

 

[gh4]

What you have posted is nothing but gossip as you have posted it.

I don’t think you were aiming this one at me, but I will tell you this. I am many things, but I am not a liar and every single word I have typed here has been the truth. WE have to right to tell you our experiences and not have it called gossip.

When you sign up for cursillo, you are encouraged NOT to try to find out anything about it. I was told that it would ruin the weekend for me. When I asked about what was going to go on, I was told I had to experience it for myself.
I was never told I would have not one single moment to myself.
I was not encouraged to bring my own food, and my sponsor KNEW what I ate and how I eat. Part of this problem was my own, I should have gone into VERY VERY FINE DETAIL about what I could and could not eat. And please remember that sometimes it’s picky eaters and sometimes it’s because you MUST eat this way for health reasons.
Now, your cursillo experiences may have been different, and I believe you when you say that. I do KNOW people who loved their cursillos and benefited greatly from them.
But you need to take my word when I tell you what I went through, I only know what I was told and what I experienced. And I know that not one person gave a good hoot about me once I left that retreat center. NOT one person ever contacted me to see if I was OK. NO ONE.
I will continue to tell people about my experience. I only ask that you understand that this truly happened to me. And yet one of the gals in the room we shared thought it was all wonderful, most of us were confused and frustrated on Saturday and wondering what this was supposed to lead to. It lead to me leaving. And was the beginning of the end of my Catholic experience.

 

[KimberlyAnn0218]

KimberlyAnn0218 and Mummsie,

I am glad you had a wonderful time. But please know that your experience isn’t what Cursillo is all about.

I have spend tons of time researching it. I have read books. (Yes, there are books about the Cursillo experience.) I have talked to people, in person and on line. I have tried as much as I can to get information from Cursillo, but as you know, it is all So Secret. So, I can only get what people have mistakenly posted on line.

The experience of gh4 is actually the experience people are suppose to have. They are suppose to take your phone, keys, money and anything else you might use to contact the outside world. They are suppose to fill you with carbs, to make you happy, happy, happy. They are suppose to never leave you alone.

All of that and more heighten the mountain top experience. And that is their goal. To force a mountain top experience. To have you continue that feeling, they get you, as fast as possible, to join others that have had that experience.

And that mountain top experience is great. Except for those that break. Because no one knows who will break. It could be someone that is strong, with no outside clues. It could be someone who holds it all in. Regardless, people break. And no group has the right to break anyone. It doesn’t matter how many people had a great time. It just isn’t worth it.

I respectfully disagree that the scary sounding experiences are what people are supposed to have. I went and I was given the book that you get in follow-up.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Sure, come on over and read my notebooks.

You did see that I have read books, right? Sorry, I don’t plan on typing all of that information onto the computer. Same goes with putting “people” on line. Can’t do that.

The best I can do is to tell you to do your own research because I don’t plan on writing a dissertation for you.

You made claims about the weekend that you said you got from your “reading”. YOU made the claims, it is up to YOU to back them up. Not anyone here.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I don’t think you were aiming this one at me, but I will tell you this. I am many things, but I am not a liar and every single word I have typed here has been the truth. WE have to right to tell you our experiences and not have it called gossip.

When you sign up for cursillo, you are encouraged NOT to try to find out anything about it. I was told that it would ruin the weekend for me. When I asked about what was going to go on, I was told I had to experience it for myself.
I was never told I would have not one single moment to myself.
I was not encouraged to bring my own food, and my sponsor KNEW what I ate and how I eat. Part of this problem was my own, I should have gone into VERY VERY FINE DETAIL about what I could and could not eat. And please remember that sometimes it’s picky eaters and sometimes it’s because you MUST eat this way for health reasons.
Now, your cursillo experiences may have been different, and I believe you when you say that. I do KNOW people who loved their cursillos and benefited greatly from them.
But you need to take my word when I tell you what I went through, I only know what I was told and what I experienced. And I know that not one person gave a good hoot about me once I left that retreat center. NOT one person ever contacted me to see if I was OK. NO ONE.
I will continue to tell people about my experience. I only ask that you understand that this truly happened to me. And yet one of the gals in the room we shared thought it was all wonderful, most of us were confused and frustrated on Saturday and wondering what this was supposed to lead to. It lead to me leaving. And was the beginning of the end of my Catholic experience.

The post was not addressed to you and no where did I ever claim not to believe you. What I am after is official proof that the diet, the spiritual experience, etc., is contrived and is actually part of the planning of the weekend. I have been involved in Cursillo, worked a team, sat on Leader’s School, read their literature and weekend preparation, and not once did I run into what the other poster claims. I even worked in the kitchen, and yes, if people were diabetic or needed special food accomadations, they were honored. Meals were NOT planned to give as many carbs as possible to set people up for a spiritual experience–that is absurd. A mountain top experience is NOT the aim of Cursillo. She makes claims but cannot substantiate any of it from Cursillo itself, which is quite open. That is gossip.

 

[maryjk]

You made claims about the weekend that you said you got from your “reading”. YOU made the claims, it is up to YOU to back them up. Not anyone here.

I made claims from reading BOOKS.

Something you don’t seem to understand is that not everything is available on line.

Also, I refuse to purchase something from a group that I feel is not doing good work. Why should I support them???

So we are at an impasse.

I have done research. I am not writing a dissertation. Believe me or don’t. It really doesn’t matter to me.

 

[gh4]

The post was not addressed to you and no where did I ever claim not to believe you. What I am after is official proof that the diet, the spiritual experience, etc., is contrived and is actually part of the planning of the weekend. I have been involved in Cursillo, worked a team, sat on Leader’s School, read their literature and weekend preparation, and not once did I run into what the other poster claims. I even worked in the kitchen, and yes, if people were diabetic or needed special food accomadations, they were honored. Meals were NOT planned to give as many carbs as possible to set people up for a spiritual experience–that is absurd. A mountain top experience is NOT the aim of Cursillo. She makes claims but cannot substantiate any of it from Cursillo itself, which is quite open. That is gossip.

So please, share with us how the menus are planned and what time you are supposed to send everyone to bed and what time you are supposed to wake everyone up. Please share why the people don’t get any time to themselves. Please share why they don’t allow the folks attending the weekend to drive themselves.
And share the goal of the weekend, what is the culmination on Sunday supposed to be?

 

[EvangelCatholic]

Many parishes are on limited budgets so serving carbs [pasta, rice] is common but not intended to harm anyone.

 

[gh4]

Many parishes are on limited budgets so serving carbs [pasta, rice] is common but not intended to harm anyone.

Ours is diocese wide and I’d have been VERY willing to pay more for good food and beverages. If budget was a huge issue, I’d have been more than happy to bring my own food.

Actually I learned some lessons:

1. ALWAYS bring my OWN food with me on any kind of retreat.
2. ALWAYS provide my OWN transportation to any kind of retreat.
3. NEVER give up my watch or phone. I would respect the request not to use the phone. Watch is needed for medications.
4. NEVER EVER allow anyone else control over my meds unless I’m in the hospital and the doc is aware.
5. If I need a break, I will take one. If I am denied time to myself (even just 30 minutes would probably be fine) I will leave.

If I am not allowed the above, then I will turn and run like the devil himself were after me, I would choose to NOT attend any kind of anything that would disallow the above.