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 * == == Cursillo: To Deceive The Elect == ==
 * by
 * Thomas Manion and Dr. John DeTar, M.D.
 * Copyright, 1965
 * March 1969 Third Printing USA


 * Introduction
 * Chapter 1   LETTER FROM A CURSILLISTA
 * Chapter 2   THE CURSILLO–Description
 * Chapter 3   CANDIDATE SELECTION PSYCHOLOGY
 * Chapter 4   THE HERESY?
 * Chapter 5   THE SQUEEZE PLAY
 * Chapter 6   LITURGICAL SOCIOMETRY: Cursillo and Psychodrama
 * Chapter 7   THE CURSILLO GROUP REUNION
 * Chapter 8   THE NATIONAL CURSILLO CONFERENCE
 * Chapter 9   IS CURSILLO BRAINWASHING?


 * Appendix 1
 * A. Can you Recognize a Heresy When you Meet One?
 * B. The Forerunner of Heresy and the Aftermath of Heresy
 * C. The Cursillo and Integration
 * D. A Warning to Parents, Grade School and High School, by Fr. Charles E. Coughlin
 * Appendix 4 Cursillo “Preference” or “Hobby” sheet
 * Appendix 5 Cursillo Group Meeting sheet
 * Appendix 6 Thermometer of the Will
 * Appendix 7 Cursillo, Catholics, and Psycho-Politics
 * Appendix 8 Bishop Woznicki’s Warning To Cursillistas


 * INTRODUCTION 1965

This treatise is a frank evaluation of a new movement within the Catholic Church. New to the United States, and to Catholics of the world, the Cursillo (little courses in Christianity) was reportedly conceived in Majorca (1949), carried shortly thereafter to Continental Spain, and from this base disseminated to much of the Spanish-speaking world.

Cursillo arrived in the United States in 1958,establishing a few scattered bases in the West and Southwest where large Spanish-speaking populations were to be found. Only recently, however, has Cursillo’s scope been expanded throughout the United States.

It is the American mutation with which we are concerned, for numerous modifications have been introduced into the American version, the seeds of which are frequently to be found within the basic Spanish authored manuals of procedure.

Cursillo will be shown to employ many psychological and sociological practices; so many, in fact, that it becomes difficult to regard Cursillo as a religious movement. Rather, there is the possibility that the religiosity of Cursillo is a facade (whether intended or not) for an insidious mechanism of psychodramatic mind-control aimed at many well-motivated priests, lay Catholics, or even non-Catholics.

The criticisms and questions raised about Cursillo are raised not because Cursillo is Catholic. (The authors both Catholics, were motivated in their study by a concern for the integrity of the Church and Her Teachings.)

Nor are questions raised simply because psychological methods are employed, for indeed, Pius XII has defined the proper use of psychological methods. 1

Our questions are not raised because Cursillo might be infused with heresy. (The authors do not consider themselves possessed of the authority or the competence to define heresy.) However, Christ has clearly defined the greatest of all heresies in unequivocal terms which might well apply to Cursillo. 2

It is however, an obligation of conscientious Christians to report obvious and inherent weaknesses of a movement or organization if its actions appear to compromise or weaken the Church, the nation, or one’s fellow man. This obligation becomes the more pressing when the movement in question appears to weaken all three while transmitting the illusion of strengthening. The Orwellian theme: “War is peace; freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength”3 is brought to mind when a strengthening weakens, when a striving for Grace removes charity while introducing superciliousness, when reasonable questions relegate one to the ranks of the fallen away.”

TO DECEIVE THE ELECT is written with major concern for the cursillista (one who has made a Cursillo) who has been unfortunate enough to suffer spiritually, psychologically, socially, or economically as a result of his conscientious refusal to meet the post-Cursillo “obligations” imposed upon him by his fellow cursillistas. Tragically, this “failure” has, in many instances, relegated him to a spiritual limbo in the imposed “judgment” of his colleagues.

There are those who say that Cursillo cannot be criticized unless one has attended. Such statements could be a built-in defense mechanism intended to prevent criticism until personal participation has provided the opportunity to prepare a dossier against the critic (see text on evening Leaders meetings, chapter 3). In considering such a possibility, we may be accused of paranoia. Objectivity, however, demands such consideration.

Even though we ignore that possibility, a question remains: how can one attend a Cursillo in good conscience if he firmly believes it to be possessed of error? 4

The only imaginable answer is the same given to the demand that Cursillo be tried prior to criticism. The demand itself displays an arrogance which appears to be another result of the pragmatism insidiously instilled into much of the religious and secular teaching of 20th Century America.

Nor have the authors found that attendance at a Cursillo entitles one to a fair hearing of his criticisms. The defenders of Cursillo meet this challenge in one of two ways:

A point in question is not an official position of Cursillo but merely the personal interpretation of the Spiritual Director in charge.

An error grew out of an honest misunderstanding of a lay-teacher or “professor” who, still quite new to Cursillo, was not fully conversant with proper procedure. In the first instance, the defense is merely proof of our contention that Cursillo has been subjected to numerous modifications with the result that any one Cursillo may differ greatly from another. Personality, personal prejudices, and locale, have all been found to play a part in such modifications.

The demand that personal participation is a necessary prerequisite to criticism, therefore, might logically be met with the question: How many Cursillos must the potential critic attend? Unfortunately, this must remain a hypothetical question since one is permitted by rule, to attend a Cursillo only once in a lifetime.

The second defense cited raises still another question and points up yet another weakness. Realizing that the zeal engendered by Cursillo might result in the inexperienced professor’s straying periodically from the path of right reason, would it not seem logical to provide an opportunity to call questionable doctrine to account? Unfortunately, no such opportunity is provided. This study of Cursillo is undertaken with the full confidence that our criticism will provoke numerous enraged denials of the incidents and procedures described. Often these denials will be honest since no single cursillista can possibly have been subjected to all of the modifications or incidents discussed. Indeed, modifications are the rule rather than the exception.

That there will be rage on the part of Defenders of Cursillo will simply prove that the primary mandate of Cursillo has been ignored; for the cursillista is constantly admonished to overwhelm all obstacles with love, pure and simple. Nowhere in the official Cursillo literature can we find a mandate to fight or to hate evil. In truth, there seems to be a subtle (and sometimes not too subtle) denial of the existence of evil.

Many of the fine persons who have embraced Cursillo are dedicated to it because “it works.” We ask: “How does it work?” and “By what methods?”  How long does it last, and at what cost to the cursillista who becomes apathetic or to those who become disillusioned? How rational or irrational is the cursillista in the midst of the manufactured emotionalism which is so much a part of the Cursillo’s “effectiveness?” We shall attempt to answer these questions in the text of TO DECEIVE THE ELECT.


 * 1984—AN UPDATED INTRODUCTION

Some have said that the Cursillo Movement has lost its momentum, and that it is no longer a serious threat to the Catholic faith. I do not believe this to be the case, for while the names may change, the principles involved are still very much with us.(ed. 2008) Many Cursillos are still taking place, and the post-Conciliar Church is filled with Cursillistas--those who have gone through the “experience” of the Cursillo--who function as “leaders” within parish communities. I shall begin this discussion stating certain conclusions--conclusions based upon a rather extensive personal study. I shall then develop the basis for these conclusions and show how they apply to the movement’s activities.


 * I believe that Cursillo is,


 * (1) Humanism—that is to say, it substitutes faith in man for faith in God. Karl Marx said that Communism is Humanism.  I’m saying that Cursillo is Humanism, but please note, I am not saying Cursillo is Communism. I believe Humanism is an important element of the Counter-Church, (ed. presently the church of Vatican II (1958) adopting liberalism theology and dropping many of its de fide doctrines, in violation of Pope St. Pius decrees against liberalism and Modernism.)


 * (2) Cursillo is Modernism, and in saying this, one is reminded of the statement of Pope Saint Pius X who referred to such as “not sparing even the person of the Divine Redeemer whom with sacrilegious daring they reduce to a simple mere man.”


 * (3) Cursillo blends the Cursillista with the left wing.


 * (4) Cursillo blinds one to evil.


 * (5) Because Cursillo is fundamentally psychological and sociological, and because it creates an insecurity only to replace it with a new security, it is intrinsically evil.


 * (6) It divides conservatives, but does not divide liberals, and I believe it was planned that way.


 * (7) Cursillo is Illuminism. Now the dictionary defines Illuminism as “ special enlightenment, not available to mankind in general.” Illuminists often speak of “go transcendence,” where a person removes his mind and his psyche from himself, and can stand outside, as it were, to look in at himself.  This sort of ego transcendence can be brought on by psychological methodology as well as by such hallucinogenic drugs as LSD, once pushed by the infamous Dr. Leary.  One of the results produced by these “higher states of consciousnesness” is that the person involved sees a multitude of colors, and it is of interest, though perhaps only coincidental, that the theme song of the Cursillos is “De Colores.”  These diabolical ego-transcendentalists are the “light-bearers of darkness,” that is to say, they bring you what looks like light, but it is the illumination of the Prince of Darkness.  It is known that in witchcraft, in diabolical secret societies and in humanism there is such an inversion disguised as a special form of enlightenment, not accessible to mankind in general.


 * (8) Cursillo is psycho-political.


 * (9) It is brainwashing. If it is not brainwashing, it at least uses brainwashing techniques.


 * (10) Cursillo switches loyalty away from the Church to the group.


 * (11) Cursillo parallels the new foundation of Marxism.


 * (12) Cursillo is subversive to the natural and supernatural order, and lastly,


 * (13) Cursillo is heresy.

What is Cursillo? Cursillo means a “short course in Christianity.” Cursillo was founded by Bishop Juan Hervas and a Majorcan psychiatrist named Edwardo Bonine; it was first established on the island of Majorca. Bishop Hervas defined the movement as “an instrument of Christian renovation in which the most modern pedagogic, religious, sociological and psychological methods are brought into harmonious fusion with the traditional doctrines of the Church.”


 * The Delano Grape Strike

I shall start with the relationship between the left wing and Cursillo. Consider, for example, the Delano Grape Strike—there have been many who have noted its Marxist roots, the background of Mr. Saul Alinsky and his protege, Cesar Chavez, and their connection with other well-known leftists and communists who have been very active in the National Farm-workers Association.

In “Winds in the Fields,” a mimeographed book published by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the plans and personal objectives involved in the Migrant Ministry, under which the Delano Grape Strike and other similar programs of agrarian reform are being directed, are clearly spelled out. On Page 5 of this text we find the following quotation;


 * “Of special interest to SDS members are those programs which consider themselves part of the movement. The movement gives a high priority to membership participation in decision making, allows for the positive development of militancy in achieving their goals, and represents broad alignment of viewpoints internally....  We have found three groups in which these elements are operative: the Migrant Ministry, the Cursillo de Christiandad and the National Farm-Workers Association.  The Migrant Ministry, after years of band-aid and soap-and-water projects has become engaged in grass-root organizing of many kinds.  Most important yet, is that the Migrant Ministry might bring about the first social transformation of the Protestant Churches since social gospel days; the Students Christian Movement and similar groups should become available to political debate and action within the student left.  The Cursillos de Christiandad are the least known and the most remarkable of developments within the Catholic Church.  Organized by some progressive Church clergy, the Cursillos represent a brotherhood of lay people deeply committed to bringing Catholic doctrine to bear on social issues.  Within the Mexican-American community it plays a role similar to that which some Protestant groups have played in the south.  Activists in the Farm Labor Movement are bound to hear more about the Cursillos.  Both the Migrant Ministry and the Cursillos have already helped to modify the attitude of the Church towards mass social action.”

Now, if one looks at this statement with care, one finds a description of the Cursillo movement being a “brotherhood,” and "a brotherhood under great control,” or at least profoundly influenced by leftist organizations. And there is one other implication which is very serious – it is organized by "some progressive Church clergy.”  When you see the term "progressive" used in left-wing publications, you have to remember that this is equivalent to saying “these are our boys.”  Anyone who has read any Marxist literature will readily learn to translate such phrases.

With this knowledge, let us examine the Cursillo tie-in with the Delano Grape Strike--a connection which they themselves admit. There is a magazine put out by the National Farm Workers which is called El Malcreado. In issue number 35, (May 5, 1966) there is a very large full-page photograph of the Sacramento Grape Strike. This picture contains some three to four hundred people jammed together carrying placards identifying the unions they belong to. At the very center is a sign reading “Cursillos de Christianda.” One must ask why, of all the pictures taken, this one was chosen as an illustration.

Even more interesting is an item on page 14 of issue No. 42. This advertises a new musical record of the strike called “Viva La Causa” in the following terms:

Of all the many by-products of the Delano strike, there is probably none more likely to survive the present decade than the songs of Teatro Campesino. Here are ten of them, all original except “De Colores,”the themesong of the Sacramento pilgrimage, and “Adelida,” the theme song of the Mexican revolution.

As we know, the Mexican revolution was communist and violently anti-Catholic; and here we have the Grape Strike March using the theme song of the Revolution and the Cursillo movement. Further, just casual observation has revealed three Cursillo centers lending direct support to the National Farm Workers and the Grape Strike March. Indeed, the diocesan newspaper of Sacramento announced that the Delano grape Strike March in Sacramento would have its headquarters at the Cursillo Center, located at 301 O Street. Some of you will have seen the article in The Wanderer by Mrs. Catherine Hussey in which she noted that the address of a Cursillo headquarters in Chicago was the same as that of the Cardinal and of the Bishops' Committee for the Spanish Speaking – 1300 Wabash Ave. It is also the address from which letters came soliciting funds for the Grape strike. On the letterhead for this mailing was one Ralph Halstein, the head of the Packers' Union in America, a man photographed at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, which is a Communist training school – a man long known for his Marxist activities.

Again, on July 1 of the same year, a letter was sent out to most of the priests in the San Francisco Bay area, signed by one Father John P. Hester, a director of the regional Cursillo center, soliciting support for the Grape Strike March. Not only were funds requested from friends, parishioners and parish social action committees; the priests were asked to announce the march in their parish bulletins and from the pulpits. So we now have a least three Cursillo centers lending their support to this Marxist led organization.


 * How I Got Involved in Cursillo

You might like to know how I got interested in the Cursillo movement in the first place. I was shocked by an incident that took place some years ago – the Oxford Mississippi incident when General Walker was arrested and placed in a mental institution. The Federal Government, in an effort to justify this action, prevailed upon a Washington psychiatrist (Dr. C. Smith), a government employee, to send a wire to Mississippi in which he raised questions about the mental stability of General Walker based on private and privileged records. He suggested that General Walker might be unstable, though he had himself never examined him. Well, it happened that the American Medical Association met shortly after that, and during the meeting I filed charges against this psychiatrist for violating the code of ethics of the Association, in that he rendered a medical opinion without performing an examination of the patient. While doing this, I became aware of an organization called Synanon.

Synanon is an organization, which, if prisoners volunteered to enter, allowed them to be given favored status treatment, Synanon used a technique called “Sociometry” which is defined as "a technique used to show relationships within the group. Once these relationships are discovered, the teacher is supposed to know how to arrange the members of the group to work for better group living and the democratic ideal."

Notice that this technique involves the “arranging” of the members of the group for the obvious intent of allowing the group to dominate the individual member – his individuality being under the control of the group. Sociometry had, by 1958, so thoroughly penetrated the California educational system, that the Dilloworth Committee (The Sixteenth Senate Investigating Committee on Education) brought out an extensive report on its activities and showed that it had some very definite subversive connections. Indeed, so extensive was the influence of this movement found to be that the Committee next decided to investigate the background and writing of a certain doctor named Jacob Levy Morino, the man who is in this country considered the Father of Sociometry. We can use the term “Group Dynamics” as a synonym for Sociometry – Group Dynamics for the purpose of controlling the individual. As a result of this I developed a background in Sociometry and the activities of Synanon, and an awareness of Group Dynamic procedures. Then, sometime later, a friend in Reno, Nevada asked me if I would like to attend a Cursillo--an invitation prefaced with the comment that in the Fresno area a group of conservatives had managed to destroy a Cursillo. This greatly aroused my interest. Several months later I was visiting with another friend, Mr. Thomas Manion. A priest acquaintance of both of us had invited him to attend a Cursillo. This he did, and when he came back after his 76-hour stint, he was so upset by the dangerous philosophy that he found expressed in that Cursillo that he invited me to discuss the matter with him. For some three or four hours he laid out in great detail from his own notes what had transpired. It was this that led to the publishing of the book To Deceive the Elect, of which he wrote the first chapter. Mr. Manion described how one goes on a Thursday night to attend a Cursillo, and how the first night is essentially spent in a retreat. Then the next three days, known respectively as the first, second, and third day of the Cursillo, are each divided into five general sessions called “Rollos.” The sessions on the first day were entitled as:


 * (1) Ideals;
 * (2) Sanctifying Grace;
 * (3) Laymen and the Church;
 * (4) Actual Grace; and
 * (5) Piety.

The Second Day was on
 * (1) Study;
 * (2) Action
 * (3) Sacraments;
 * (4) Obstacles to Grace; and
 * (5) On Leaders.

The last Day was on
 * (1) Environment;
 * (2) Life in Grace;
 * (3) Christianity in Action;
 * (4) Total Security, and
 * (5) After the Cursillo.

Now, before we conclude that these headings are in themselves quite benign, let us examine the course in greater detail.

At each of these sessions a talk was given to the entire group. After each session, the participants would be divided up into smaller sections of 7 to 9 people for a “group discussion.” Each group would be led by a man known as “the professor,” a man who had previously attended a Cursillo. What those attending the Cursillo did not know was that another man was placed in each of their groups who was known as the "hidden professor," or the “auxiliary.” And the purpose of placing this hidden member in the group was to bring out a hidden agenda--that individual, supposedly a novice, could direct the conversation of the participants in any given direction. He is also there, as is obvious, to contradict and oppose those who tended to lead the conversation away from the direction that the leaders wished. One should be very alert to these “hidden professors” in small group discussions, for this technique is by no means limited to Cursillo activities – it is a technique used in a whole host of organizations, especially religious and educational. No one of course can object to breaking up into groups for discussion; but when you have a hidden plant in the group to direct the conversation, without others being aware of it, then I think there is something inherently wrong with what is going on.

In addition to the group discussions, each participant would be asked to write a summary of what he thought of that particular session. The group would then evaluate the individual summaries and select the best to be passed up and read at a subsequent general session of all the participants. They were also instructed to make a collective drawing of their fellow participants, attempting to portray the impression that each had left on the others. Now clearly, such a set-up is an effective means of censoring--that is of preventing the expression of any line of thinking that deviates from what the leaders desire. Anyone in the group whose opinions deviated from the majority could be certain that his opinions would not receive approval, and would not be selected to be passed up for general presentation.

Mr. Manion described--and I will quote him briefly--a priest who said the following,- “Christ is in everyman and everyman is in Christ.” Another quote: “The question is not, is a man a Communist, but, is he hungry.”  This priest went on to say that “Communism will mellow, deny Marx, and become purely humanitarian and acceptable to Christianity.”  This is, of course, the Communist line, straight from Moscow--the idea that Communism is mellowing and that we can gradually merge Christianity with it. The priest gave an example of a Peruvian girl, a member of one of the 17 families that control the economic life of Peru. She became an organizer for the Communist Party and told her bishop, "I have finally found Christianity in Communism and realized the shamefulness of being rich when my people are poor." The priest commented that her concern for human suffering led her to Communism because she could not find that concern in Catholicism. Well, he must have been taught to read by the new methods, because that's not what the Encyclicals say.

During the Cursillo there is frequent use of group singing. Of course, once again, there is nothing wrong with group singing. But when it is utilized for a hidden purpose, such as fostering “group adherence,” one is again forced to raise questions. Mr. Manion described how they would have collective visits to the Tabernacle and how these men would kneel before it. On one such occasion a voice was heard saying “O Lord, I have been weak, make me strong.” When Mr. Manion looked up, he recognized one of the professors speaking. Then another voice was heard voicing a similar prayer –also emanating from another professor. And the intent was perfectly obvious. The participants were being encouraged to voice their sentiments in the presence of all the others--a sort of public confession.

Now, once again, there is no objection to voicing one's feelings audibly to Our Lord. but when the people are conned into it by “leaders,” one becomes suspicious. And since writing my book on the Cursillos, I have received correspondence from all over the country telling me that this is typical; that this sort of approach frequently leads to group confession. In fact, some people become so emotionally overwrought under such circumstances that they actually fabricate sins in order to fulfill, either their own needs, or those of the group. After Mr. Manion's experience, which is detailed in his “letter,” I became more aware of the widespread activities of the Cursillo Movement. The following summer I was in Lansing, Michigan, on vacation and the local papers announced that a national Cursillo Conference was to be held there I obtained a letter of introduction from the local priest and proceeded, with no difficulty, to register and attend the conference. There was nothing secret about the meeting, and I was able to do this in good conscience. The feature speaker at this conference was Mr. Harry Golden, the editor-publisher of the Carolina Israelite, and well known for his liberal inclinations, as well as for being associated with several Communist front organizations. Mr. Golden didn't talk about the projected apostolic responsibilities of the Catholic Layman--he spoke about race and immigration and about the alleged flight of the Negro. He made a very subtle attack on patriotism and a very vicious attack on the Macarran-Walter Act. There wasn't much opportunity to contradict or challenge him, for the audience had been put into a rallying mood just before the talk, by everyone standing and locking arms, rocking back and forth, and singing – guess what we were singing? “We shall overcome!” Mr. Golden had a real key quote in his speech which bears notice. He said, “the use of Christianity as a weapon for social justice will be the big news story 50 years from now!” Let this point be clearly understood. He said Christianity is to be used as a weapon for social justice--of course, Harry Golden's concept of social justice--and 700 people stood up and cheered, hollering “De Colores” till the rafters shook.

Quite naturally, at this national conference, we were frequently broken up into smaller groups. And at one of these group sessions I heard a participant describing how the Cursillistas in Saginaw, Michigan were directed to involve themselves in the problems of housing, employment, public education and public accommodation for the Negro. Another participant from Muskego, Michigan stood up and told how one of their priests had formed a corporation for secretly purchasing property with the intent of placing Negro families in all areas of the city. I don't think that all this is quite in accord with the principles laid down in Rerum Novarum. At the end of this particular session, the moderator concluded by saying, “we have to come out and be against Goldwater.”

At yet another session I attended, a man from New York told how, in opposition to the wishes of the Bishop of Rochester, men would be locally recruited and taken to Pennsylvania to attend a Cursillo, and then be returned to Rochester to spread the Cursillista message. Now surely this is an act of disobedience to Church authority. Next, I went out to visit the exhibits, and one that really caught my eye was the one on Negro heritage. Now, there is a lot of fine Negro heritage in this country, but what the Cursillista convention was interested in was a special kind of “Negro heritage.” There were five pictures hanging behind the stand. One of these was Robert Weaver, whose Communist front affiliations go way back to the Index or Appendix Nine of the Dies Committee in 1943. Another picture was of Martin Luther King, whose list of Communist-front affiliations need hardly be called to mind. The other pictures were of some of the lesser stars of the Communist movement in this country. The same booth was pushing a record called “Adventures in Negro History.” This sounded interesting until one saw that the names listed on the cover were all identified Communists. But perhaps my experience was, so far, too limited to allow me to do justice to the movement.

So the next day I went back and heard a Monsignor from Detroit get up and say, “it is more important to join the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People than the Holy Name Society; it is more important to join CORE than the Legion of Mary; it is more important to join the Southern Student Movement than the Young Christian Workers.” All this seemed to me to be more psycho-political than religious--this priest was certainly telling the audience to leave their Catholic action committees and go into the Civil rights Movements.

Another priest got up and said, “consider the judgment scene, 1964; I was hungry, you supported the Alliance for Progress to help the people in need. I was thirsty, you worked for the Peace Corps engineers in foreign lands and with their knowledge you irrigated the land; I was sick, and you wrote letters to your congressmen in support of Medicare because you knew the needs that the poor and the aged have for hospitals and medicine. I was in prison, you came to Mississippi to visit me. I was in need of rest, you fought through the legislatures in your communities so I could live where I pleased.” Now this isn't the Gospel of Christ. Remember in Quadragesimo Anno it says, “no one can be at the same time a sincere Catholic and a true Socialist.”

Before I left, a bishop gave a talk on the Eucharist. “We of today have an almost opposite view of Christianity,” he said, “than we had in our childhood. Now we see Christ in people rather than in the Tabernacle. If you want to receive Holy Communion, meet people. You may have to spell Holy Communion with a small ‘h’ and a small ‘c’.” Now this is pure unadulterated Humanism. Well, I had had just about enough, but before leaving, I went to one of the booths and ordered the only book on Cursillo in English I could find – the Cursillo Leader's Manual by Bishop Hervas.

This proved most interesting. The first section of this book is on just how to select potential Cursillistas, and those of you who are students in the mental health fields will be pleased to know that we are all qualified psychologists and psychiatrists. This is what the Director's Manual advises the laymen who are going to invite individuals to attend a Cursillo to do: “Be extremely careful not to admit those who because of psychological or psychopathic conditions might harm the intense spiritual and emotional activity that is developing in a Cursillo.” Quite apart from the fact that absolutely unqualified laymen are to screen out those with psychiatric disorders, this statement also informs us that the enlightenment that Cursillo offers is not to be available to all men. This is Illuminism.


 * The Formation Of the Cursillista

How is the Cursillista conditioned to conform to the ideals of the Cursillo? As mentioned, on the first night a retreat is conducted. This is followed by the Rollos over the next three days. Now the Leader's Manual says, with regard to the first Rollos, that “enthusiasm will not be the outstanding note in the presentation of the theme because neither their nature nor the inclination of the Cursillista permits it.” During this phase very little direct pressure is applied to stimulate emotion, and it is pointed out that this is intended to disarm the Cursillista. To disarm him from resistance which stems from his fear that his friends are "trying to convert him." I didn't think that he needed any conversion, for surely, he is already a Catholic. Moving to a late Rollo, we find the Leader's Manual providing a description of what should occur in terms that sound for all the world like a seduction scene. “The environment is now an even tenor, there being very little resistance to overcome. Many begin to show concern about what they have experienced during the Cursillo, in the face of the difficulties which will face them when they return home.” Not only has the Cursillista lost his resistance to “formation,” he is going to have difficulties when he returns to his presumably Catholic home. We know that there are such difficulties, because wives have described the extremely agitated condition in which their husbands return to them, and the same is true when wives attend Cursillos. We know cases of husbands or wives actually leaving their families. As a matter of fact, there is an article in the psychiatric literature entitled “the Cursillo Psychosis.” Now a psychosis is not a mild personality disorder. It is a serious disease and to say the least, the psychological clearances which we spoke of earlier, are obviously less than effective. The Cursillista is “formed” by his experience, and indeed, the Leader's Manual in several places emphasizes this aspect of his experience. To quote it directly, “not to be formed is to be deformed.” In other words, if you don't subscribe to the formation that the Cursillo aims at providing, you are deformed--that is, you are ill, or sick. So, with the passage of time and Rollos, by the end of the second day, the Cursillista has become softened up – and indeed, he must be if he is to accept the following “message,” which according to the Leader's Manual, he must receive. Many Cursillistas will tell you that this message isn't used, but if you read the Leader's Manual, you will note that Bishop Hervas insists the movement be kept in its primitive purity, and if this is so, no Cursillista has the authority to dispense with this "heavenly communication." And here then is the message the Cursillista receives directly from “our Lord”,


 * Jesus Christ speaks to you. Hear Me. I have preferred you to the rest and I have called you because I want you and I need you. Be serene; think, now you are in the Cursillo. It was not circumstances, not your companions, not your friends, not someone else you know, but it was I that called you and prepared you with love and high hopes during these three days which, if you wish, can give new direction to your life.

Notice how the message informs the participant that Christ has “preferred you to the rest.” Now, where else in Catholic theology are we told that Our Lord prefers some of us more than others? Is not sainthood open to all of us? The original title of this talk was “The Deification of Man.” It behooves us then, to show, where in the Leader's Manual it is made perfectly clear that man is deified – that is Cursillista man. Section 102 of the Manual entitled “The Effects of Habitual Grace” informs us that habitual grace,


 * "...makes us God-like, it makes us partakers in the nature of God, just as iron put into fire not only loses its impurities, but also acquires the properties of fire; in a similar way, a soul through habitual grace, is not only cleansed of sin, but partakes of the nature of God. Grace gives us the capacity to know and love Him as he knows and loves Himself. And since the nature of God consists in knowing and loving Himself, the partaking of this love and this knowledge is to partake of His nature. Man can be called deified, Apotheosized, filled with God, because minerals resemble God as being; plants and animals as living beings; man and angels as intelligent beings, the soul in grace, as God. Consequently:  We are God. Let us regard highly our greater dignity.”

Now, one might well be able to accept the earlier parts of this statement, provided they are understood in the Catholic sense. But the final conclusion, “consequently, we are God, let us regard highly our greater dignity,” seems a little hard to swallow.

After getting this message the Cursillista sleeps through the night, during which time the professors meet to discuss the various participants and go through their papers and notes. Among other things, this allows them to select out those for further post-Cursillo development. The Cursillista has by now been completely softened up; he has had his Catholic attitudes redirected into psycho-political directions; he has lost the security that being a member of the One True Church provides. And so the third day begins. Turning again to the Leader's Manual, we find the following instruction--

In order to maintain a new soldier's high combat morale, the leader must make an orderly arrangement of the acts of the third day. Many times during this day the slogan “All is provided for” will be repeated to the Cursillistas in compliance with the logical and Chronological development of the theme that is being presented to them.

What is going on here? The various Rollos on this day have been directed towards the culmination of the fifth and final Rollo entitled “Total Security.” A new security is going to be provided for the participant, but this security is not the security of being in the Church – it is that provided by the group, and the group is of course the Cursillo. And so the participant is told as he comes to the end of the third day about the “Cursillista beyond the Cursillo.”

Remember, when this man was invited, it was to attend a three-day session that he couldn't understand unless he attended it. You could compare it to a retreat, but it is made quite clear in the invitation that is not a retreat. And now, having placed his security in the “group,” he is told that there will be subsequent reunions. He is told that the Cursillo is only the beginning, and this at the time when he thought he was finishing it. He is further told that these group reunions are a weapon for recruiting new leaders and new Cursillistas. Now such an approval is characteristic of secret societies in general. The Leader's Manual comments about this stage of the formation of the participant.

It is not enough to tell them to do certain things, and that fervor will automatically come. Perhaps the deep seated reason is that, although they may have been living in grace for many years, their lack of commitment has caused them to bury the talents they have received from God. They were close to the Lord, but they lacked the idealism, self-surrender and spirit of charity that are the normal conditions for the cultivation of grace and spiritual progress. Their reaction, therefore, they will have to be told, cannot be the same as that of the companion in the Cursillo who stands fascinated before a Christ whom he did not know, or he had lost and just found again.

Here we have an open attack on the former condition of the Cursillistas. And here we have all the traditional Catholic terms being misused, for both “charity,” and the "cultivation of grace and spiritual progress" are made entirely dependent upon following the Cursillo line. And pray, what is wrong in standing before a Christ, found again, in fascination?

Now we again come to a statement that is illustrative of the sort of nomenclature used in the literature of secret societies. Those who wish to delve into such things should be aware of Canon Law Number 1399 which forbids Catholics to study this sort of material without the permission of a pastor--as a matter of fact, a Catholic is forbidden to read Communist literature without permission. A person who is known to his pastor, and who has good reason to research into such matters, and who has the appropriate background to do so, will without difficulty get such permission--up to a certain point. But a Catholic should be under the constant guidance of a pastor, for he is dealing with the productions of the Devil himself. In the literature of secret societies one finds repeated reference to such things as the seven planes of existence, including the astral plane; reference to egos, to mind, to adepts, to brotherhoods, to masters and to unconditional supporters. Let us turn to the section in the Leader's Manual dealing with the Cursillista beyond the Cursillo.

The preceding Rollo has shown the way to perseverance, driving away any cloud that might in any way darken the Cursillistas's inner horizon. The moment is at hand to cast the whole light of the Cursillo over the parts or means to perseverance that have been presented. As we set forth our Apostolic ideas, there happens to us what happened to the Master; a small group of unconditionally loyal supporters at the hour of trial grows smaller.

Of course, I admit that it would be impossible to conclude on the basis of what I have read to you that Cursillo is a “secret society.” But taken in the context of everything else we know, it is certainly highly suggestive.


 * The End Of the Cursillo

By now, after seventy-six hours of intensive indoctrination, the Cursillo is about to finish. The Cursillista has been brought to an emotional crisis; and it is in this state that, after the final Rollo, he enters what is called the Clausura or final session. Here he is greeted by some 50 to 100 people who have previously made a Cursillo--greeted with emotional hugs, kisses and tears. He is made to feel that as a result of his experience, he really belongs to an elite group--those who will be the leaven in the bread, --those who will lead and direct the future development of Christianity. At such a time he can hardly stand up and express his misgivings or dislikes.

Actually, in an article written by the former editor of Ave Maria magazine, we are told that a priest who did at this point protest, was physically manhandled. But let us again turn to the Leader's Manual which informs us that at this point--


 * The Cursillista will have weighed in his mind the Cursillo environment (i.e. the “group”) against that which awaits him on the outside. He feels nostalgia at leaving the former and fears to bring himself into contact with the latter. The Clausura opens up a new perspective to him; shows him a new environment. It convinces him that he will not be alone. This first contact, enthusiastic, and fired with Apostolic zeal, sears his heart.

It is during this terminal service that the Cursillista is given an identification card to carry. And this identification card states that the bearer betrays what its possession signifies if he does not carry with him the service sheet kept up to date showing that he is making weekly reunions. The Cursillista has to make these reunions or he is betraying, not only the group, but Christ Himself. Let us now examine the organizational setup of these reunions that occur after the Cursillo has closed. Their nature is also reminiscent of secret societies. Here is what the Leader's Manual says about those who miss a group reunion,--

Those who profess the superficial Catholicism of formulas and routine practices cannot understand what a group meeting is because, being living Christianity, it is suitable only for what is alive.

Those who do not go to the reunions are superficial Catholics who for all practical purposes are dead! Presumably, the same applies to those who have not been fortunate enough to make a Cursillo at all! The Leader's Manual continues,--

The most fervent should be assigned to various groups. It is earnestly recommended that these selected elements form another group with its own meetings from which flow Apostolic fire and concrete rules to make it fruitful and effective. It is absolutely essential to set up martyr groups ready to sacrifice themselves and to follow courageously in the footsteps of the Divine Master so that they may transform into action the spiritual dedication towards which Apostolic grace presses them, and that they may be the lively ferment for the Apostolic center for the environment and for the other groups.... Some Cursillistas may be allowed to form part of two or more groups. In this way they will meet at times with those they want to meet with, and once a week they must meet with.

You can see outlined here higher groups having their own agenda, with the members at this select level belonging to lower groups where they can lead the agenda and transmit to the lower groups the directives of the higher group without the lower groups having any knowledge of the higher echelons. This type of “cell” structure has long been used by the Communists and has functioned extremely well to limit the exposure of leaders from defectors. Note also that no minutes are kept, so there is never any record of what has been discussed. Nor is there any evidence that in all this that the Cursillistas are subject to the authority of either priests or bishops. This is in sharp contrast to Catholic Action which Pope Saint Pius X said must be subject to the direction of the hierarchy.


 * Is Cursillo Brainwashing?

I said in my Introduction that Cursillo is brainwashing, or if it is not brainwashing, it uses brainwashing techniques. I would now like to bring out several observations about brainwashing. There is an excellent book called The Battle for the Mind by Dr. William Sargent in which it is pointed out that there are six conditions required for brainwashing in a prison camp. Let's carefully note these conditions and see whether they are present in a Cursillo.
 * (1) Training in a special area or camp; such is certainly present when a group of individuals are separated from their normal environment in a motel or retreat house for 72 continuous and intense hours.
 * (2) Fatigue. Now, I have not contended that there is fatigue in a Cursillo--but certainly five Rollos a day, each followed by discussion groups, means a long and tiring time.
 * (3) Tension. If one considers the language in the Leader's Manual, one can see that quite a tense state is created in the participant's mind. This tension is increased in the discussion groups where he is forced to oppose his individual views to those of the controlled group.
 * (4) Uncertainty, and I doubt that one can conclude that anything but uncertainty results from the attack on one's former Catholic status.
 * (5) Vicious language--in the above discussion the use of vicious language to attack unacceptable positions has not, for lack of space, been discussed. Thomas Manion's “letter” will give examples of this.
 * (6) Seriousness. Of course, the Cursillista who is attending is not at first in any way aware of the seriousness of what is going on--but the leaders most certainly are.

Please note that I have not and never will attack any of the individuals acting as leaders for the Cursillo Movement. Many of them are sincere Catholics – but this is precisely the point, and shows the subversive nature of the Movement. It is the sincere Catholic--the elect--who is being deceived. Now, I think we can assume or conclude that, in fact, we have the six necessary conditions for brainwashing also present in a Cursillo. The possible exception to this statement is the absence of a “prison environment.” But let us turn to the experiments of Pavlov with his dogs. Pavlov showed with dogs, that when they cooperated in experiments testing their tolerance to stress that they were much more easily broken down. The loyal efforts they made to please their master proved their own undoing. Now imagine going to what you think will be a religious experience--going voluntarily with an open and cooperative attitude--and finding yourself in a brainwashing session. Successful brainwashing is much more easily accomplished when the subject cooperates. Exhausting physical factors are not then necessary. I am actually convinced that under such circumstances, you can accomplish within three days, what might under other circumstances take six months or a year. And such is the case with all the various forms of Sociometry, or Group Dynamics, or Cursillo–or whatever it may be called in this country; the participants are going voluntarily. The only exception is Synanon, where the participants are either prisoners or drug addicts.

(to be continued)