The Pastoral Letter on Cursillos in Christianity – Folha de S. Paulo, December 3, 1972
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer will undoubtedly go down in the history of the Church in our century. His intelligence and culture, together with his boldness in defending the good cause in critical circumstances, ensure this abundantly. Is there any facet that defines the Bishop of Campos for contemporaries and posterity, outweighing the others? Probably. It could be: “The Bishop of the great Pastoral Letters.”
Several of the works published by this prelate have been authentic milestones in the Church’s internal life. The recent collection Por um Cristianismo Autêntico (For an Authentic Christianity) (Editora Vera Cruz, São Paulo), in which he compiled his eleven main works, makes this entirely clear to any scholar.
The first edition of this collection has sold out and is already outdated from a certain point of view. The Bishop of Campos has just published a new Pastoral Letter destined to equal or exceed the most important of the previous ones in terms of impact. It is the “Pastoral Letter on Cursillos in Christianity,” also published by Editora Vera Cruz.
I do not intend to summarize the document, which I believe should be read and studied in its entirety. Therefore, I simply say enough about the Pastoral Letter to encourage my readers to read it.
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Cursillos de Cristiandad are very widespread among us. Anyone who wants to stay informed about current events in Brazil cannot help but be interested in this movement.
Bishop Mayer says that heterogeneous doctrinal tendencies are evident in the movement. Truth and error, good and evil, have free rein in the movement’s official publications. This seriously affects significant sectors of the movement.
In his pastoral letter, the Bishop of Campos cites extensive documentation.
What has this lucid theologian found in this vast mass of documents? Here are some Cursillo texts quoted by Bishop Mayer that will help the reader gauge the true extent of the trends and errors rampant in some Cursillo circles. With this, they will be more inclined to read the momentous pastoral letter.
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What is your impulse, dear reader, when you find yourself before an image of Our Lord Jesus Christ, such as a crucifix or a replica of the Holy Shroud of Turin? What movements of the soul does your faith in Jesus Christ, our Divine Redeemer, inspire when you stand before a tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is present?
Obviously, you are led to adoration, gratitude, boundless trust, and profound humility. Accordingly, it would never occur to you to address Him as a man of little composure would address anyone he met on the street, for example, by calling Him “Boss.” Yet the Second National Meeting of Diocesan Secretariats of Cursillos in Christianity in Brazil recommended that during visits to the Blessed Sacrament, Cursillistas should see the Divine Savior as “Christ, our ‘Boss,’ our older brother, our great friend and companion” (Pastoral, p. 73). In short, a great buddy.
What do you think of this, reader?
Someone might object that this may be merely an unfortunate expression written in haste. Then read this excerpt from the article “My Chat with Christ,” by a Cursillista (Pastoral, pp. 73-74):
“Today I want to have a chat with Christ. But a chat that doesn’t require “brains” or any more effort than the absolute rest I hope to find in my faith in Him today and always.
“Christ is here beside me, sitting on my bed. I immediately like his appearance: “super cool,” wearing navy blue jeans and a light blue tunic. On his feet, he wears a pair of blue sneakers, and around his neck, a gold chain with a cross. From his head, light, straight hair falls peacefully to his shoulders. How wonderful my Christ is! … I begin to speak.
“Look, Christ, I’ve made a lot of discoveries lately, and the biggest one is this: I love You. … You need to see my joy when I realize that my ‘big sin’ becomes a ‘little sin’ in the face of the power of forgiveness that You embody. What I find most fabulous about this is that You don’t require us to ask for forgiveness: repentance is enough for us to feel we’ve done wrong, and we already feel accepted by You.”
Doesn’t this way of addressing Christ amount to subversion in the transcendental and delicate realm of piety?
This subversive aspect is not limited to the realm of piety. It also appears in the economic and social spheres. One of the most important parts of Bishop Mayer’s Pastoral Letter is Part III, which addresses “Cursillos and Subversion.”
I will limit myself here to transcribing, with brief commentary, some of the topics mentioned in Bishop Mayer’s Pastoral Letter regarding this matter.
“Structural changes in Latin America must be rapid, urgent, and total.” This statement appears in Fr. Edgar Beltran’s important Cursillo magazine, Trípode (Pastoral, p. 81). A total change implies replacing everything. We must have new structures in which no element of the current ones survives. Given that private property is one of the most striking elements, it should not exist in the new order envisioned by the aforementioned priest and endorsed by the Cursillo magazine.
In an article in Trípode titled “En qué coinciden marxistas y cristianos?” [Where Marxists and Christians Agree] (Pastoral, p. 90), Mr. José Maria de Llanos expresses himself in the same vein. For him, Catholic and Marxist doctrine coincide on four points: 1) The foundation of a new structure, of a new humanity, is economic in nature; 2) Peace requires this new order and will come about through revolution; 3) The revolution may be violent if it cannot be achieved peacefully; 4) “The property regime must be transformed by energetic intervention by national and international public authorities.” Thus, the Marxist transformation of property and the transformation desired by the Cursillistas appear similar.
These texts are sufficient to awaken in the discerning reader the conviction that strange and dangerous tendencies are evident in leading Cursillo publications. “The finger reveals the giant,” as astute people know well.
What is the true extent of these tendencies in Cursillos? This is a question astute people cannot help but want clarified. I advise them to read Bishop Mayer’s full text, and their justified curiosity will be amply satisfied.
But the world is not only for the astute. There are also those who consider it biased and hasty to judge the giant by his finger alone. They need to see him in his entirety. They will probably say that the few quotes I give here are only enough to show the existence of very sporadic and exceptional errors in Cursillos. Proving that these errors are widespread throughout the movement would require additional documents.
Of course, I cannot transcribe all these documents here. However, those who wish to be truly impartial must inform themselves thoroughly. Read Bishop Mayer’s Pastoral Letter, and you will be enlightened.
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How should a Cursillista respond to Bishop Mayer’s document? If he disagrees with the errors identified in the pastoral letter, he should be grateful to the Bishop of Campos for clarifying them.
If he agrees with these errors, he should engage with the author of the pastoral letter and present arguments showing that what Bishop Mayer calls an error is, in fact, sound Catholic doctrine.
For a Cursillista, I see no way out unless he resorts to hearsay and personal invectives against the great prelate, or detractions against the TFP, which is spreading the latter’s work. Far be it from me to say that they should go that far. In fact, such a tactic would not even be useful, as it would be seen only as an attempt to escape the serene but inconvenient doctrinal dialogue that the subject requires.
