The Study of the Environment

There was an event that profoundly marked Eduardo’s life and that of the Cursillos de Cristiandad Movement. The Holy Spirit was blowing:

On February 6, 1940, Pope Pius XII delivered a speech to parish priests and Lenten preachers in Rome, urging them to seek new and different paths from the usual ones to ensure that everyone, especially those who had drifted away, could come to know God’s love.

Eduardo Bonnín came across a book titled “S.S. Pius XII and Catholic Action,” which included that speech in which the Holy Father stated:

“Regarding these two aspects of your people, it is the duty of the parish priest to form a quick and agile perception, a clear and meticulously detailed picture... on the one hand, of the faithful population, particularly its most outstanding members, from whom elements might be drawn to promote Catholic Action; and on the other hand, of the groups that have distanced themselves from the practice of Christian life. These too are sheep belonging to the parish, stray sheep; and you, dearest sons, are responsible shepherds for them as well. As good pastors, you must not avoid work or effort to seek them out, to win them back, nor allow yourselves rest until all find refuge, life, and joy in returning to the fold of Jesus Christ.”

Eduardo explained how deeply Pius XII’s words impacted him, saying, “I took this not just into my head but into my heart—or into both places, rather—and I said, ‘Something must be done.’”

As a result of the profound impact the Holy Father’s words had on him, in 1943, Eduardo developed the outline from which the talk “Study of the Environment” emerged. This was the first of all the talks and the one that initiated and inspired the structuring of all the others, being the beginning and foundation of everything that followed.

The first Cursillo de Cristiandad in history

“What we wanted at the beginning—and what we still want—is for man’s freedom to encounter the spirit of God.

Everything revolved around this central idea, and we were convinced that much of its effectiveness depended on finding a way to facilitate this joyful encounter.

Thus, we held the first Cursillo in August 1944 in a chalet in Cala Figuera de Santanyí, with fourteen participants and following the same outline used today, except for two talks (the first and the last), which were added in the 1950s.”

Additionally, Eduardo introduced a key methodological element: the celebration of the «Víacrusis» using the text of Father Llanos, as the first act of the Retreat.

Eduardo Bonnín initially faced significant difficulties in implementing his innovative method. The main obstacle was his insistence that a single system should serve people of different cultural and social levels, both non-believers and people of faith.

The debate over whether to separate groups based on economic, religious, and cultural levels remained ongoing, but for Eduardo, this was a non-negotiable issue.

The first Cursillo de Cristiandad in history, following Eduardo Bonnín’s outline, was held in a «chalet» in Cala Figuera de Santanyí, Mallorca, from August 19 to 23, 1944.

The Spiritual Director of this first Cursillo de Cristiandad was Reverend Juan Juliá, with Eduardo Bonnín acting as the «rector» and Jaime Riutort and José Ferragut as «instructors.»

There were 14 participants: Sebastián Mestre, Antonio Binimelis, Leopoldo Febrer, Bartolomé Obrador, Francisco Oliver, Salvador Escribano, Damián Bover, Antonio Mesquida, Francisco Estarellas, Antonio Obrador, Antonio Mas, and three who are still alive today: Miguel Rigo, Onofre Arbona, and Francisco Grimalt.

Without a doubt, the Cursillo in Cala Figuera, officially called the 5th Cursillo for Pilgrimage Leaders, was truly a Cursillo de Cristiandad due to its fruits of personal conversion and environmental impact. The other leaders of the diocesan Catholic Action likely saw it as just another Pilgrimage Leaders’ Cursillo—only shorter and incorporating some innovations characteristic of «Eduardo’s ways.» These innovations, however, proved to be more effective than those from «Madrid’s ways» and were therefore worth repeating. The debate continued over whether Cursillos should be specialized based on the culture and religiosity of participants. For Bonnín, as mentioned earlier, his open and interclass experience during military service made this point essential and non-negotiable.

“Man must encounter Christ in the emptiness of his inner silence. That is why, from the very beginning, the focus of our efforts has been ‘to reach from the surface of man to within man.’ This is the true novelty of the Cursillo Movement, what sets it apart from other approaches that may be very good but are not the same and do not achieve the same results. This is its genuine characteristic and what has made it possible for Christ’s message to reach those who had been distant—whether uninformed, misinformed, or poorly informed.”

“What we now call Cursillos de Cristiandad were conceived by a group of laypeople, and the idea, purpose, structure, and arrangement of the talks were entirely lay-led. However, when we presented them to the hierarchy, we submitted all our talks, notes, and materials. Then, responding to our request and because we understood that we needed to feel more connected to the Church, we asked for priests to be appointed. Thanks to them (and this should be said in honor of their great understanding and the freedom they allowed us), the Cursillo Movement was able to have a happy infancy, with no greater concerns than the usual ones of a new movement that was breaking—and continues to break—many established frameworks.”

The conversion of two condemned to death

Provincial Prison of Palma de Mallorca, January 28, 1949 (Church of the Capuchins)

Two young men sentenced to death were living their last night that day, and what happened demonstrates that when a community can count on a united and active group of Christians willing to act where needed, people with a spirit of tension and quick reflexes, the possibilities for God there are immense because such people spread life in a decisive and unstoppable way.

An example of what this means is what happened in Mallorca 21 days after the Cursillo of San Honorato began, the first numbered one. At that time, two young men, one from Ibiza and the other from Mallorca, had been sentenced to death by garrote vil by a Military Tribunal due to a double murder committed in the Mallorcan town of Montuiri.

Only 24 hours remained until the execution, and their restless souls were not in a condition to present themselves before the Father in Heaven. Moreover, there were no signs of repentance or a desire to die at peace with God. The priest of the then Provincial Prison of Palma (now the Church of the Capuchins), seeing that his attempts to make them reason were futile, contacted Eduardo Bonnín, who at that time was the President of the Youth of Catholic Action, and asked him to see if someone could go to the prison to speak with them, since they were young and so were the prisoners.

Eduardo contacted the Cursillistas from previous Cursillos and asked for spiritual support to back the two who would go to the prison to meet with the prisoners. Many of these Cursillistas spent the whole night praying the rosary along Palma’s avenues, as the execution was scheduled for six in the morning. Then Eduardo called Andrés Rullán, a prominent leader and vice president, and together they went to the prison, becoming key witnesses and protagonists of that moment.

The condemned men were Ribas and Trobat, who were fulfilling their last wish by eating a paella, with light magazines and several boxes of cigars. When Eduardo later recounted the detail about the cigars, he mentioned that he remembered entering the room where the two condemned men were and noticing that Trobat had up to 16 half-smoked cigars… The prisoners might have appeared carefree, but deep down, it was clear that their laughter and jokes were not genuine; rather, they were trying to mask the inner drama they were experiencing.

Eduardo and Andrés arrived terrified, with the goal of making them see the Truth, and Eduardo, turning a crucifix in his hands, began speaking to them with these inspired words:

«You are the luckiest guys in the world. When a person is important, friends appear from everywhere to use their influence. I have come here to ask for your influence. You are in an extraordinary position compared to others because no one knows the day they will die. However, you do…»

The condemned men were extremely surprised.

«You know that tomorrow morning, at the first hour, you will be executed. Think that if a person—when their time comes—is in a state of grace with God, everything is saved; and if not, everything is lost.

Today, what happened with the good thief who accompanied the Lord on the Cross could happen again. If you put yourselves in God's grace, in other words, if you confess, you will be in a position to repeat what happened on Mount Calvary—when the Lord said to the good thief: 'Today you will be with me in Paradise.'

Heaven is being offered to you on a silver platter, and you are about to make the best deal of your life.»

At first, they thought it was all very beautiful, but then they began to understand that it was not only beautiful but also true. By dawn, they were convinced, confessed, and bid each other farewell… happy and excited, saying: «See you soon in Heaven!»

At the time of the execution, Trobat said: «Eduardo, Eduardo… give me the crucifix.» And he died holding Eduardo’s crucifix in his hands.

One of them left this letter for his mother:

Palma de Mallorca, midnight, January 28, 1949

Dearest parents and beloved siblings,

These lines I write are the last ones you will receive from a son and brother.

I write them not so much with a pen as with my heart. They are inspired by filial love, and I hope you will keep them for all the days of your life.

I am in the final hours; that is to say, only a few hours remain for me to leave this world of misery and tears, but which God, in His great mercy, has granted me so that I may prepare my soul for everlasting happiness.

After a turbulent life and being a victim of my surroundings, God grants me the immense grace to recognize my past faults through a sincere confession, which opens wide the doors of Heaven for me.

I only have to ask you to forgive the troubles I may have caused you with my misdeeds and to recommend to my siblings, whom I love with all my soul, never to stray from the path of duty, the one you, dearest parents, have instilled in us with your good advice.

Never before have I remembered you with as much love as I do at this moment, and I would like these lines, which I write in the most crucial moments of my life, to serve as an atonement for all the grief I have caused you throughout my life; and for my siblings, I hope they also serve as a recommendation to keep them present throughout their lives so that they live as God expects from His most faithful servants.

I have reached the end of my journey.

Thanks be to God, who has granted me these moments to amend my past life and die as men of faith die.

I am surrounded by people who are devoted to alleviating my suffering. Only faith gives encouragement and strength to endure such tribulation. If you wish to know details of my final moments, write to our chaplain, whose name is José M. Fabián Rubio, and he will inform you of my last hours in this world.

Be certain that I am going to Heaven. There we will live happily for all eternity.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, in You I trust.

Written by my own hand.

My last thought on Earth is for you. Farewell. Until eternity.

Your son and brother, who awaits you in Heaven.

XI Assembly of the Young Members of Catholic Action, November 20, 1949

Prologue

Between November 19 and 20, 1949, the XI Assembly of the Young Members of Catholic Action of Mallorca was held, and we believe it is appropriate to share Eduardo Bonnín’s address during the event. This was a historic Assembly, where the decision was made either to support or set aside the Cursillos, which at that time were held under the name “Cursillos de Conquista.” Thus, in this assembly, Eduardo Bonnín, as president of the Young Members of Catholic Action, requested the support of the Bishop of Mallorca, Juan Hervás, for the Cursillos in response to the conflicts and attacks they had generated due to the “anarchic” evangelical fervor of the new cursillistas, who had previously been distant from Christ.

In this assembly, Bishop Hervás, fully aware of the clash between the novelty of the Cursillo and the prevailing conservatism in his diocese, blessed them with both hands, granting the Cursillos— which years later would be known as “Cursillos de Cristiandad”—entry into the Church through its grand doors.

Furthermore, it was also in this assembly that the incorporation of the group reunion as an essential element of the post-Cursillo method was accepted.

Eduardo Bonnín explained it this way in the book Aprendiz de Cristiano

“It was established that each year a Catholic Action assembly would be held, and the president had to present a summary of the past year's activities and a project for the future. It was my turn to give that report, and I listed all the activities carried out, but I emphasized that, above all those activities, the Cursillos de Cristiandad had stood out. At that moment, I publicly asked Dr. Hervás to declare whether he wanted them or not, because, as I told him verbatim: «If you tell us to stop, we will stop; and if you tell us to continue, we will continue.» And I asked three times so that everyone would hear it.

Then he stood up and said: «I do not bless the Cursillos with one hand, but with both.» The people were overjoyed, and when he was about to get into his car, we carried him all the way to the Episcopal House with the car on our shoulders. When he got out, he said: «I didn’t like that at all,» and I replied: «It would be the last thing we needed for you to have liked it.» Then he asked: “And now, how does this end?” They opened the doors for us, and we concluded with a prayer before the Blessed Sacrament; there were nearly four hundred of us.”

The group reunion

In this same Assembly, the group reunion was definitively confirmed as an element of the method:

Friendship groups and their meetings had characterized the movement from its beginnings, but the group reunion as a method emerged later, in 1949, to make what had previously been spontaneous more accessible to many.

When Eduardo Bonnín proposed translating into a method—through the “group reunion”—the previously informal reality of post-Cursillo friendship groups, and especially when he sought to incorporate this method as an essential component of the Cursillos, D. Juan Capó and his closest collaborators strongly opposed it, arguing that the proposal was a veiled attack on spiritual direction.

But Eduardo fundamentally defended the groups because he was convinced that sharing what is lived in an atmosphere of friendship and not subordination—as in spiritual direction—was a vital need of Christian life.

It was very difficult for the idea to gain acceptance that the Group Reunion did not threaten anything, certainly did not replace spiritual direction, and was, moreover, essential to the post-Cursillo; but in the end, the proposal was accepted, undoubtedly because some laypeople close to Capó, such as Andrés Rullán, supported the idea.

Consequently, Capó—and therefore the Bishop—ended up accepting the group reunion as an essential part of the method.

The annual Assembly of 1949, held in November, included a presentation on Groups, which definitively settled the matter, incorporating the weekly group reunion as a specific and essential element of the method.

The Cursillos are the harvest of your own blood

Finally, we also share an excerpt from Bishop Hervás’s closing speech at this same assembly, in which he praised and blessed the Cursillos:

“From the very beginning, I want to address a concept that has surfaced several times in this meeting: that of the Cursillos. Dearest young people: I bless them and fully approve of them... (Applause). And I bless them, not with one hand, but with both. (The assembly members rise to their feet and cheer the Prelate). How could I not bless and approve them if they are the harvest of your own blood, kneaded with the sacrifices of your generous youth, if they yield, as you can all see, splendid fruits of holiness?”

Due to the significance of what took place, we invite you to delve deeper into the speech that Eduardo Bonnín delivered at the XI Assembly of the Young Members of Mallorca on November 20, 1949, which elicited the strong response from Bishop Juan Hervás that granted the Cursillos— which years later would be known as “Cursillos de Cristiandad”—entry into the Church through its grand doors.

Preamble

In August 1944, during a Cursillo for Pilgrim Leaders, Eduardo Bonnín put his apostolic ideas into practice with a preference for “the distant,” including those who were already close. The foundational platform of what was beginning was supported by the pillars that upheld the structure. It was the hidden stones, those not seen—the prisoners and others suffering from illnesses—who prayed for the flourishing Cursillos.

With its method and new purpose, about five Cursillos were held at an average of one per year until 1948, and they continued from 1949 onward, the year when the slow “drip” ended, and twenty Cursillos were conducted. It was then that they began to be numbered, and only after seven or eight Cursillos did the possibility of reaching young people outside Catholic Action with greater frequency start to become clear.

Catholic Action at that time was the ecclesial association that mobilized almost “everything.”

Here we share an excerpt from what Eduardo asked of and offered to Bishop Hervás at the XI Assembly:

"To the Cursillos and to the Groups —Most Excellent and Reverend Sir— only one thing is missing; that Your Excellency, upon being presented with the conclusions regarding them, to humbly submit them to your pastoral approval, grant them, with your signature, the approval of Christ, whose legation you hold among the sheep of this Diocese. If you reject them, no one should doubt that we would continue working according to the new methods suggested by the one whom the Holy Spirit has placed to guide the Mallorcan flock; if you approve them, if you approve them, no one should doubt either, that nothing will then, despite all the criticisms, all the murmurs, and all the prejudices, be able to stop us on our path, because then we will walk in the paths of the one who told us: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. And, nothing more, to embark with renewed energy on the tasks of the new course. The path is already drawn, but not trodden, we must begin walking it with trust in God and the objective of our action aimed at infinity.”

Below is the full text of Eduardo Bonnín’s speech at the XI Assembly of Catholic Action, 1949, and the following words of Bishop Juan Hervás:

Speech by Eduardo Bonnín at the XI Assembly of Catholic Action, 1949

Most Excellent and Reverend Sir, Most Illustrious Sir, Reverend Gentlemen, Cursillistas, Young brothers in Christ.

Once again, with God’s favor, the prayers of many, the sacrifices of not a few, and the active presence of all of you, we have carried out these spiritual exercises, this annual general mobilization of our youth, which we call our Assembly. We have prayed, meditated, studied, spoken, and intensely discussed. And for all of this, driven and guided by the purpose that has brought us together, we have arrived at the formulation of the conclusions, the fulfillment of which undoubtedly depends on whether our Work can move forward with the sublime mission entrusted to it by the Hierarchy: the sanctification of all youth. The intention that has guided us in the tasks of this Assembly can be summarized in three words: readjust, tighten, demand… it is fully proven that this is the only path to effectiveness. We know very well that the more demanding we are, the better-tempered the ones we recruit will be. This is a truth that needed no demonstration for the members of the living centers, but which it became necessary to place at the forefront as the central theme of the Assembly, so that it might illuminate minds and ignite hearts.

We already know that these methods are not to everyone’s liking, and the reason for that lies in the fact that, while there is one Christianity, in practice, there are two distinct concepts of it: the static and the dynamic, and therefore, two groups of Christians: those who vegetate and those who fight, those who live and those who give their lives. For the first, God is a peaceful prince who can be honored with ritual prayers, brilliant ceremonies, and reverences and phrases. And the Church is a benevolent society, tasked with watching over good customs, asking no more of us than to live in peace without making a fuss. Those who believe this usually think only of their own virtue. They are not practical Catholics, but merely practitioners. And it’s a blessing if they are sincere and there’s no inner disorder that turns all their honorable appearances into perpetual hypocrisy.