“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given  me, so that they may be one just as we are” (John, 17, 11)

Dear brothers and sisters:

Through a monthly letter I intend to communicate with the International Groups and with the National Secretariats, thus starting, with this first one, a series which, God willing, will extend until the end of the term of the OMCC in Brazil, in 2006. The registered mark and the guarantee seal of our fraternal relationship will always be God’s Word. No doubt this guideline will confirm the legitimacy of our reflections about our dear Cursillo Movement whose master lines  –  outlined in “Fundamental Ideas of the Cursillo Movement”  –  duly express the consensus of all National Secretariats worldwide, which is celebrated in every World Encounter.

The first word of the Ecclesiastic Counsellor of the Executive Committee of the OMCC to all of you, dear brothers and sisters, is the same of Paul’s the Apostle who is the Protector of the Cursillo Movement, when he greeted the Corinthians community: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Corinthians, 1, 1-3). Motivated by Jesus’ prayer soon before his Passion and Death, I address you all, dear brothers and sisters, reminding the unity and communion among us, which are the guarantee of the identity and the charisma of our Movement.

Unity: when receiving the co-ordination of the OMCC, from the hands of our brothers and sisters in Germany, on 18^th October, 2001, the first prospects, the first project we proposed centred in the search for unity. The same unity dreamt of by Jesus in the above words brought to us by John the Evangelist. This is actually the word, this is the theme and the background of all our initiatives and activities during the next four years. The unity wanted and prayed for by Jesus is not another commandment. It’s a prayer to our Father. That’s why, in its roots, the unity is not something magic and, even less, an imposition. It is, before anything else, a gift from God. A gift from God deposited in our hands, reason why it should be developed and nourished in order to reach perfection. Overcoming obstacles and respecting the diversity of cultures and mentalities, the unit around the TRUTH shall bring us to the communion.

Communion: It is in the road of unity that the communion among brothers blossoms. A communion, that, to be effective, supposes resignation, dialogue, forgiveness, solidarity, comprehension and mutual respect. This is what we search for this dear Movement of ours. A Movement that has been helping so many to create and strengthen the charity and fraternity links around Jesus Christ, He being the source of the communion himself. A communion based on and nourished by the Eucharist, by His body and His blood. It is therefore in this communion that we are going to search the actual roots of the respect due to the identity and to the charisma of the Cursillo Movement. These are the topics we will be reflecting about in our next Monthly Letter, in September.

May the Spirit of God enlighten all of us and may Mary, the Star of the Evangelisation, be very close to us, as a thoughtful mother accompanying her children.

Fraternal greetings and warmest regards.

Father José Gilberto Beraldo, Ecclesiastic Counsellor

Unity  –  First of all, a word in favour of the unity. We want the unity to be our most remarkable characteristic during this four years of work. Unity in diversity, which is possible among the members of the same body, where each one has a different function. We want all   –  the OMCC and the International Groups  –  to speak the same language. Although the realities in which the Cursillo Movement is inserted worldwide are so different from each other, the same is the wonderful charisma that characterises our Movement: leavening all the environments with the Gospel.

Missionaryship  – As our protector Saint Paul, we want to be missionaries. Missionaries who bring the Gospel to the children of God who do not know Him yet. We want to bring the Cursillo Movement to the places it has not been yet, or where its roots are not still entirely consolidated. Who knows whether we can make true the long dreamt of desire of creating an International Group in the African continent?

Openness  – As we made clear when we officially took over in Berlin, we want to be open to all International Groups. Whenever possible we will participate with enthusiasm and joy in all events to which we are invited. By the way, we want to register with happiness the invitation for the Vietnamese Movement Encounter next October, in Australia and for Chile’s National Assembly, also to take place in October.