tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post8156908499512621002..comments2024-03-07T17:08:03.583-05:00Comments on Lionel Deimel’s Web Log: Reviving CursilloLionel Deimelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08363018512775944659noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-74365224660004034522010-03-12T10:18:05.804-05:002010-03-12T10:18:05.804-05:00My sense is that "a little course" for t...My sense is that "a little course" for the renewal of faith and to energize our apostolic ministry is and will be just the ticket for every Christian community, and certainly for all of us in the Episcopal and Anglican Dioceses of Pittsburgh. We can let the governing and licensing bodies at the national level sort through whatever trademark and etc. issues are of importance to them, of course. But to find ways to share refreshment in the love of Jesus and rededicated energy to serve in his name is the task always before us. Blessings, on both houses. De Colores, etc.<br /><br />Bruce RobisonBruce Robisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00193701138386039942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-89771571274807305012010-03-11T21:47:10.706-05:002010-03-11T21:47:10.706-05:00David,
Thank you for your good wishes.
Your stat...David,<br /><br />Thank you for your good wishes.<br /><br />Your statement that Cursillo “is a fully independent ministry with spiritual oversight by the diocesan bishop” must be qualified. In The Episcopal Church, the bishop must be an Episcopal Church bishop. Moreover, Cursillo is bound by the rules of National Episcopal Cursillo, which is licensed by a Roman Catholic organization that controls the rights to the name “Cursillo.” Therefore, before October 4, 2008, Pittsburgh Episcopal Cursillo had a degree of autonomy, but I think calling it “fully independent” is a stretch. (But see below.)<br /><br />You may have been concerned primarily about financial support. I did not mean to imply that Cursillo in Pittsburgh has received direct financial support from the Episcopal diocese. To the best of my knowledge, it has always been supported by participants in the program. When I said “funds and materials properly belonging to our Episcopal diocese,” I meant to refer to the <i>people</i> of the diocese, not the diocesan organization.<br /><br />If Cursillo is to continue in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, it cannot be (and should not want to be) operating under the auspices of National Episcopal Cursillo, as Robert Duncan is no longer an Episcopal bishop, and the diocese is no longer in The Episcopal Church. Apparently, the Anglican Church in North America has created its own Cursillo-like organization, “<a href="http://www.anglican4thday.com/" rel="nofollow">Anglican 4th Day of North America</a>,” which is not a licensee of the Roman Catholic Church. The A4D Web site suggests that the organization formed for ACNA is Cursillo in all but name. I leave it to the lawyers to decide whether A4D has safely navigated the licensing and copyright waters. Assuming that it has, I see nothing wrong with its creation.<br /><br />I do notice, however, that the A4D site has a <a href="http://www.anglican4thday.com/id33.html" rel="nofollow">page</a> devoted to the Diocese of Pittsburgh. It links to what has been the <a href="http://www.pgh-epis-cursillo.org/" rel="nofollow">home page</a> of Pittsburgh Episcopal Cursillo and which is so named. That site seems largely up-to-date, listing, for example, an upcoming weekend <a href="http://www.pgh-epis-cursillo.org/fourthday.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. You are listed as a member of the Secretariat (governing board) <a href="http://www.pgh-epis-cursillo.org/secretariat.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. I suggest that you have no right to call your movement “Cursillo,” much less “Pittsburgh Episcopal Cursillo.” Of course, the current labeling of the site may simply reflect a failure to retool the Web site to reflect current conditions, but the use of the domain name pgh-epis-cursillo.org by an organization not licensed to use the name “Cursillo” is problematic.<br /><br />As for Anglican 4th Day operating in Pittsburgh, I see no reason why A4D cannot make any rules it wants regarding oversight. I don’t think any Episcopal or Roman Catholic organization cares whether you need to operate under a bishop or not. Any way you like, go for it.<br /><br />When the Pittsburgh diocese split in 2008, Pittsburgh Episcopal Cursillo had assets—money in a checking account, altar furnishings, name tags, etc. It is not clear just who has control over these assets now or who, from a legal standpoint, should have control. My own ethical compass tells me that funds and materials should have been left to Episcopalians, but I won’t make that case here, and I admit that others may have a different view from my own. I may have jumped to conclusions about your group’s using resources whose ownership is potentially in dispute. (Perhaps you can clarify this issue. Are you claiming all, none, or some of the assets held by Pittsburgh Episcopal Cursillo on October 4, 2008?)<br /><br />It is my hope that your group and the group that has come together to continue the Cursillo tradition in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh can disengage from one another in a manner satisfactory to both parties, and we can each pursue our missions as we see them in our respective churches.Lionel Deimelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08363018512775944659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3320087.post-15928375397956280392010-03-09T23:11:16.877-05:002010-03-09T23:11:16.877-05:00Lionel
I am glad to hear Celinda is heading up th...Lionel<br /><br />I am glad to hear Celinda is heading up the effort to start Cursillo in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. Cursillo, as you know, can be a very effective method in raising up lay leadership. In fact many, if not most of the lay leaders in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh are Cursillistas. Since 1987 I have served on many Cursillo teams as both a lay leader and as a clergyman and also twice on the diocesan Secretariat, so I believe I am very well informed about the operation of this ministry. It is a fully independent ministry with spiritual oversight by the diocesan bishop. Bishop Price can inform you in detail about how Cursillo works. I would hope you correct your blog to reflect the truth that Cursillo has never received any diocesan funds to operate and the diocese has never purchased or provided any materials, or furnishings to the Cursillo movement in Pittsburgh. If you have proof otherwise it would be imperative for you as a Christian to post it on your blog.The Rev Canon Dr David Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09878281384587956210noreply@blogger.com