Cursillo ( pronounced "kur-see-yo" ) is a Spanish word meaning "short course" - short course in Christianity. The Cursillo started in Spain in the late 1940s and spread throughout the Spanish-speaking countries of the world. It came to the United States in 1957 when Spanish Air Cadets, training in Texas held a Cursillo weekend for a group of Spanish-speaking men. The first English language Cursillo was held in 1961 in San Angelo, Texas, and that year, the movement spread to a dozen other states.