History
Founded by Father Gabriel Calvo, a Diocesean Laborer priest, Marriage Encounter began in 1961 in Barcelona, Spain, as a Catholic marriage renewal program. It eventually came to be known as Encuentro Conjugal. The Movement that played a key role in spreading ME in Spain and later in the world has been the Christian Family Movement/Movimiento Familiar Cristiano. Fr. Calvo and a group of "encountered" Spanish couples first brought Marriage Encounter to the United States in 1966. The first M.E. Weekend in English was held on the University of Notre Dame campus in summer 1967. A national organization was founded in 1969.
In the early 1970s, Marriage Encounter split into two separate organizations. A group based in Minneapolis which came to be known as “National Marriage Encounter” had split from a group based in New York under the direction of Father Charles (Chuck) Gallagher, S.J and known as “Worldwide Marriage Encounter”. Although the format and methodology remained the same, the reason for the split was to open up Marriage Encounter as a more ecumenical experience.
The programs presented by National Marriage Encounter and Worldwide Marriage Encounter are very similar, but Worldwide Marriage Encounter claims that it has a greater concern for its asserted mission of renewal of the Roman Catholic Church. Both expressions seek to elicit positive change in marriages, and in turn to help “change the world” by preparing and motivating couples to be open and outreaching as they continue to strengthen their own relationships.
In some countries the Original Marriage Encounter with its clear original vision is available, along with the subsequent FIRES Encounter programs by Fr. Gabriel Calvo (Sons and Daughters Encounter, Engaged Encounter, Self Encounter, Family Encounter, Priest Encounter, Eucharistic Encounter etc.) The programs are regularly organized in Japan, Hungary, Slovakia, The Philippines.
It is estimated that more than 5 million couples in more than 100 countries have attended a Marriage Encounter or other "expressions"
Read more about this topic: Marriage Encounter
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