Vatos Sagrados: Cursillo and a Midwestern Catholic Borderlands

This article uses a gendered religious borderlands perspective to analyze the Cursillo experiences of Latino Catholic deacons in the Diocese of Cleveland (OH) and the Diocese of Toledo (OH), who trace their family histories to Texas, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. By considering experiences of religious ecstasy, male social bonding, and spiritual activism as a result of Cursillo participation, this article attempts to provide insights into the complex relationships among gender, race, and religion. Joining other recent scholars who have conducted intellectual inquiries toward gendered borderlands literature, my drawing, based on semi-structured interviews and archival research, attempts to demonstrate the significance of the Cursillo experience in the changing narrative of Latino men as borderland gendered subjectivities, and specific to a Midwest experience.