The roots of Worldwide Marriage Encounter go back to 1952 when a young priest in Spain, Fr. Gabriel Calvo, developed a series of conferences for married couples.
For about 10 years the Marriage Teams of Pope Pious XII traveled throughout Spain presenting sessions for married couples. Each presentation during the conference ended with a question that would help the couple look deeper at their own relationship through intimate and trusting conversation.
Introduction in the Americas
In 1962 Fr. Calvo presented the conferences as a weekend retreat to 28 couples in Barcelona and this experience rapidly spread throughout Spain as the Encuentro Conyugal. Encuentro Conyugal was introduced to the Americas at the Conference of the International Confederation of Christian Family Movements (ICCFM) in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1966. The movement began spreading to other Latin American countries and to Spanish speaking couples in the United States. Fr. Calvo’s notes were translated into English, and the weekend was brought to the United States in 1967 for both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking groups.
Fr. Chuck Gallagher, S.J., a youth retreat master, attended a weekend in New Jersey, USA, in 1968, and his dream to change the world began taking shape. The next year a National Executive Board for “Marriage Encounter Weekends” was formed in the United States, maintaining ties with Christian Family Movements (CFM). Guidelines were developed to coordinate the expansion of the movement in the United States and Canada. Fr. Gallagher – drawing from the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius – proposed the first outline for Marriage Encounter weekends. His vision was for a Roman Catholic movement with emphasis on sharing feelings, daily dialogue, and continued community support.
The original movement of Fr. Calvo became known as National Marriage Encounter, and Fr. Gallagher’s group, originally called Catholic Marriage Encounter, was renamed Worldwide Marriage Encounter. Although Worldwide Marriage Encounter was developed as a Roman Catholic experience, couples of other religions have been welcomed since 1969. Expansion began into Canada, Australia, and other countries in the 1970s, and this evangelization continues today.
Reaching couples in almost 100 countries
Fr. Chuck Gallagher’s vision, drive and determination have enabled millions of couples, priests, and religious to experience this special marriage enrichment weekend. Today, Worldwide Marriage Encounter is in 94 countries under the leadership of six Roman Catholic secretariats: Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Pacific, and Pan Africa. More than 3.5 million couples and 27,000 priests and religious have experienced this enriching and transformative weekend experience.
Expansion continues
Expansion continues into more countries, including China, Haiti, Russia, Cuba, and the United Arab Emirates. Guidelines have been established to enable other Christian denominations to become a part of this movement, with the focus on the renewal of marriages for the renewal of their own church. There are currently seven other faith expressions affiliated with Worldwide Marriage Encounter.
