A SHORT HISTORY OF CFM/CFSM ASIA
by Joe and Charito Hilario, Nop and Elma Muangkroot
Reference: ICCFM History by Vernie Dale (www.iccfm.org)
INTRODUCTION
CFM and MFC Beginnings. CFM and MFC started almost simultaneously in the decade that marked the end of World War II. Pat and Patty Crowley had earlier
begun coordinating family action groups in Chicago, and by 1948, groups working on the family were present in twenty USA cities. In 1949, "For Happier Families" the first program book based on Cardinal Josef Cardijn's "OBSERVE-JUDGE-ACT" methodology, was published in the USA, and the first National Coordinating Committee for the "Christian Family Movement" was formed with Pat and Patty Crowley as the chairpersons.
Meanwhile in 1948 Fr. Peter Richards regularly gathered some couples at the home of Saturnino and Elena Llorente of Buenos Aires, Argentina, involving them in family action. Two years later in 1950, Fr. Richards initiated similar family action groups in Montevideo, Uruguay, and by 1955 the Movimiento Familiar Cristiano was formed in six countries of South America.
The International Confederation of Christian Family Movements. In 1966 couples and clergy from MFC Latin America, CFM USA, and MFC Spain met in Caracas, Venezuela, and agreed to form the "International Confederation of Christian Family Movements" (ICCFM), for "exchange of information and mutual help of CFM throughout the world." The first elected General Secretaries were Luz and Jose Alvarez of Mexico City. In 1967 at an ICCFM meeting convened in Madrid, the role of General Secretaries passed to Pat and Patty Crowley. Three points were forged as integral to the character of the Confederation: promoting and establishing communication between CFM groups throughout the world, keeping the Confederation service-oriented and stating the ecumenical character of the Confederation.
THE BEGINNINGS OF CFM/CFSM ASIA
Asian travels by the Crowleys. In early 1956, Pat and Patty Crowley travelled to Asia, taking with them the CFM handbook For Happier Families. They visited Tokyo, Hongkong, Manila, Saigon, Singapore and Bombay. Peter Sawada of Japan had learned about CFM while he was a student in the University of Purdue, Indiana. In 1952, he and his wife Mary organized a CFM unit in Tokyo, and the Crowleys visited them. In the Philippines Tony and Teresa Nieva took the Crowleys to meet the Archbishop of Manila Rufino Cardinal Santos and the head of the Philippine Catholic Action Bishop Vicente Reyes, who gave their blessings to the formation of CFM units in the country. The Crowleys' contact person in India was Fr. Dalmeida who had visited them while he was studying at Notre Dame. They met Fr. Angelo Fernandez who helped organize the CFM in Bombay, led by Joe and Margaret D'Silva.
Saddened by the poverty in Saigon, the Crowleys became more aware of the social injustice that was also prevalent in other parts of the world, and this awareness greatly influenced the ICCFM social action perspective. They organized a unit in Saigon, Vietnam, composed of four couples and a priest.
In Sri Lanka Percy and Agnes Silva had both been members of the Young Christian Students and the Youth Apostolate Movement. Two years after their marriage in 1967, they wrote to the Crowleys about forming CFM. The Crowleys sent them copies of For Happier Families, and the Silvas organized a CFM unit in Negombo with the help of Rev. Fr. Ernest Poruthota.
The establishment of CFM/CFSM Asia. At the 1969 World Assembly of Families and ICCFM General Assembly held at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, CFM Asia assumed its continental identity and became a member of the International Confederation of Christian Family Movements, with Sito and Sony Sison of the Philippines as the first presidents. The following is a complete list of couples who served as continental Asia presidents: