With the weakening of the Spiritism in Europe and the disappearance of the main spiritist journals in the Spanish language, because formerly Spain normally provided magazines, books and doutrinary material to the Institutions and Communities of Spiritism in Latin America,

a group of Argentinian spiritist leaders, worried about the organization of the Spiritist Movement in the American Continent, proposed in 1939, during the III Intern Congress of the Argentinian Spiritist Confederation, the creation of a representative institution of the spiritists from this Continent, initially named Liga Espiritista Pan-americana (Pan American Spiritist League).

The deliberation begins to materialize when, in 1940, the Argentinians Hugo Nale, Humberto Mariotti and Naum Kreiman started leading a project, with the approval of the board of directors from CEPAArgentina. The project predicted that the foundation of a new representative entity would be discussed and executed during the I Pan American Spiritist Congress, that would be held in 1943. That proposal suggested the adoption of the name Federação Espírita das Américas (American Spiritist Federation) and the abbreviation FEDA for the new institution.

However, due to problems caused by the course of conflicts from the II World War, the holding of the I Pan American Spiritist Congress was continually postponed. Only in 1946, after the end of the war, was possible to accomplish the so expected congress, during the days 5 to 13 of October, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, occasion which was attended by delegates from several latin american countries.

In that congress, finally, the dream of the American spiritists is fulfilled with the foundation of the first international spiritist entity in the Americas that, despite the previous proposals, received the name Confederação Espírita Pan-Americana (Pan American Spiritist Confederation), being adopted the abbreviation CEPA. The congress also reached the decision of adopting the vine-branch as CEPA’s symbol, the same used by Kardec to identify the Spiritism. Still in that congress was elected the first president from CEPA, the Argentinian engineer José Salvador Fernández.

Adopting in its Statute a program of integration of the Latin American Spiritism, inside a minimum Project of common objectives, CEPA started its march towards the progress of spiritist ideas, through the holding of periodic congresses and conferences in several Countries of the Continent. Since its foundation, CEPA has promoted 22 congresses and 15 regional conferences.

In 2016, seventy years after its foundation, satisfying the insistent claims, specially from the spiritist communities in Europe, identified with a secular and free-thinker nature of the Spiritist Doctrine, CEPA has modified its Statutes, becoming CEPA – International Spiritist Association, being kept the original abbreviation.