SPlease pray for the safety of all priests!
Celebrity priest Fr. Marcelo Rossi suffered an attack during Mass at PHN, a major Brazilian youth conference sponsored by the Canção Nova Community.
As Fr. Rossi closed Mass, a young woman ran to the stage and shoved him. He appeared to have fallen several feet.
Watch the video below:
However, the priest did not suffer any injuries. Praise God!
In the video below, Fr. Rossi miraculously stands after his fall. He explained that “the devil hates him” and “thanked Mary for deliverance.”
3 comments:
Wouldn’t it have been cool if it had be Fr. Renzo Gracie?
https://www.newsweek.com/2013/07/17/father-marcelo-rossi-brazils-celebrity-priest-237704.html
NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE
Father Marcelo Rossi, Brazil's Celebrity Priest
Father Marcelo Rossi's Catholic megachurch in São Paulo...10,000 faithful have gathered here to worship, sway, and bear witness as Father Marcelo sets the gospel to song...
"Father Marcelo is bringing back people to church."
Charismatic priests such as Rossi have retained congregants with singing, chanting, and gospel rock.
Protestant evangelical sects, whose fast-talking televangelists woo away the poor and the forgotten into jerry-built temples that have spread like fast-food franchises.
This is where Father Marcelo and his megachurch come into play.
The 46-year-old preacher and author (one of his self-help-style books is currently the bestselling title in Brazil) is at the vanguard of a Catholic counterinsurgency that aims to make Brazil's church more appealing by taking cues from the rollicking approach of the evangélicos.
"Most of our parishes are straight out of the fourth century. The liturgical style has not changed, and the people have strayed," Rossi says.
And so he has shaken things up by introducing gospel rock, theatrical prayer sessions, and an all-out communications blitz that would impress Madison Avenue.
"We cannot sit back and wait for people to come to church," he says. "The church has to reach out and bring people back."
Rossi added aerobics steps to Sunday services and played lively music. Soon his small church was overflowing.
Athletic and strapping, standing a muscular 6 foot 5, he added aerobics steps to Sunday services and played lively music.
Soon his small church in a blue-collar São Paulo district was overflowing.
Many of the devout wear T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of the pop padre himself.
This style drew criticism both from progressives and conservatives within the church. "They don't like me very much," he says, enigmatically. "Many charged I was alienating people by emphasizing emotions. But in faith you have to have both sides, and you can't ignore emotions."
Rossi eventually built a new church—the Sanctuary of the Byzantine Rosary, a giant warehouselike structure looming on the city outskirts that seats 8,500 with room for a few thousand more standing at the back.
Every Sunday, caravans of worshipers arrive in chartered buses to watch Ross stride and strut the lofty dais while leading the congregation in prayer.
He often ends meetings by dousing the crowds with buckets of holy water.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
More on Father Rossi from the Newsweek article:
"Many of the devout wear T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of the pop padre himself, while others grasp signed copies of Rossi's two ultrapopular books, which retell passages of the Bible in simple, bite-size chapters.
"Kairós (Greek for "God's timing") is Brazil's current bestseller, and his 2010 book, Ágape (meaning "divine love"), a stripped-down version of St. John's gospel, sold 8.4 million copies—shattering all national publishing records for a single title.
"Sales from these books, plus the take from Rossi's gospel CDs and the DVD of his popular film, Maria, Mother of God, have reaped more than $10 million.
"He plows all of it back into his new church, where there's not a collection plate in sight.
"Why should I ask for money if I am able to work?" he says.
"And work, he does. With a daily radio program to host, book signings to attend throughout Brazil, and Sunday masses that draw crowds that rival rock concerts, Brazil's pop padre can barely sit still."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
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