The priest Marcelo rossi, who carries one of the most popular Italian surnames, became well known for his evangelization work in media, mainly television and radio.
In addition to being a priest, Father Marcelo Rossi is a singer and writer, and his media presence promoting Catholicism has helped popularize the religious music of the movement. Catholic Charismatic Renewal (RCC).
Marcelo Mendonça Rossi was born in São Paulo on the day 20 May 1967, eldest son of the bank manager Antonio Rossi and the housewife Vilma Rossi.
He grew up in the Santana neighborhood, in the city of São Paulo, alongside his parents and younger sisters, Mônica and Marta. Despite being raised in a Catholic family, at the age of 16 he decided that he would no longer attend church.
Marcelo Rossi's reunion with faith
In 1986 he served in the Army in 1st Company of the II São Paulo Guard Battalion and entered the Physical Education course at Faculdades Integradas de Santo André (FEFISA), graduating in 1989.
Still in his youth, the death of a cousin in a car accident and the diagnosis of a brain tumor received by an aunt led Marcelo Rossi to reconnect with the church and rediscover your faith.
He decided to dedicate himself to the priesthood and enrolled in the Theology course at University Our Lady Assumption, graduating in 1990. He also began studying Philosophy at the Faculdade Salesiana de Lorena and was ordained a priest on December 1, 1994.
Social work and popularity
While still a seminarian, he began social work in the São Paulo community of Hot hole, an area of favelas considered one of the most violent in the city. He helped at the daycare and held celebrations to attract the children's parents.
Influenced by the Charismatic Renewal, which foresees a liturgy with many music and choreography, Father Marcelo Rossi became a great exponent of the movement, which helped attract more faithful to the Catholic Church.
After being ordained, Father Marcelo soon won over the faithful who attended his masses at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Saint Rosalia Parish, in Santo Amaro.
On November 2, 1997, Father Marcelo celebrated a mass for more than 70 thousand people at the religious meeting “I’m Happy to Be Catholic”, at Morumbi stadium, in Sao Paulo.
National success
In 1998, he released the CD “Songs to Praise the Lord”, which had more than 3 million copies sold. He became recognized and received invitations to several radio and television.
Combining his charisma and celebrations rich in messages and music, the church's space soon became small and its masses began to be held in larger locations, such as the Sanctuary of the Byzantine Rosary.
In 2003, he launched the “Father Marcelo Portal”, which won the IBest Award. In the same year he released the film “Mary Mother of the Son of God”, which achieved great success. In 2004 he released a new film, “Brothers of Faith”.
In 2006, Father Marcelo began building the “Mother of God Sanctuary” in the region of Santo Amaro, south of São Paulo.
Father Marcelo Rossi and the Vatican
O Vatican I didn't look favorably on the pioneer priest of the Charismatic Renewal in Brazil. In the 1990s and 2000s, he was the target of an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, which would become the Pope Benedict XVI.
The devastation was caused by complaint from a Brazilian religious, who accused the priest of “cult of personalism” and “exhibitionism”, for attending popular television programs, such as Gugu Program, on SBT, and the Xuxa Show, on TV Globo, among others.
He also performed on television and in major events in football stadiums alongside secular music celebrities such as Rio Negro and Solimões, Chitãozinho and Xororó, Zezé Di Camargo and Luciano, Daniel and Sérgio Reis.
Father Marcelo was prohibited from celebrating masses, hearing confessions and giving the host. He only found out the whole story when the investigations were archived.
In 2007, according to Father Marcelo, members of the Archdiocese of São Paulo and organizers of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Brazil did not allow him to go on stage, despite being scheduled to perform.
In 2008, Father Marcelo Rossi celebrated ten years of evangelization with the recording of the DVD “Peace yes, violence no”, at the Interlagos race track, bringing together several artists and around three million people.
Accident and depression
Em April 29th 2010, while running on the treadmill, Father Marcelo Rossi, who is 1,92 meters tall, fell, strained three tendons and had a fissure in a bone in the left foot.
Were two months in a wheelchair, a lot of pain, painkillers, anti-inflammatories and an increase of 14 kilos in weight. Suffering was transformed into the book Agape, where he talks about pain and recovery, which became a huge success.
On October 21, 2010, Father Marcelo Rossi went to the Vatican to receive from the hands of Pope Benedict XVI the Alumni Van Thuân, which honors modern evangelizers.
In 2012, he weighed 125 kilos. “I was stressed, weak and depressed. I should have stopped, but what I did was dope myself with medication to cope,” she declared in an interview.
He started doing diet without guidance from nutritionists and, within six months, he was becoming anorexic. In 2014, at the height of anorexia, weighed 67 kilos.
Depression followed, but it took him a while to admit that he was sick. Sad and weak, reduced his activities, but did not withdraw from the masses.
At this stage, he began writing the work “Philia: defeat depression, fear and other problems by applying Philia in your daily life”. According to him, The work helped him get out of depression.
Attack on Father Marcelo Rossi
After “God’s Time” Becoming the best-selling CD in Brazil in 2014, with 1,4 million copies, the book “Philia” reached number 1 in Brazilian bookstores, including all genres.
In 2019, during a mass in Paulista Waterfall, a woman broke through security, invaded the stage and pushed Father Marcelo Rossi from above the structure. At least 50 thousand people were present at the celebration.
Despite the drop, the priest was treated and returned to the stage minutes later to continue the mass. The woman's companions reported that she suffers from mental disorders.
In recent years, Father Marcelo's physical form has attracted attention in his public appearances. He stated that he found bodybuilding a way to stay healthy.
Origin of the surname
O surname Rossi, with variations such as Russo, Del Rossi, De Rossi or Rossetto, originates from the word red, which comes from Latin success, which means red color of meat.
Another Latin word that gave rise to this surname is rubius ou rubeus, meaning red or red, a characteristic of the family patriarch, probably hair or beard.
The original Italian spelling was Rosso, but it was this word in plural, Rossi, who conquered the world.
In Brazil, the surname Rossi arrived at the end of the 19th century, when thousands of Italian immigrants began to arrive in the country. In the state of Espírito Santo is the second most common surname among immigrants from Italy, with 163 members of the family having arrived between 1875 and 1950.
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According to the Cognomix website, there are 77.913 Rossi families in Italy, with the regions with the most occurrences Lombardia (15.436), Emilia-Romagna (10.985) and Tuscany (9.880).
The surname Rossi is the most popular in the region of Toscana, in the province of Rome and in city of rome.
Among the main variations of the Rossi surname are De Rossi, Di Rosso, Russian, Di Russo, and From Russian.
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