Marcelo Crivella

Marcelo Bezerra Crivella
Senator of Brazil from Rio de Janeiro
Incumbent
Assumed office March 15, 2003
Personal details
Born	October 9, 1957 (1957-10-09) (age 54)
Political party	PRB
Occupation	Engineer, singer and Christian bishop
Religion	Neopentecostal Protestant (UCKG)

Marcello Bezerra Crivella (Rio de Janeiro, October 9, 1957) is a Brazilian politician, gospel singer, and a bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God,^[1] a Protestant denomination. In 2002, he was elected as a Senator in the federal government of Brazil for the state of Rio de Janeiro on a Liberal Party ticket.^[2] Crivella is nephew of the Edir Macedo, founder of the neopentecostal Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG).

Married, graduated in Civil Engineering from Universidade Santa Ursula, Crivella became known for planning and execution of the Projeto Nordeste, a charitable movement that was intended to make productive the lands that were abandoned by the Brazilian federal government, in the Irecê city. The project became viable in that region the agricultural and livestock development, based on Israeli irrigation that Crivella has observed in his several trips to Israel.

Personal life

Born in Rio de Janeiro, with Catholics parents, Crivella attended the Methodist Church in his youth. His connection with his uncle, Edir Macedo, made them try an unsuccessful commercial partnership, before he to be invited in 1977, to work in the newly created Universal Church. Soon he became pastor and bishop, having worked ten years diffusing the Universal Church in the African continent.

Crivella is a dexterous preacher, attracting crowds in cult executed by the Universal Church. His religious preaching is also conveyed by radio.

The musical production of Crivella, as singer and composer, became one of the main exponents of the gospel genre in Brazil, with 14 disks, selling over than 5 millions of copies; his biggest success was O Mensageiro da Solidariedade (The Messenger of Solidarity). The albums was recorded by the Line Records, where Crivella was considered the principal artist, and by the Sony Music.

Crivella is the author of the books Histórias de Sabedoria e Humildade, a collection of moral and religious tales, and Um Sonho que se Tornou Realidade, which is about the Projeto Nordeste

Political history

Induced by the bishop Macedo, Marcelo Crivella entered to the political life, postulating for the position of Senator in the 2002 elections. Crivella was elected as Sergio Cabral Filho, for a mandate for the period 2003-2011.

Crivella also ran for governor of Rio de Janeiro state in 2006 and for mayor of the capital in 2004 and 2008.

In 2004 was the second in the dispute in the Rio de Janeiro municipal election, but he did not succeed to go to the second round against César Maia. According Crivella, he has suffered persecution by the O Globo newspaper, which published several matters accusing him of fraud.

In 2006, he was candidate to the state government of Rio de Janeiro, supported by the President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, and most of the time appointed by electoral research as the second most votes intents. In the last week before the election, however, was exceeded by the candidate of the PPS, Denise Frossard, and eventually stayed out of the runoff.

Participated in the fourth direct election in 2008, by the office of mayor of the state capital, but came in 3rd place in the 1st round

Parliamentary conduct

In the Brazilian Senate, Crivella has as a brand to work with the Brazilian diaspora. He was president of the Subcomissão Permanente de Proteção dos Cidadãos Brasileiros no Exterior (Permanent Subcommittee on Protection of Brazilian Citizens Abroad), subject to the Comissão de Relações Exteriores e Defesa Nacional (Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense), which Crivella was vice president. One of his targets was the detention for an indefinite period of Brazilian citizens in the United States, accused of being illegal immigrants.

Personal convictions

Marcelo Crivella is reputed as a politician of conservative orientation. However, the Senator is a great ally of the President Lula, and his party is part of the base of support to government. Crivella supports the legalization of abortion and opposed to projects like the civil union of homosexuals and the criminalization of homophobia. He clarified, after protests by activists, that he fears inadvertent consequences of the law against homophobia, but is contrary to homophobic violence.

One of the party founders, Crivella said that the party is nearer to the left than Neoliberalism. In a speech in the Senate, Crivella saluted the PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil), saying that the Gospel contain teachings of Communism.

In response to the cover story of Veja magazine about the influence of Darwin, Crivella said that he is creationist and rejects the theory of evolution. The Senator affirmed that "there is no conclusive proofs that [...] one specie could generate other specie". He also said that does not exist fossil with feature of distinct animal kingdoms, as "beings half amphibian and half bird or fish".

Crivella is in favor of public policies on family planning through sex education and sterilization, and the Law on Biosafety, which regulates research with stem cells.

Criticisms

The intimate connection between Marcelo Crivella and the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) is a frequent target of criticism. The church is accused of electioneering for the Crivella, which is an electoral crime in Brazil. The strategy of Crivella has being to seek independence towards the church, to reach voters who are not members of the UCKG.

References

1. ^ Maseko, A.N. Church Schism & Corruption. South Africa: 2008. 370.
2. ^ Stålsett, S.J. Spirits of Globalization: The Growth of Pentecostalism and Experiential Spiritualities in a Global Age. University of Michigan SCM Press, 2006. 51.

External links

• Crivella's personal homepage
• Page on the Brazilian Senate website

Persondata
Name	Crivella, Marcelo
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Date of birth	October 9, 1957
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