Marcelo Bezerra Crivella (; born 9 October 1957) is a Brazilian Evangelical pastor, gospel singer and politician. He served as the Mayor of the city of
Rio de Janeiro from 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2020. In the
2020 election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**Cro ...
, Crivella ran for a second term but lost to
Eduardo Paes in each of the city's 49 constituencies.
In 2002, Crivella was elected as a federal
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
of Brazil from the state of
Rio de Janeiro on the
Liberal Party ticket. He has since helped found the
Brazilian Republican Party (PRB) which has been allied with President
Luís Inácio Lula da Silva
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
.
With a Civil Engineering degree from
Universidade Santa Ursula
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred t ...
, Crivella became known for planning and execution of the
Projeto Nordeste, a charitable project to redevelop lands abandoned by the Brazilian federal government in the city of
Irecê
Irecê is a municipality in Bahia, Brazil. it had a population of 73,524 people. by road northwest of Salvador.Located in the northern region of Chapada Diamantina. It is an agricultural town known for growing black beans and being a wine-prod ...
. The project was developed to use Israeli irrigation practices, which Crivella has observed in his several trips to Israel. It has led to the renewal of agriculture and livestock raising there.
He is a bishop of the
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), an international evangelical church founded by his uncle
Edir Macedo in 1977.
Early life
Born in Rio de Janeiro to Catholic parents, Crivella attended the
Methodist Church
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
in his youth. His connection with his uncle, Edir Macedo, made them try an unsuccessful commercial partnership, before he was invited in 1977 to work in Macedo's newly founded UCKG. Soon Crivella became a pastor.
Religious career
He took his family on a mission to Africa in 1992, where he achieved considerable success in planting new UCKG temples, although he spoke no African languages. He became pastor and bishop, having worked ten years diffusing the Universal Church in the African continent.
In 1999 he was part of an event at the Maracana sports stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
By 1999, he had signed a contract with Sony Records for three disks, one to be in Spanish. His religious preaching is broadcast by radio. Crivella has recorded as a singer, often using his own songs. He has released 14 disks, selling more than 5 million copies. His biggest success was his first album, ''O Mensageiro da Solidariedade'' (The Messenger of Solidarity). The albums were recorded by
Line Records
Line Records is a Brazilian gospel record label and it belongs to Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Was founded in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992 with the intent to tend the gospel music demand. In February 2012, it was announced that Line Record ...
and by
Sony Music.
Crivella is the author of the books ''Histórias de Sabedoria e Humildade'', a collection of moral and religious tales, ''Um Sonho que se Tornou Realidade'', which is about the ''Projeto Nordeste,'' and “Evangelizando a África,” a book he wrote during his 10 years he spent in Africa as a missionary. He is considered a preacher of the
prosperity gospel.
Political career
Marcelo Crivella entered political life, being a founder of the
Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), and ran successfully for the position of Senator in the 2002 elections.
In 2006 Crivella ran for governor of Rio de Janeiro state. He ran for mayor of the capital in 2004 and 2008, but was unsuccessful in the three races. In 2004 he came in second in the disputed Rio de Janeiro municipal election, but he did not succeed to go to the second round against
César Maia
Cesar Epitácio Maia (born June 18, 1945) is a Brazilian politician, notable for having been elected three times for mayor of Rio de Janeiro.
A native of Rio, born in 1945, Maia was forced to leave Brazil in exile during the 1960s on account of ...
. He complained about negative coverage by ''
O Globo'' newspaper, owned by the second-largest media conglomerate in the country, which published several articles accusing him of fraud.
In 2006, he was gubernatorial candidate for the state of Rio de Janeiro, and was supported by the President
Luís Inácio Lula da Silva
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
. Polls put him in second place, but he was beaten by
Denise Frossard
Denise Frossard Loschi (Carangola, October 6, 1950) is a judge and politician from Brazil. She studied law and served as a magistrate in Rio de Janeiro. She has been a law professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. When she retired she started ...
, the candidate of the
PPS, and Crivella declined to participate in the runoff election.
In 2008, he ran for mayor of the state capital, but came in 3rd place in the first round and was eliminated.
Crivella reached the second round but was defeated on his running for
Governor of Rio de Janeiro in 2014 by
Luiz Fernando Pezão.
Mayor of Rio de Janeiro
In 2016, Marcelo Crivella won the election for Rio de Janeiro Mayor beating left-wing candidate
Marcelo Freixo by about 20 percentage points. He is the first Pentecostal to govern a big Brazilian city.
As mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Crivella called the
Carnival of Rio de Janeiro, which is rooted in the
afro-Brazilian religions, an "unchristian excess" and ordered severe financial cuts for the organizers.
Arrest
On 22 December 2020, just nine days before the end of his term as mayor, Crivella was arrested at his home in Rio de Janeiro, after investigations on a
kickback corruption scheme during his administration. Because his vice mayor,
Fernando Mac Dowell, died in 2018, the president of the
Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro, Jorge Felippe, became interim mayor.
Parliamentary conduct

In the Brazilian Senate, Crivella established himself as a representative of the
Brazilian diaspora, as many citizens are working abroad. 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), of which Crivella was vice president. As an example, he led efforts to gain better treatment of Brazilians picked up in the United States as illegal immigrants. As policy, they are detained while their cases are being reviewed, which can be lengthy.
Personal views
Crivella identifies as a conservative politician but he has been a great ally of President Lula. His party supports the government. Crivella opposes the
legalization of abortion
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
. Crivella favors public policies for
family planning
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...
through
sex education and
sterilization, and the Law on
Biosafety
Biosafety is the prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health.
These prevention mechanisms include conduction of regular reviews of the biosafety in laboratory settings, as well as strict guidel ...
, which regulates research with
stem cell
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...
s.
He opposes
civil unions for homosexuals and the codification of
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
. After protests by activists, he explained that he feared unintended consequences of a proposed law against homophobia, but certainly wants protections and equal rights for homosexuals.
''
Veja Veja may refer to :
Places
* Veja, a town in Lazio, central Italy; now Vejano comune
* Veja, a village in Stănița Commune, Neamț County, Romania
* Veja River, Romania
* Veja State, a former princely state in present Gujarat, western India
Perso ...
'' magazine had a cover story about the influence of
Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of
evolution. In an interview, Crivella said that he is a
creationist and rejects this theory. The Senator said "there is no conclusive proofs that
../nowiki> one species could generate another species".
Criticism
He has been criticized for his 1999 book ''Evangelizing Africa'' in which he said that homosexuality was a "terrible evil", that Catholics were demonic, that African religions were based on "evil spirits", and that Hindus drank their children's blood. He has since tried to distance himself from the book, saying that it was the work of a young, immature missionary.[
]
Notes
References
External links
Marcelo Crivella
official website
Brazilian Senate website
BBC News: "Marcelo Crivella: Brazilian evangelist becomes Rio Mayor"
Election news in BBC
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crivella, Marcelo
1957 births
Living people
Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil)
Former Roman Catholics
Former Methodists
Brazilian Pentecostal pastors
Brazilian people of Italian descent
Members of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
Liberal Party (Brazil, 1985) politicians
Republicans (Brazil) politicians
Brazilian anti-abortion activists
Brazilian mass media owners
Prosperity theologians