Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug 1, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Popular priest, musician and charismatic leader, Fr. Marcelo Rossi, of the Diocese of Santo Amaro in Brazil, will build the largest Catholic church in Brazil, and one of the largest in the world.
Fr. Rossi, who has gained notoriety for his charismatic celebration of the Mass and his promotion of the praying of the Rosary according to the Byzantine tradition, is building a church dedicated the Virgin Mary which will be able to seat 100,000 people.
Currently the largest church in Brazil, and in all of Latin America, is the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, patroness of the country, which holds about 45,000.
Bishop Fernando Antonio Figueiredo of Santo Amaro, said a definitive date has not yet been set for its inauguration, but he said it will take place in 2005. “The church will allow us to have more activities for the community and to have more Masses and other gatherings. We can’t do that in the current church, which holds about 30,000 people, because of the structure, which is very limited,” said Bishop Figueiredo.
The name of the new church will be Marian but it will be chosen by readers of the current church’s magazine, “Byzantine Rosary.”
The magazine has a circulation of about 100,000.