The rise of the mighty evangelicals filled with the spirit of Mammon and capitalism
Pastor Dale Morgan
The rise of the mighty New Evangelicals filled with the spirit of Mammon
and capitalism*
The arrest of two Brazilian religious leaders inspires scrutiny of a
growing cash cow worshiping church
Tom Phillips in Sao Paulo
Friday March 2, 2007
The Guardian
Pass through the towering golden gates and you come to the reception
area, where hidden guards eyeball visitors through tinted, bulletproof
glass.
Then come the glistening marble floors and voluptuous balconies, the
25-metre heated indoor pool and the gigantic underground car park,
filled with dozens of top of the range cars (the majority bulletproof).
Finally there is the nearby helipad where illustrious guests can be
whisked in and out of the neighbourhood without worrying about
kidnapping or congestion.
This is the Place Vendôme, a towering residential complex in Chacara
Klabin, a leafy haven in southern Sao Paulo for the elite and the
seriously rich. But unlikely as it may seem, it was also until recently
the site of one of the world's most luxurious vicarages and home to two
of Brazil's most controversial religious figures, Estevam Hernandes
Filho, a former Xerox marketing director known to followers as the
Apostle, and his wife, "Bishop Sonia".
The Hernandes, who lead the Igreja Apostolica Renascer em Cristo (Reborn
in Christ Church), are two of the most powerful and controversial
religious leaders in Brazil, where the evangelical church grows bigger
every day.
They are also two of Brazil's most wanted evangelicals, currently under
house arrest in Miami. They will appear in court in the US this month
accused of trying to smuggle $56,467 (Ł28,860) in cash through Miami
airport.
According to documents sent by the US department of homeland security to
the Brazilian authorities, $10,000 in cash was stashed in the backpack
of their son, Gabriel, while another $9,088 was hidden inside a copy of
the Bible.
Back in Brazil, the couple are wanted on money laundering and fraud charges.
For many, their upcoming trial confirms long-held suspicions that
sections of Brazil's flamboyant evangelical church use religion as a
pretext for fraud, money laundering and organised crime. Brazil's
evangelical church, an umbrella term that includes Pentecostals,
Baptists and other denominations, has exploded in size since the early
1980s. Its congregation now totals about 26 million crentes, or
believers, in a country of 188 million. Brazil remains the world's
largest Catholic nation, yet the evangelists are catching up fast.
Preachers like Romildo Ribeiro Soares, one of the country's best-known
evangelical personalities and the leader of the International Church of
the Grace of God, exercise huge power, with regular television slots and
huge events.
"Brazil is going through a silent spiritual revolution," Mr Soares
enthused backstage at the Show of Faith, one of the church's mega-events
on Botafogo beach in Rio de Janeiro, which attracted tens of thousands
of ecstatic followers. "There are now places where more than 50% of the
population are believers. The understanding of the word of God is
spreading. The Brazilian is waking up - in a few years the majority of
this country will be evangelical."
Political clout
The evangelical community also boasts serious political clout - until
recently it had 61 of the 513 representatives in Brazil's Congress,
including two affiliated to the Reborn Church, and three senators.
Evangelical politicians and preachers often recite an extract from
Proverbs, called Warnings and Instructions, which encourages followers
to back religious leaders. "When the righteous are in authority, the
people rejoice," the extract from verse 29 reads. "But when a wicked man
rules, the people groan."
Church incomes have rocketed - bringing about the rise of what critics
dub "capitalism theology" and opening the door for massive levels of
corruption. With more than 1,000 "temples" in Brazil, the Igreja
Renascer is one of the chief beneficiaries of the boom. Founded in 1986,
the church now boasts tentacles across the world including temples in
Florida and links to religious leaders in London. Last year its March
for Jesus in Sao Paulo attracted about 3 million Christians, organisers
said.
The couple own radio stations, a record company and even a television
network, while the church's real estate empire is no less impressive.
Apart from the property in Place Vendôme, the Hernandes preside over
several sprawling ranches in the hilltops of Sao Paulo (complete with
swimming pools, horses, private lakes and waterfalls), a $500,000
mansion in an exclusive Miami housing complex and a handful of luxury
apartments in Chacara Klabin.
Arthur Pinto de Lemos, a state prosecutor from Sao Paulo's organised
crime taskforce, is leading the Brazilian investigation into the Reborn
Church. Surrounded by thick yellow files containing hundreds of
allegations against the church, he claims the Hernandes are in fact the
leaders of a sprawling "criminal organisation".
"It works in the same way [as Sao Paulo's PCC drug faction]," he said,
sketching a pyramid on his notebook to illustrate the power network
within the church. "Their mentality was always that of business people.
The doctrine of the Reborn Church is businesslike and capitalist. This
was always their spirit."
Luxury
To illustrate his point, Mr Lemos describes a raid last year on one of
the couple's ranches. As well as jet skis, a swimming pool and a tennis
court, his officers found a diary in which Mrs Hernandes thanks God for
giving her luxury goods. "Today I fulfilled a dream," she writes. "I
bought clothes at Chocolate" - a chic women's clothes boutique.
Since their arrest in January, the Hernandes have repeatedly rejected
claims of any wrongdoing, publicly describing their "persecution" as the
work of demons. The Guardian attempted to contact the couple's legal
representative, Luiz Flavio Borges D'Urso, who is one of Brazil's most
respected lawyers, but received no response.
Mr Lemos refuses to be drawn on how many other evangelical leaders are
under investigation for financial crimes but it is believed that the
Brazilian authorities are investigating other figures within the wider
evangelical church.
He complains, however, that bringing such powerful figures to justice is
never a simple task.
"In Brazil there is always a difficulty in putting in jail people who
have a good pattern of life and excellent lawyers. For businessmen who
commit crimes there is always a sensation of impunity."
Backstory
Brazil is the world's largest Catholic nation, with around 125 million
adherents, but the evangelical church has exploded in size since the
early 1980s and today has an estimated 26 million followers in a country
of 188 million. If it continues to grow at this rate, Brazil's Catholics
would be the minority within 20 years. The Catholic church has responded
by adopting its opponents' tactics - launching pop-star priests and
holding mega-events. Many evangelical churches have set up their own
newspapers and TV channels, but the movement has come under repeated
fire. The largest Brazilian church, the Universal Church of the Kingdom
of God, which has temples in London and Birmingham, has been embroiled
in scandals and accusations for over a decade. Its founder, Edir Macedo,
has been accused of embezzlement and tax evasion and was caught
backstage on camera at one event stuffing handfuls of cash into a holdall.