Morris Cerullo Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Controversy== ===General=== Cerullo is considered by some critics to be controversial, with concerns having been raised about his financial practices. He was indicted for income tax evasion in California. Those charges were dismissed by the court.<ref name=ReligiousNewsBlog07>{{cite news |title=Tax case dismissed against Morris Cerullo |date=August 20, 2007 |work=Religious News Blog |url=http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19069/morris-cerullo |access-date=November 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103235240/http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19069/morris-cerullo |archive-date=November 3, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=CharismaMagAug07>{{cite news |title=Federal Judge Dismisses Tax-Evasion Indictment Against Evangelist Morris Cerullo |date=August 17, 2007 |work=Charisma Magazine |url=http://www.charismamag.com/site-archives/570-news/featured-news/3769- |access-date=November 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104024613/http://www.charismamag.com/site-archives/570-news/featured-news/3769- |archive-date=November 4, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a Christian of partially Jewish origin, he has carried a few evangelistic campaigns targeted at the Jewish community, drawing some condemnation from anti-missionary organizations and claims of deceptive practices.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/library/library-primary-228/missionary-tactics/337-morris-cerullo-a-his-ministry-to-the-jews|title=Morris Cerullo & His Ministry to the Jews – Jews for Judaism|publisher=|accessdate=April 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621050546/http://jewsforjudaism.org/library/library-primary-228/missionary-tactics/337-morris-cerullo-a-his-ministry-to-the-jews|archive-date=June 21, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jweekly.com/2000/03/31/missionaries-dupe-jewish-newspapers-across-country/|title=Missionaries dupe Jewish newspapers across country|date=March 31, 2000|publisher=|accessdate=April 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417071353/http://www.jweekly.com/2000/03/31/missionaries-dupe-jewish-newspapers-across-country/|archive-date=April 17, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jta.org/news/article/2000/03/28/5381/Evangelicalsstealt|title=Jweekly.com|publisher=|accessdate=April 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910130902/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2000/03/28/5381/Evangelicalsstealt|archive-date=September 10, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> While no charges were brought against Cerullo's ministry, Cerullo was found to have underrepresented his income for 1998 through 2000. However, on August 8, 2007, the US District Court, Southern District of California ordered that the indictment be dismissed as a consequence of the prosecutor's inaccurate explanation of the [[Commissioner v. Duberstein|Duberstein test]] to the jury. An extract from the ruling was published on Cerullo's website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://morriscerullo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=38 |title=MorrisCerullo.com - Case Against Morris Cerullo DISMISSED |accessdate=March 7, 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024173521/http://morriscerullo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=38 |archivedate=October 24, 2007 }}</ref> ===United Kingdom=== {{unreliable sources|date=July 2020}} Cerullo's activities in the United Kingdom have attracted considerable critical attention, particularly during the early 1990s. In 1991, British authorities suspended the license of a satellite station for broadcasting the program, ''[[Victory with Morris Cerullo]]''. The license was reinstated after the station agreed to precede the program with the disclaimer, ''"Morris Cerullo World Evangelism cannot substantiate the claims made by those participants featured in this programme,"'' and advising all persons suffering from illness to seek medical attention.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/14/style/chronicle-631591.html | title=Chronicle | work=The New York Times | first=Robert E. | last=Tomasson | date=August 14, 1991 | accessdate=May 13, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115051909/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/14/style/chronicle-631591.html | archive-date=November 15, 2013 | url-status=live }}</ref> Following Cerullo's Mission at Earl's Court London in 1992, a documentary on the [[BBC]], ''Newsround'', reported that a lady called Audrey Reynolds stopped taking medication for [[epilepsy]] (although she was never instructed or advised to do so by the ministry){{Citation needed|date=August 2014}} after she believed herself to have been healed during Cerullo's rally. She subsequently died following a seizure in her bath. The story was also reported in a Christian newspaper.{{r|EvangelicalsNow1997|p=1|q=In 1992 Christians were shocked by the death of Audrey Reynolds, a 25-year-old from Clapham in London who died after attending Morris Cerullo's Mission to London. Audrey drowned in her bath having abandoned her epilepsy medication}} Another report from this crusade claimed that Cerullo pronounced a four-year-old cancer sufferer to be free from the disease, yet she died from it just two months later.{{r|EvangelicalsNow1997|p=1|q=Another sad case from the Mission to London 1992 was that of the beautiful four-year-old African girl Natalia Barned who had neuroblastoma (a childhood cancer growing above the kidney). She was pronounced healed by Cerullo after she showed an absence of pain. The following day Cerullo led the congregation in thanks to God for healing of the cancer. Tragically, within two months, she had died of that same disease}} Cerullo has claimed that giving money to send evangelistic booklets to Jewish people would result in family members becoming Christians. [[Christopher J. H. Wright|Chris Wright]], principal of [[All Nations Christian College]], denounced Cerullo's methods as "spiritually perverted and pastorally disastrous". The [[Chief Rabbi]] [[Jonathan Sacks]] was quoted as being "deeply distressed by missionary tactics specifically targeted against Jews".<ref>{{cite news |last = Brown |first = Andrew |author-link = Andrew Brown (writer) |title = Church press rejects Cerullo's adverts: Fund-raising tactics scandalise the evangelical mainstream |work = [[The Independent]] |date = August 6, 1993 |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/church-press-rejects-cerullos-adverts-fundraising-tactics-scandalise-the-evangelical-mainstream-1459396.html |accessdate = October 29, 2009 |quote = (Quoting fundraising letter from Cerullo) ...If you send in pounds 10 for the salvation of 2 Jews, then I believe God will return to you the salvation of 2 of your family members. God honors his spiritual laws. What you sow is what you harvest. This is what I am believing God for. |location = London |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121104183019/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/church-press-rejects-cerullos-adverts-fundraising-tactics-scandalise-the-evangelical-mainstream-1459396.html |archive-date = November 4, 2012 |url-status = live }}</ref> Subsequently, Cerullo was challenged on British television to produce his three best examples of claimed miraculous healing for scrutiny by a panel of doctors. Their final report was "there is no evidence that anything has occurred that is outside the realm of normal clinical experience".<ref>{{cite news |last1=May |first1=Peter |title=The Faith Healing Claims of Morris Cerullo |url=https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/1994/01/22155712/p05.pdf |access-date=30 December 2022 |work=Free Inquiry |publisher=Center for Inquiry |date=1993}}</ref> On 19 August 1995 Cerullo was interviewed at length by [[Andrew Neil]] for his British one-on-one interview show ''Is This Your Life?'', made by [[Open Media]] for [[Channel 4]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Morris Cerullo |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9800442/?ref_=ttep_ep5 |website=Is This Your Life? |date=19 August 1995}}</ref> In 1996 the [[Evangelical Alliance]] considered, but decided against, ejecting Cerullo after the [[Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)|Advertising Standards Authority]] upheld four complaints against him relating to his claims of being able to offer miraculous healing to the disabled.<ref>[http://www.intotruth.org/ms/ms1965.html Intotruth.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227010858/http://www.intotruth.org/ms/ms1965.html |date=February 27, 2009 }}, Quoting the Christian Herald of December 23, 1995, ''The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld four complaints about advertisements by Morris Cerullo that offered miraculous healing to the disabled.''</ref> Cerullo later resigned from the alliance.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/van2001/davidp13.html | title = A tribute and modern history lesson | first = Jacob | last = Prasch | author-link = Jacob Prasch | year = 2001 | publisher = Christian Witness Ministries | accessdate = October 29, 2009 | quote = ...which saw Cerullo resigning from The Evangelical Alliance after he was found guilty of all four charges against him by the UK Advertising Standards Council (sic) | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100613004620/http://christian-witness.org/archives/van2001/davidp13.html | archive-date = June 13, 2010 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Following Cerullo's resignation, Britain's then-largest church, [[Kensington Temple]], also left the Alliance in protest.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.takeheed.net/MANDATE_2008_article.htm |title='Mandate 2008' with Colin Dye: Another cause for concern |first=Cecil |last=Andrews |date=April 29, 2008 |publisher=Take Heed Ministries |accessdate=October 29, 2009 |quote=In a move that could signal a major split in British Evangelicalism, Kensington Temple, claimed to be the biggest Church in Britain, has resigned from the Evangelical alliance. The move is a sequel to the recent resignation of evangelist Morris Cerullo from the EA. A press statement from Colin Dye, the church's senior pastor said, "For some time I have felt the Alliance was not adequately representing the concerns of Pentecostals on the radical end of the evangelical spectrum. I had hoped that the Alliance would indeed prove itself broad enough to carry the full breadth of opinion that wished to rest in it. But despite recent assurances and moves towards total acceptance of a greater diversity within the Alliance, I find the handling of the whole Morris Cerullo affair to be too telling to ignore" |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026065228/http://www.takeheed.net/MANDATE_2008_article.htm |archivedate=October 26, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/van1999/cdyer99.html | title = Unmasked... Colin Dye | first = Philip L. | last = Powell | date = June 1999 | work = Contending Ernestly for the Faith | publisher = Christian Witness Ministries | accessdate = October 29, 2009 | quote = Dye ... has in fact withdrawn London City Church from the Evangelical Alliance because the latter presumed to inquire into the finances of Morris Cerullo's missionary organisation | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100125070403/http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/van1999/cdyer99.html | archive-date = January 25, 2010 | url-status = dead }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Both sources apper to be self published|date=December 2022}} In 1999, the [[The God Channel|Christian Channel]], a UK cable channel, broadcast an advertisement for one of Cerullo's European rallies which claimed that "Satanic hordes" had "occupied the principal palaces of power." As a result, the channel was fined £20,000 for breaching advertising codes requiring political impartiality, for denigrating other religious beliefs, for potentially frightening viewers, and for making statements prejudicial of "respect for human dignity".<ref> {{Cite web | url = http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/itc/itc_publications/complaints_reports/advertising_complaints/show_complaint.asp-ad_complaint_id=289.html | archive-url = http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20040104233440/http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/itc/itc_publications/complaints_reports/advertising_complaints/show_complaint.asp-ad_complaint_id=289.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 4, 2004 | title = Television Advertising Complaints Reports – Morris Cerullo Rally | author = Independent Television Commission | author-link = Independent Television Commission | date = December 1, 1999 | publisher = National Archives | accessdate = April 6, 2016 | quote = The Christian Channel finally accepted that the advertising breached ITC rules ... The ITC upheld the complaint and instructed the Christian Channel not to broadcast the material again. In the light of the previous breaches of ITC rules by the Christian Channel, the ITC imposed a financial penalty of £20,000. }}</ref> ===India=== Cerullo was expelled from India in 1992 after disturbances erupted at one of his rallies. The ''[[Times of India]]'' on October 17, 1992, reported, "A so-called miracle healer, Morris Cerullo, who prefers to call himself a man of God, was declared 'persona non-grata' and bundled out of the country by Calcutta police this morning after mass healing services on Park Circus Maidan yesterday evening turned into a fiasco when members of the crowd stormed the dais challenging the efficacy of his healing power".{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} === Brazil === In 2009, Cerullo was invited to be the guest in the television show in Brazil. During the interview, he introduced his special financial healing to the televiewers. He asked for 900 [[Brazilian Real]]s in order to avail this ‘God’s life-time annointment’.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Morris Cerullo sells financial anointing|url=https://hewhohasearslethimhear.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/morris-cerullo-sells-financial-anointing/|last=giacintobutindaro|date=October 29, 2010|website=He who has ears let him hear|language=en|access-date=June 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825034323/https://hewhohasearslethimhear.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/morris-cerullo-sells-financial-anointing/|archive-date=August 25, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Citation is to a self published blog.|date=December 2022}} His action was refuted by the overall servant of [[Members Church of God International]] (MCGI) Bro. [[Eli Soriano]] (deceased).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-08-21|title=An Epoch of Fraud and Deceit: Bro. Eli Analyzes Society|url=https://www.elisoriano.com/an-epoch-of-fraud-and-deceit/|access-date=2020-07-25|website=EliSoriano.com|language=en-US}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page