Father Rossi is based in São Paulo city where he was born into a Roman Catholic middle-class family and was raised in the neighborhood of Santana together with his two sisters Monica and Marta.

At the age 16 he made the decision of not attending church services any longer and six years later graduated in Physical Education at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP).

These two family misfortunes filled him with pain and suffering, and led him to seek God by returning to Church and enrolling in the prayer groups of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Marcelo began to take part in parish activities and a year later, inspired by a TV miniseries on the life of Pope John Paul II, decided to devote himself to priesthood.

He began an intensive and enthusiastic work of preaching the Gospel, winning over the faithful who attended his Masses in the Parish of Perpétuo Socorro e Santa Rosalia, in Santo Amaro, São Paulo.

By dint of singing, dancing and doing choreographies in crowded liturgies and TV shows, Father Marcelo Rossi aims to bring people together to Christ's message and the Church's teaching in an original yet modern and light way.

He has recorded nine albums since 1998, regularly appears on TV shows, has his radio program with more than 100,000 listeners across the country and his church services out in the open attract thousands of faithful believers.

[1] On 31 March 2002, during the celebration of Easter, Father Marcelo Rossi was appointed as Rector of the Santuário do Terço Bizantino in Jurubatuba – Santo Amaro, São Paulo state.

On 21 October 2010 Father Marcelo Rossi received from the hands of Pope Benedict XVI the "Cardinal Van Thuan Prize – Solidarity and Development 2010" – in recognition for his dedication to Catholicism as modern evangelizer.

[10] In 2002 the press reported that on 10 November 2002 Father Rossi asked the presenter Gugu Liberato to remove comedian Jorge Lafond from the stage, so that he could go on to sing.

Protestant websites reported that justice would have recognized the pastor and singer Marinalva Santos as the author of the song "Noites Traiçoeiras" recorded by Father Rossi.

[13] However, the accuser became a defendant of a lawsuit filed by the representatives of the authentic author of the composition, Carlos Papae, who was recognized by law as the original composer of the song.

[15] On July 14, 2019 during a mass in Cachoeira Paulista, a woman broke through security, invaded the stage during the celebration taking place at Canção Nova and pushed Rossi off the structure.

In a statement, Canção Nova said it regretted the incident that occurred with Father Rossi during the Mass and said that he was attended to by the event's medical team and, after being released, continued with the celebration until the end.