Brazilian Pastor Has Led a Pentecostal Church in Italy for 32 Years

Born in Campinas, in São Paulo state, Pastor Roselen Boerner Faccio, 57, founded Sabaoth Church in Italy 32 years ago. The Pentecostal evangelical church is based in the working-class Giambellino district of Milan. Housed in a theater with capacity for about 1,000 people, it holds two Sunday services and attracts mostly young Italians. Italian is the church's official language.

Roselen has lived in Italy since 1989, when she traveled there on vacation at age 19 and decided to stay. After spending time in a Catholic convent, she left the Church and founded Sabaoth alongside an American pastor and an Italian partner. "My vision is to change Italy's religious history," the church's website says.

From the outset, Italians have been the target audience. "Brazilian pastors open churches around the world for Brazilians. I'm not against that, but it's not my vision to go somewhere and open a little group of Brazilians eating coxinhas," she said. Sabaoth has 94 branches, most of them in Italy, and is also present in countries such as Switzerland, Germany, England and the United States. In Brazil, it has three churches.

Roselen says she is the first female pastor in Italy and claims not to have close ties either with Brazil or with other evangelical denominations. Her plans remain focused on Europe. "Italy has 4,000 small towns without a church. We still need to reach all of them."

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