Inri Cristo

Inri Cristo

Inri Cristo on TV.
Born 22 March 1948 (65 years)
Indaial, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Occupation Spiritual leader
Website
www.inricristo.org.br

Inri Cristo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈĩʁi ˈkɾistu], born Álvaro Theiss [ˈaɫvɐɾu ˈtajs] in Indaial, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, March 22, 1948) is a Brazilian educator who claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated. He is well known for his many appearances in the media of Brazil and other countries as well.[1]

Inri Cristo regularly participates in lively debates with religious figures, such as priest Oscar González Quevedo (Cristo claims Fr Quevedo is the reincarnation of the Spanish Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada), and also appears in interviews and comedy shows. His provocative statements about evolutionism, vegetarianism,[2] overpopulation, birth control, abortion, atheism, socialism and capitalism, growth of overall disillusionment, and World War III have stirred much commentary and controversy.

Early life

Inri Cristo was raised by two Roman Catholic farmers of German ancestry, Wilhelm and Magdalena Thais.[3] Inri had a humble childhood and studied for about three years at the Adolfo Konder School. He quit studying in order to help his mother, whom he calls "the woman who raised him", with domestic supplies, since his father, "her husband", was retired owing to a work accident.

Since childhood, Inri has claimed to obey a "powerful voice" that speaks inside his head. Obedient to this voice, he left home at thirteen to live independently of his family. In adolescence he worked as a greengrocer, baker, delivery boy, peddler and waiter. Eventually, Inri severed all ties to Christianity, becoming atheist, until received what he calls the "revelation of his identity".

Public speaking and religious activities

In 1969, at the age of 21, Inri began his public life as a self-professed prophet and astrologer, introducing himself as "Iuri de Nostradamus".[4]

In 1971, he began speaking on television, with TV Morena (an affiliate of Brazilian Rede Globo), and this opportunity introduced him to a wider audience. In 1976, claiming to blaze the trail of spiritual transcendence, Inri became vegetarian. In 1977 he lived for some time in Copacabana Palace hotel, in Rio de Janeiro, a part of high society. In 1978, he left Brazil on a tour through Latin America, speaking on radio.

In 1979, obeying the same powerful voice that he claims to have heard since childhood, he underwent a fast in Santiago, Chile. On this occasion, he says, the voice said in a rasping voice, "I am your Father", and revealed itself to be the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.

This voice, he says, said that he was the same Christ crucified two thousand years ago under Pontius Pilate. It also said that the second letter of his name (the "u" in "Iuri") would henceforth be upside down, making his name "Inri", the acronym for Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum.[5] Inri launched a pilgrimage over many countries, dressed in a white tunic and sandals, announcing that his mission would be accomplished in the dawn of a New Age of peace.

Inri wandered over 27 countries spreading his message. In 1980, Inri was expelled from the United States, from Venezuela and from England. France sheltered him for nine months and even announced in Antenne 2: "Le Christ est revenu sur la terre" ("Christ is back on Earth"). On this occasion, Inri was invited to speak in the Grande École Polytechnique de Paris. Back in Brazil, on February 28, 1982 Inri performed what he calls a "libertarian act". He broke into the cathedral in Belém in Pará state. Accused of profanation and vandalism by the clergy, he was sent to jail for fifteen days.[6][7] On this occasion, he established a new mystical order, SOUST (Suprema Ordem Universal da Santissima Trindade), that he calls the formalization of the promised Kingdom of God on Earth. On April 20, 1982, Inri Cristo officially establishment of SOUST in Curitiba, Paraná, where he remained for 24 years in a "provisional" headquarters.

He has been detained by police more than forty times, owing to his statements and unusual way of dressing.[8]

He is often invited to give lectures in many colleges and universities throughout Brazil, and is usually well received by students.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The birth of insanity, by Paulo Salem
  2. ↑ Entrevista de Inri Cristo ao site Vida Vegetariana
  3. ↑ Declaration of Wilhelm and Magdalena Thais, Awakener, page 130.
  4. ↑ As previsões de Iuri de Nostradamus, Almanaque Estado do Paraná, page 1, Dec 25th 1977
  5. ↑ Yug Yoga Yoguismo, Serge Reynaud de la Ferrière, page 92.
  6. ↑ A Província do Pará, No presídio aclamado "Cristo, Cristo"
  7. ↑ A Província do Pará, Advogado vai pedir soltura de Inri
  8. ↑ Jornal do Brasil e o Mundo em Manchete, Inri Cristo is arrested for the 48th time
  9. ↑ Newspaper Campus (published by Unb - Universidade de Brasília, Com a palavra, o novo Messias)

External links