Dr. Morris Cerullo was born in New Jersey, the fifth and last child of an Italian immigrant father and Jewish mother. After his mother died, he was placed in an Orthodox Jewish orphanage. As a teenager, Cerullo converted to Christianity, claiming that he heard God’s voice and had holy visions. After being ordained by the Assemblies of God in 1952, Cerullo served as pastor in various churches before becoming an itinerant healing evangelist. His calling took him to Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Hector Avalos wrote in Free Inquiry that “during the 1980s, Cerullo was probably better known in Latin America than in the United States. Famous for anticommunist crusades filled with undiplomatic rhetoric. He was reportedly censored several times in Argentina for such outspokenness. In 1981 the Nicaraguan government barred him from entering the country.”

In 1990, with the help of other investors, Cerullo purchased two pieces of the empire of former televangelist Jim Bakker: the Praise the Lord (PTL) satellite network and Heritage USA, a Christian theme park in Fort Mills, South Carolina. After a falling out between Cerullo and his major partners, the theme park came under the control of Malaysian United Industries, and Cerullo held on to the network. Through PTL he broadcast his Victory with Morris Cerullo, which aired in the United States and Canada, and sent out his Pentecostal message emphasizing that such Old Testament powers as speaking in tongues and faith healing are still possible.

By the mid-1990s, Cerullo had held revivals in more than seventy countries and established permanent offices in over twenty-five, including Great Britain.Schaefer noted that his operation was then worth about forty million dollars. Schaefer went on to note that in February 1991, Cerullo’s television program was launched on the European Super Channel, which attracted some twenty-three million people. British viewers complained to the Independent Television Commission that the show contained Pentecostal practices, such as exorcism and faith healing, in violation of British program codes. Episodes that contain miracle healing were suspended until a disclaimer was created that was acceptable to regulators.

Despite such steps, the controversy escalated, particularly when Cerullo launched his Mission to London (MTL) crusade, which was advertised with representations of broken canes, discarded wheelchairs, and smashed hearing aids.

Cerullo was accused by many of exploiting the disabled with his promises of miracles. Members of the clergy debunked Cerullo’s claims, among them Peter May, a physician and evangelical member of the Church of England Synod. Controversy surrounding Cerullo’s claims and fundraising practices continued for years, even though these elements of his ministry had remained essentially the same for the three decades since he first became a part of the British religious scene.