Marcelo was born sixty years ago in Camaragibe, a city on the outskirts of Recife (in the northeast) where Don Helder Camara was bishop. He entered the Benedictine monastery of Recife when he was 18 years old and was later ordained to the priesthood by Don Helder Camara, whom he served as secretary for ecumenical relations for seven years. A biblical scholar of international renown as well as a theologian, Father Marcelo is invited to teach courses and direct retreats on every continent. For ten years he also served as the Vicar General of his local diocese of Goias.

He has served for fifteen years as the secretary of the National Pastoral Commission for the Earth, an organization of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil. His experience of laboring alongside poor agricultural workers brought him to a profound reflection upon the Word and the earth, to such an extent that he wrote his first book titled The Theology of the Earth.

Father Marcelo has written twenty-six books, six of them published in Italy. Among them we make mention of Walking with You, The Gospel of Matthew, The Jubilee of the Poor and The Taste of Freedom.

He is a member of the Secretariat of the Association of Third World Theologians. His experience as a monk and of monastic life itself has been formed in the context of a profound ecumenical journey. Father's monastery is located inside one of the favelas, and his door is always open.

Among its various external activities, the monastery gives pride of place to the accompaniment of those members of the "Landless" movement who are particularly numerous in his diocese. Everything is carried out in close coordination with the local bishop, Don Eugenio Rixen. Father's monastery currently has eight monks.