Disgraced Hillsong Pastor who Faked Cancer and Sang ‘Healer’ Re-emerges
(Vanity Fair) Over the past year, Hillsong Church has faced a number of major controversies that have shaken up both its ministry and celebrity parishioners. But now, a pastor involved in another of the church’s scandals from over a decade ago has announced he’s turning over a new leaf with a brand-new charity.
In 2008, former Hillsong pastor and band member Michael Guglielmucci admitted to faking a cancer diagnosis to distract from his addiction to pornography after an Adelaide newspaper revealed he’d been lying about the state of his health for years, according to the New York Post. During his tenure at the church, Guglielmucci was reportedly known for regularly performing his hit song “Healer” with an oxygen tube affixed to his nose, was reportedly believed to have received donations to help pay for his treatments.
After the newspaper’s discovery, the pastor released a brief statement claiming his illnesses were real, but tied to an unholy lifestyle rather than cancer as he previously claimed. “As a result of this secret life of sin, my body would often breakdown,” he said. “I’d report the cause of my symptoms simply as illnesses and I’ve thrown my life into a ministry for many years trying to compensate for my sin…. Two years ago, I reported that I was suffering from cancer, the truth is that although I was ill I did not have cancer but was again using the misdiagnosis to hid the lie that I was living.”
He ultimately admitted to being addicted to pornography for over 16 years and using the cancer hoax as a distraction.
Now, 13 years on, Guglielmucci and his wife, Amanda, who together go by “Team Gug,” per the Post, have found a new calling from God, registering their…
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Editor’s Note. This article was written by Emily Kirkpatrickand published at Vanity Fair. Title changed by Protestia.
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