Jimmy Swaggart, scandal-wracked Christian televangelist, has died

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who developed a worldwide following for his fiery Christian sermons before being felled in a prostitution scandal, died on Tuesday at the age of 90.

Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart confesses to his congregation in 1988 that he had sinned with a prostitute.
Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart confesses to his congregation in 1988 that he had sinned with a prostitute.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Swaggart's death from a heart attack at a hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was announced on the official Facebook page of his Jimmy Swaggart Ministries.

"Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ," the statement said.

"For over seven decades, Brother Swaggart poured out his life preaching the gospel, singing songs of the faith, and pointing millions to the saving power of Jesus Christ," it added.

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Swaggart, whose first cousins were rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis and country singer Mickey Gilley, rose to prominence in the 1980s at the head of his Louisiana-based Pentecostal church the Assemblies of God.

His televised sermons featuring fire-and-brimstone rhetoric and gospel music were watched by millions around the world and raised hundreds of millions of dollars in donations annually.

Donald Trump reacts to Jimmy Swaggart's death

Jimmy Swagart (c.) embraces Bobby Brown (r.), an ultra-nationalist Jewish settler originally from New York, as they both laugh while exchanging remarks about their respective controversies in the illegally occupied West Bank in 1988.
Jimmy Swagart (c.) embraces Bobby Brown (r.), an ultra-nationalist Jewish settler originally from New York, as they both laugh while exchanging remarks about their respective controversies in the illegally occupied West Bank in 1988.  © REUTERS

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he was saddened to hear of Swaggart's death, describing him as "an incredible Man of Faith."

Swaggart, he said, "inspired millions with his Great Love of God and Country... Jimmy will be deeply missed!"

At his height, Swaggart joined the ranks of other leading Christian televangelists such as Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Jim Bakker, who was also disgraced in a sex scandal.

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Swaggart's downfall came in 1987 after he was photographed at a motel in New Orleans with a prostitute. He made a tearful televised confession the next year.

"I have sinned against you, my Lord," Swaggart said, without providing details. "I beg you forgive me."

Swaggart was defrocked by the elders of his church, and while he continued to preach over the next decades, his following and his influence had diminished.

Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

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