A Christian bishop who was stabbed during a religious service in Sydney this week has said he is recovering from his injuries and that he has forgiven his attacker.
These were the first public comments made by Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel since the stabbing incident on Monday, when a young male entered Christ the Good Shepherd church in Sydney and repeatedly stabbed the Bishop in the head and upper body while the clergyman was in the middle of conducting a service. At least four people were injured in the attack, including a priest, which was caught on the parish live stream.
In a new social media message posted today, the Bishop said he was “doing fine” and “recovering very quickly”, adding that there was “no need to be worried or concerned”.
“A piece of advice to our beloved faithful: I need you to act Christ-like,” he said.
“The Lord Jesus never taught us to fight. The Lord Jesus never taught us to retaliate. The Lord Jesus never said to us ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’. The Lord Jesus said ‘Never return evil for evil, but return evil with good’…So my beloved, I want you to always be calm.
“We need to always be law-abiding citizens as well. We need to cooperate with the police’s directives, whether it be at a State level or a federal level.
“We pray for our country, our beloved country Australia, and our beautiful city of Sydney, and we pray that the Lord Jesus always protects this country and the people of this country. And we should never forget that we are very blessed to be Aussies. But above all, we are Christians, and we need to act like it. Love never fails.”
The Bishop went on to say that he thanked God for whatever happened to him personally, and that he forgives and loves the attacker.
“It is a huge blessing for me,” he said.
“I forgive whoever has done this act, and I say to him, you are my son, I love you, and I will always pray for you. And whoever sent you to do this, I forgive them as well, in Jesus’ mighty name. I have nothing in my heart but love for everyone, whether that person is a Christian or not. The Lord Jesus always taught us to love one another – to love God, and love your neighbour.”
According to Reuters, a separate video taken in the aftermath of the stabbing attack shows the alleged perpetrator being pinned to the ground by several congregants, with his face obscured, while a voice speaking in Arabic says: “If they didn’t insult my prophet, I wouldn’t have come here. If he didn’t involve himself in my religion, I would not have come here.” Eyewitnesses also reportedly heard the Arabic phrase “Allahuakbar” – “Allah is Greater” – being shouted during the dramatic event.
In a now-resurfaced older video, the Bishop critiqued the Islamic view of Jesus during a podcast interview, saying: “When you go to Heaven, I can assure you…Muhammad will not greet you, Buddha will not greet you, (the Hindu deity) Krishna will not greet you, because they will not. It will be only one, who is the way, the truth and the life. It will be Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who died for you and me.”
Some have speculated that such comments could have motivated someone to target the clergyman.
Police say that a 15-year-old has been arrested, and the attack is being treated as a terrorist incident.
The 53-year-old Bishop who was the attack’s target is an Iraqi-born Syriac Christian living in Australia, who has gained popularity on social media for his homilies criticising the LGBT movement, Covid-19 restrictions, Islam, and “woke” interpretations of Christianity.
After the church attack, an enraged crowd of hundreds gathered outside the building and a riot ensued as police tried to escort the suspected attacker outside, with bricks and bottles being thrown and police cars being damaged. After several hours, police reinforcements arrived and took the suspect away from the scene.
At the time the church said in a social media message that both the bishop and priest were in stable condition and asked people to “pray for the perpetrator”.