Society
Australian Bishop Receives Standing Ovation Upon Return To Church After Stabbing Attack
The bishop who was attacked in a terrorist attack at the Good Shepherd Church in western Sydney earlier this month received a standing ovation when he returned to the pulpit on Sunday.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel suffered multiple stab wounds to the face earlier this month when a jihadist rushed the stage and attacked him with a knife. Churchgoers immediately leapt into action and subdued the attacker, likely saving the world famous Christian leader’s life.
Video of the attack was heavily censored in Australia and New Zealand, with officials in both countries arguing that it could “inspire hate.” One Australian Senator even suggested that X owner Elon Musk should be jailed over his refusal to remove the video from his platform.
Bishop Mar Mari himself called for the video to remain up, a stance he kept when he returned to the pulpit on Sunday.
The Bishop — who was sporting a white bandage on his right eye — received a standing ovation when he entered the church on Sunday. He proceeded to deliver a fiery sermon in which he called out Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other government officials over their failure to protect freedom of speech and religion.
After miraculously surviving a recent stabbing attack by an Islamist at a Sydney church, Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel receives a standing ovation from the congregation as he resumes preaching. pic.twitter.com/M5s8LsAcMH
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) April 28, 2024
“I say to our beloved, the Australian government, and our beloved Prime Minister, the honorable Mr Albanese, I believe in one thing and that is the integrity and the identity of the human being,” he said.
“This human identity, this human integrity, is a God-given gift, no one else. Every human being has the right to their freedom of speech and freedom of religion.”
He went on to call for religious protections for all faiths, as well as atheists.
“Also, the Christians have the right to express their beliefs, and for us to say, that free speech is dangerous, that free speech cannot be possible in a democratic country, I’m yet to fathom this. I’m yet to fathom this. We should be able as civilised human beings, as intellectuals, we should be able to criticise, to speak, and maybe, at some certain times, we may sound, or we may come across offensive to some degree, but we should be able to say, ‘I should not worry for my life to be exposed to threat or to be taken away,’” he said.
“A non Christian can criticize my faith, can attack my faith. I will say one thing, ‘may God forgive you, and may God bless you.”
As a result of the April 15 attack, the Bishop suffered lacerations to his face and body. After a short stay in the hospital, he was released.
Mar Mari has stressed that he will be praying for his attacker, a 16-year-old Muslim, and urged Christians to not seek retribution.
