Source: www.persecution.org
Date: April 29, 2024
Australia (International Christian Concern) — Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel returned to the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday, April 28, to preach his first sermon since being stabbed two weeks earlier during a live-streamed worship service.
With an eye patch covering his severely damaged right eye, Bishop Emmanuel delivered his sermon, saying that the 16-year-old boy who attacked him was like a son to him.
“He will always be my son,” the bishop said. “I will always pray for you. I will always wish you nothing but the best.”
The bishop also addressed the ongoing free speech debate since the attack. Many, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, criticized X (formerly known as Twitter) for not removing footage of the attack. But Bishop Emmanuel said the footage should stay online so people could witness attacks like this.
“But for us to say that because of this freedom of speech, it is causing dramas and dilemmas. Therefore, everything should be censored. Where is democracy?” Emmanuel said in his sermon. “Every human being has the right to their freedom of speech and freedom of religion, every human being.”
Bishop Emmanuel also shared his reason for forgiving and loving his attacker.
“This is our Christian faith, but above all, this is our Christ, who is all,” he said. “And always taught to love one another, because God is love, and the Lord Jesus, he is God, revealed in the flesh, period. He taught us to love everyone without any differentiation. This will never change.”
The teenager’s arrest led to mass police raids and arrests across Sydney, unearthing an alleged terror cell of teenage boys called Soldiers of Allah. Authorities have charged the teenagers with numerous serious crimes. Text messages in the terror cell’s chat group, which police intercepted, showed the group was planning to attack Jewish people in Sydney.
HOW TO PRAY: Pray for continued healing for Bishop Emmanuel. Praise God that the injuries were not life-threatening. Pray for the young attacker to come to know the love of Christ.