A Sydney bishop who was stabbed on Monday during a live-streamed sermon yesterday said that he was recovering and forgives his attacker, telling him: “You are my son.”
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was slashed in the head and chest by a 16-year-old suspect, sparking a protest by followers of the Assyrian Christian church in western Sydney.
“I am doing fine, recovering very quickly,” the bishop of Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley said.
Photo: AP
The area is a hub for Sydney’s small Christian Assyrian community, many of whom fled persecution and war in Iraq and Syria.
Emmanuel has an online following of almost 200,000, and has criticized COVID-19 vaccines and lockdowns, and Islam.
“There is no need to be worried or concerned,” the bishop said in a YouTube video released yesterday, with audio of his voice accompanied by a photograph of him in vestments.
“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,” he said. “And whoever sent you to do this, I forgive them as well.”
The suspect was taken to a Sydney hospital after the attack.
Senior police said earlier this week that his treatment was expected to last for several days.
The bishop called for calm after the stabbing sparked angry scenes outside the church.
Hundreds of congregation and community members rushed to the site on the night of the attack.
Some hurled rocks and other projectiles that allegedly wounded about 50 police officers, including one who broke their jaw, and damaged several police vehicles.
“I want you to always be calm,” the bishop said. “We need to be always law-abiding citizens as well. We need to cooperate with the police directives whether it be at a state level or a federal level. 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.”
A Sydney doctor who is in contact with the teenager’s family told reporters they were in “shock” and “disbelief about the horrible action their son has done.”
Jamal Rifi said the family had also been unnerved at how quickly the event had been labeled a “terrorist” act, without speaking to the boy or his family first.
The boy’s mother told Rifi that her son had anger and mental health issues.
Rifi said Australia was a diverse community and despite the differences in culture and faith, he had been reassured that so many had called for calm and denounced any retaliation attempts.
“Reciprocal respect is the core that preserves social cohesion,” he said.
New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said that the teenager remained in hospital and authorities were yet to question him.
Police on Wednesday charged a 19-year-old man in connection with the protest outside the church and have warned that more will be arrested in the next few days.
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