The Bishop who was stabbed in an alleged terror attack on the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in western Sydney has delivered a fiery sermon on his return to the pulpit, calling out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an impassioned defense of freedom of speech and religion.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, carrying a gold cross and sporting a white eye patch after he suffered lacerations to his face in the alleged April 15 attack, said he could not “fathom” how freedom of speech could not be possible in a democratic country.
“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 said Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Atheists had the right to express their beliefs.
“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’.
“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.
“This is a civilized way, an intellectual way, to approaching such events.
“But for us, to say that because of this freedom of speech, it is causing dramas and dilemmas, therefore everything should be censored, then where is democracy?
“Then where is humanity, where is integrity, where are the morals, where are the ethics, where are the principles, where are the values which the Western world, more so, have been fighting for human rights, which is the value of the human.”
A debate around the proper limits of free expression has erupted in the country in the wake of the alleged Wakeley terror attack.
A 16-year-old boy allegedly stabbed the bishop while he was giving a livestreamed sermon, with video of the violence quickly spreading online.
Australian eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant has ordered social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to take down certain posts commenting on the attack.
X’s Global Governance Affairs division has stated it will challenge the take-down order.
“This was a tragic event and we do not allow people to praise it or call for further violence,” X stated.
“There is a public conversation happening about the event, on X and across Australia, as is often the case when events of major public concern occur.
“While X respects the right of a country to enforce its laws within its jurisdiction, the eSafety Commissioner does not have the authority to dictate what content X’s users can see globally.
“We will robustly challenge this unlawful and dangerous approach in court.
“Global take-down orders go against the very principles of a free and open internet and threaten free speech everywhere.”
The bishop has come out in support of the company and the right of Australians to consume content linked to the attack.
Congregants of the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley in western Sydney gasped and erupted into applause on Sunday evening as the Bishop returned to the pulpit to preach again following the alleged terror attack on him two weeks ago.
The Bishop appeared before the crowd as a curtain pulled apart on the church stage.
The crowd stood and clapped and cheered him as he appeared.
“May this holy and blessed day, the day of Hosanna, Palm Sunday according to the church calendar, may the Lord Jesus bless every Christian who is celebrating Palm Sunday today, and those who have celebrated it earlier,” he said to his followers.
“In Christ we are one.”
It was the Bishop’s first time back at the pulpit following the alleged April 15 terror attack, in which a 16-year-old boy allegedly stabbed the bishop while he was giving a livestreamed sermon, with video of the violence quickly spreading online.
The Bishop suffered lacerations to his face and body and paramedics took him to hospital for treatment.
On Sunday, he said “love never fails”, referencing a passage from the Bible.
“This is our Christian faith, but above all this is our Christ, who is all”
“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 Bishop also delivered a message to his alleged attacker.
“I’ll say it again, this young man who did this act, almost two weeks ago, I say to you, ‘my dear, you are my son and you will always be my son’,” the Bishop said.
“I will always pray for you, I will always wish you nothing but the best.
“And for whoever was in this act, in the name of my Jesus, I forgive you, I love you, and I will always pray for you.”
The Bishop offered sermons in both Arabic and English on Sunday.
