Pray for the stabbed bishop, and for the courage to follow his example
By Harry Blanchard, TCW:
MONDAY’S stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Church of the East in Sydney was bound to happen sooner or later. For those unfamiliar with the story, a 15-year-old Arabic speaker attacked the bishop and three others, including a priest, during a memorial service at the Church of the Good Shepherd in the western suburb of Wakeley. The assailant was quickly subdued by worshippers while the bishop, despite his wounds, put his hands on the boy and prayed.
The notion of a Christian bishop being attacked in a British Commonwealth nation even ten years ago would have been almost inconceivable, but in this post-Paris, post-Manchester world, such a scene is all too easy to anticipate. Mari Emmanuel has gained a reputation as the TikTok Bishop, with short clips from his videos gaining, in some cases, several hundred thousand views. He is known for expounding the Gospel in a ‘full-fat’ way, with a fervour and spiritual intensity which has captivated audiences worldwide. Notably, he has expressed uncompromising positions in opposition to trans ideology, covid fascism (of which Australia has been a diabolical exemplar), Islam and the like. Emmanuel has a fiery, resonant voice and preaches with a distinctly Levantine fervour. A swathe of the backslidden and unconverted, many of them young people, have been revived in the faith through his sincerity of belief.
What are the reasons for this appalling attack?
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