‘I’m doing fine’: Stabbed bishop’s plea for peace
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel has urged his followers not to retaliate in his first statement since he was stabbed as his attacker’s parents speak of their remorse.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel has spoken out for the first time since he was stabbed while delivering a sermon in southwest Sydney on Monday night.
Bishop Emmanuel has called for peace and urged his followers not to retaliate following the riots that took place after he was stabbed at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley.
“I’m doing fine, recovering very quickly, we thank the lord Jesus, there is no need to be worried or concerned,” he said in a statement released by his church.
“And a piece of advice to all our beloved faithfuls, I need you to act Christ like.
“The Lord Jesus never taught us to fight, the Lord Jesus never taught us to retaliate, the Lord Jesus never said to us an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
The parents of the teenager who allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel are traumatised and apologetic, over the incident.
Muslim community leader Dr Jamal Rifi spoke on behalf of the 16-year-old boy’s parents on Sky News this morning, saying the parents are shocked.
“What he did was totally wrong, the parents, both of them, they are traumatised by the event but at the same time they’ve been apologetic for what he did,” Dr Rifi said.
“Today we’ve heard Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel’s message and we are glad that he’s getting better and wish him all the best.”
Dr Rifi also said “we need to learn how to disagree” and learn to “talk to each other rather than shouting at each other”.
“As we all know the Bishop is the head of an Assyrian community, and Assyrian mainly is a persecuted minority in Iraq that fled that persecution to come in here, and the last thing we want is actually to cause further their trauma,” he said.
“It’s a place of worship, it should be protected, it should be sacred and his message resonated very well.
“We are happy with that and it’s the same message that I have heard from the imam of the Lakemba mosque.”
It comes as a 19-year-old man was arrested following the riots.
More Coverage
Chalmers’ $230bn Future Funnel for favoured projects
Jim Chalmers is overhauling the investment mandate of the Future Fund to drive capital into Labor’s agenda, in a major shift in the role of the sovereign wealth fund established by the Howard government.
Treasurer eyes a once-in-a-century pot of taxpayer gold
Jim Chalmers’ fundamental change to the Future Fund provides investment ‘priorities’ where there were none – priorities that align with Labor’s political and ideological agenda.