Islamic jihad attack targets pastor with active internet ministry
One of my favorite preachers is Mar Mari Emmanuel, a native of Iraq who is a bishop in the Assyrian Orthodox Church, and he needs our prayers right now following a brutal attack suffered while preaching the Word of God on the evening of Monday, April 15.
Like many Assyrian Orthodox Christians, Bishop Emmanuel was forced to leave Iraq after the U.S. invasion resulted in mass persecution of Iraqi Christians, who were more than 3 million strong prior to that invasion in 2003. After the U.S. operation was completed there, the Shia militias were empowered and they cracked down hard on Christians. Many were killed, and many more were forced to flee. It’s a shameful reflection on U.S. foreign policy and for that reason it’s a story that was never told in the Western corporate media.
Bishop Emmanuel ended up in Australia, where he has developed an active internet ministry with many videos of his preaching on YouTube and TikTok.
On Monday in a suburban area on the western outskirts of Sydney, Australia, tragedy struck.
The New York Post, citing information from the Australian news outlet News.com.au, reports that Bishop Emmanuel was attacked while giving a sermon and stabbed multiple times in the face and neck. Two others were also injured during the Monday night church service, in a mass stabbing attack that came just days after six people were stabbed to death at a nearby mall and sparked massive riots throughout the area.
In a disturbing video of the attack, posted Monday to X, Bishop Emmanuel is shown speaking at Christ The Good Shepherd Church, an Assyrian Orthodox congregation in Wakeley, when a man in a black hoodie charges at him with a knife.
This is a level of violence targeted specifically against Christians that has not often been seen in Western-oriented “democratic” countries like Australia.
Below is a report from the crime scene with a brief example of some of Bishop Emmanuel’s preaching. As you will see, he has warned that the world is entering a period of tribulation where many Christians will die for their faith. He said, “For the sake of Christ I will face death and not deny my Savior.”
The bishop appeared to try to talk to his attacker, who then stabbed the bishop’s face and neck just after 7 p.m. local time in Sydney on Monday.
Emmanuel fell to the floor as congregants rushed quickly to help him.
The bishop was rushed to a local hospital, while the suspect was taken into custody, News.com.au reported. He is in serious but stable condition, the church wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.
Another priest was also among the injured, and the church has asked for prayer.
“It is the bishop and Father’s wishes that you also pray for the perpetrator,” the church said. “We also kindly ask anyone at the Church premises to leave in peace, as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, teaches us.”
At least two others were also treated at the scene for lacerations, according to News.com.au.
A motive for the stabbing is not immediately known, but the suspect reportedly told congregants at the scene Emmanuel “was getting involved in my religion so I came to get involved in his,” a politician posted online. We don’t know anything for sure yet, but a knife attack like this bears all the hallmarks of an Islamic jihad attack. Bishop Emmanuel has been very outspoken in his criticism of Islam and where the spirit of jihad eminates from. It comes from the pit of hell.
UPDATE: Sydney Bishop Stabber Is a Radical Muslim
Thousands rioted in the streets outside the bishop’s church while they waited for the suspect to be marched outside.
“Bring him out, bring him out,” the angry mob could be heard shouting in a video posted to Twitter.
An angry crowd chants “bring him out” waiting for the suspect caught on livestream stabbing their Bishop Mar Mari inside their church. pic.twitter.com/zxRNb5tOTE
— Chriscoveries (@Chriscoveries) April 15, 2024
Other footage showed a large crowd rioting at the scene and apparently damaging local property, with dozens of people bashing in an ambulance window, reports News.com.au.
Please pray for Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel’s complete recovery, and that justice will be served against his attacker.
For more on his ministry, you can view his sermons on his YouTube Channel.
SOURCE: LEO HOHMANN
