Mari Emmanuel

Mar Mari Emmanuel (born Robert Shlimon; 19 July 1970) is an Iraqi-born, Assyrian Australian prelate. He is the bishop of Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, New South Wales. In 2011, Emmanuel was ordained a bishop in the Ancient Church of the East, but was suspended in 2014. In 2015, he established an independent church in the Eastern Syriac.

His sermons are livestreamed on Christ the Good Shepherd Church's Facebook and YouTube channels, which collectively have a following of 240,000 users. His popularity has garnered online fan pages with thousands of people following him, and he has taken part in interviews on conservative YouTube programs, where he has spoken about religion and criticised homosexuality and the Australian COVID-19 policy.

On 15 April 2024, Emmanuel and five others were stabbed at his church during a livestreamed sermon. Later on, the Police Commissioner of NSW Karen Webb, declared it a terrorist attack. Emmanuel lost his right eye from the attack.

Early life
Emmanuel was born in 1970 in Habbaniya, Iraq, to a devout Assyrian-Christian family belonging to the Ancient Church of the East. He grew up in Baghdad, but his family left Iraq in 1985 and settled in Sydney, Australia, where he attended Fairfield High School. He worked as a bank manager in the 1990s before becoming a deacon in the late 1990s and then being ordained a priest in 2009.

Ancient Church of the East
In August 2011, Mar Yacoub Daniel and Mar Zaia Khoshaba consecrated Emmanuel as a suffragan bishop for the Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand, assisting the Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand. Previously known as Emmanuel Shlimon, he adopted the episcopal name of 'Mari Emmanuel' (after Saint Mari) at the time of becoming a bishop.

In July 2013, while on a visit to Australia, Mar Addai II bestowed the patriarchal confirmation upon Emmanuel. At the time, though, he ordered him to make changes in regard to a range of different areas such as the liturgical, theological and social conduct. The patriarch's deadline expired, and Addai II suspended Emmanuel in July 2014, on the grounds of disobeying canons promulgated by the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325. The suspension was briefly withdrawn in December 2014 when Emmanuel declared his acceptance of the patriarchal decrees, but renewed when he expressed his disagreement a second time. For a period of time, Emmanuel preached at Saint Zaia Cathedral in Middleton Grange, New South Wales.

Independent church
In January 2015, Emmanuel established himself as bishop of an independent church in the East Syriac tradition, in Wakeley, Christ the Good Shepherd Church. As of 2023, he is not listed as a clergyman in the Ancient Church of the East's Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand, and Lebanon.

Social media presence
Emmanuel has gained popularity through social media, such as Christ the Good Shepherd Church's YouTube channel and TikTok, which earned him the sobriquet "TikTok Bishop". The bishop's sermons on social media have ranged from homilies on the Holy Bible to fervent criticisms of LGBT, COVID vaccinations, and U.S. President Joe Biden's election (where he expressed disapproval of Biden's support for gay rights). Moreover, he has also criticised liberal Christianity.

The bishop is usually dressed in a dark pulpit gown, where he holds a large cross, and displays his beard under a black cowl (as per Orthodox tradition). His sermons are delivered in both English and Assyrian at the Wakeley church through Facebook and YouTube, in addition to offering Sunday school classes for young children and youth group ministry. Clips from his livestreamed church sermons have been re-uploaded on social media and have amassed millions of views. His online presence has been a target for criticism, hate speech and internet trolling.

He has appeared on YouTube podcasts such as PBD Podcast and Valuetainment with Patrick Bet-David and Vincent Oshana, where the videos have received over one million views. Another such podcast is titled "Satan Has Engulfed the Churches", where Emmanuel expresses his opinions on Pope Francis "going woke". Amidst the Israel–Hamas war, he has called for peace and has expressed support for Palestinians in Gaza. In early 2024, he visited Gaza during the conflict.

Controversies
On 19 July 2021, amid the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant outbreaks and the lockdown in Sydney, Emmanuel presented an online sermon that reprimanded the COVID-19 vaccinations and lockdowns calling them "mass slavery", and saying that the coronavirus is "just another type of the flu, no more, no less" and called it a "plandemic". In his video, he implored Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to do more and aid those with financial and emotional adversity, in addition to saying, "have we really lost the plot?"

In addition to criticising non-Christian religions, such as Judaism and Islam, the Bishop is also known for preaching Anti-LGBT sermons and describing homosexuality as a "crime in the eyes of God". In one sermon, he stated that "Islam flourished and expanded with the sword". In addition, he has supported American former president Donald Trump, imploring him to remain faithful to Christianity and defy the influence of the Freemasons. A sermon of his posted online by fans depicts him to claim the United Nations was established by Satan, in addition to labeling the World Health Organization a "fraud".

2024 stabbing attack
On 15 April 2024, shortly after 7:00 pm, Emmanuel was attacked by a 16-year-old Muslim during a sermon at Christ The Good Shepherd Church. At a pulpit, the assailant set upon Emmanuel from the latter’s right and stabbed the bishop repeatedly with a switchblade until he fell after sustaining lacerations to his head; the perpetrator then stabbed five others. Just after the attack, Emmanuel prayed for the assailant. According to the NSW police commissioner Karen Webb, Emmanuel underwent surgery and was "lucky to be alive".

In the livestream of the sermon, the attacker spoke in Arabic, shouting "Allahu Akbar” before stabbing Emmanuel. In a video released by a churchgoer, he was also heard saying "if he [the bishop] didn't insult my prophet and religion, I wouldn't have come here". Police described the attack as "religiously motivated extremism" and as a "terrorist act". According to Emmanuel, just about one month before the stabbing, there were threats spread on TikTok, stating he "has two weeks to live".

Emmanuel was the third notable victim of an attempted assassination in Australia after Arthur Calwell in 1966 and Prince Alfred in 1868.

Emmanuel's response
On 18 April, in an online audio sermon at Liverpool Hospital, Emmanuel again forgave the attacker, in addition to demanding his followers to not seek revenge. He stated:

"Love never fails... whatever has happened to me personally I thank the Lord Jesus...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. And whoever sent you to do this, I forgive them as well, in Jesus' mighty name...I have nothing in my heart but love for everyone, whether this person is Christian or not, that is totally beside the point...I am doing fine, I am recovering very quickly."

On 29 April, in his first sermon after the attack (that marked the eastern orthodox Palm Sunday), the bishop stated that he lost his right eye, and was wearing an eyepatch. He declared that his eye injury as a "sacrifice", and said it should be taken as a indication of love towards Muslims, before addressing the topic of freedom of speech.