Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel has delivered his first sermon since he was allegedly stabbed in what was declared a terrorist act by NSW Police.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Bishop appeared on the livestreamed Sunday sermon wearing a patch over his eye in the only lasting sign of the alleged attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church on April 15.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with a terrorism offence by the joint counter-terrorism team and remains before the courts.
Bishop Emmanuel reiterated his message that he had forgiven his alleged attacker and said would always pray for him.
"I say to you, 'my dear, you are my son and you will always be my son'," he said.
"I will always wish you nothing but the best."
The bishop sustained lacerations to his head when he was allegedly stabbed during a sermon which was being livestreamed online about 7pm on April 15.
The footage was shared on social media and has sparked a high-profile showdown between Australia's eSafety Commissioner and Elon Musk, the executive chairman of X, formerly Twitter.
The Commissioner has taken X to the Federal Court after it claimed the platform had not taken enough action to remove the "extreme violent video material".
In the midst of the court battle Bishop Emmanuel put his support behind X and said he was not opposed to the footage being online.
In his address on April 28 the bishop went further to address the Australian government and Prime Minister directly.
"Every human being has the right to their freedom of speech and freedom of religion," Bishop Emmanuel said.
"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."
It comes after Mr Musk and X pushed back on the Commissioner's request for the footage to be removed globally, arguing governments should not have that power.
X said it believed "governments should not be able to censor what citizens of other countries see online", and it did not agree the posts should be banned in Australia either.
However government minister Bill Shorten said Mr Musk was conflating the issue by alleging Australia was trying to control the internet globally.
"We're not trying to do that. But this violent filth shouldn't be accessible," Mr Shorten told the Today show on April 26.
"He is contesting our interim orders and then he's sort of hiding behind another argument.
"Elon Musk is not a free speech warrior. If he was, he'd allow Twitter to be able to put up the movements of his jet, which he doesn't."
On April 24 the Federal Court granted a further interim injunction requiring X to immediately hide the footage.
The Court can impose a fine of up to $782,500 for each day of non-compliance with a removal notice, under the Online Safety Act.
A further court hearing is scheduled for May 10.
