Mar Mari Emmanuel

His Grace Mar Mari Emmanuel
Bishop of Christ the Good Shepherd Church
Orders
Ordination	11 August 2011 by Mar Addai II
Rank	Bishop
Personal details
Birth name	Robert Shlimon
Born	(1970-07-19) July 19, 1970 Haditha, Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq
Denomination	Syriac Christianity
Residence	Sydney, Australia
Occupation	Cleric

Mar Mari Emmanuel (born 19 July 1970) is an Iraqi-born Australian Christian cleric who is the bishop of Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, New South Wales. An ethnic Assyrian, in 2011, he was ordained a bishop in the Ancient Church of the East, but was suspended in 2014. In 2015, he left that denomination and established an independent Christian church in the Eastern Syriac tradition.

His sermons are livestreamed on Christ the Good Shepherd Church's Facebook and YouTube channels, which collectively have a following of 240,000. 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, criticising homosexuality and reprimanding COVID-19.

On 15 April 2024, Emmanuel and five others were stabbed at his church.

Early life

Emmanuel was born in 1970 in Haditha, Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq, to a devout Christian family. Growing up in Baghdad, he settled in Sydney, Australia, in the early 1980s as a child, 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.

Tenure as bishop

In August 2011, Mar Yacoub Daniel and Mar Zaia Khoshaba consecrated Mar Mari 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.

Ancient Church of the East

In July 2013, while on a visit to Australia, Mar Addai II bestowed the patriarchal confirmation upon Mari 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 of Emmanuel. The patriarch's deadline expired, and Addai II suspended Mari 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 The suspension was briefly withdrawn in December 2014 when Emmanuel declared his acceptance of the patriarchal decrees, but renewed when he expressed his disagreement a second time.

Independent church

In January 2015, Mari Emmanuel established an independent church in the East Syriac (Assyrian Christian) tradition, in Wakeley, which is currently known as Christ the Good Shepherd Church.

The Holy Synod of the Ancient Church of the East discussed his case at a meeting in 2015, and in 2016 he was received in communion again by metropolitan Toma Gewargis, who also paid a visit to the church later that year. However, with respect to his participation in the former denomination in which he served, 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". Dressed in his dark robe, holding a large cross, and exhibiting a shaggy grey beard under a black cowl, 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.

He has appeared on YouTube podcasts such as PBD Podcast and Valuetainment with Patrick Bet-David and Vincent Oshana, where the videos have over one million views. Another such podcast is titled "Satan Has Engulfed the Churches", where Emmanuel expresses his opinions on Pope Francis "going woke". Clips from his livestreamed church sermons have been re-uploaded on social media and have amassed millions of views.

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. His online presence has been a target for criticism, hate speech and internet trolling.

Controversies

On 19 July 20, 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-LGBTQ sentiments and describing homosexuality as a "crime in the eyes of God". In one sermon, he stated that "Islam flourished and expanded with the sword". However, on the conflict in Gaza, he has called for peace and he has emphasised his love for the Muslim community and how he often prays for Muslims. In addition, he has supported Donald Trump, and implored 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.

2024 stabbing attack

Main article: 2024 Wakeley church stabbing

On Monday 15th April 2024, Emmanuel was attacked by a 16-year-old boy 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, where sustained lacerations to his head; the perpetrator then stabbed five others. Just after the attack, Emmanuel prayed for the assailant. In a video released by one of the churchgoers, the attacker spoke in Arabic, saying "if he [the bishop] didn't insult my prophet and religion, I wouldn't have come here". Police described the attack as "religious motivated extremism". According to Emmanuel, just about one month before the stabbing, there were threats spread on TikTok, stating he "has two weeks to live".

Parishes

• Saint Zaia Cathedral – Middleton Grange, New South Wales (former)
• Christ The Good Shepherd Church – Wakeley, New South Wales (current)

See also

• Assyrian Church of the East

External links

• Christ The Good Shepherd Church

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