The head of the River of Love Evangelist community is claiming that a comment he made on Facebook in which he quoted a Bible verse that suggests Joseph Muscat’s temporary blindness could have been God’s intervention, was tampered with.

Pastor Manche is claiming that his comment on Facebook was tampered with.

Pastor Manche posted a comment underneath a story posted on Facebook reporting that the Prime Minister had been temporarily blinded after he addressed a party activity in Zurrieq where the stage lights are suspected to have malfunctioned.

He cited a verse from the Bible that says: “And Jesus said, ‘For judgement I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be blind’.”

When contacted, Pastor Manche said his comment had been tampered with, insisting that a large chunk had been removed.

However, when asked by timesofmalta.com if he thought Dr Muscat’s blindness had been the result of divine intervention, he said: “I am making an observation. Could it be? Is it possible, is God speaking to us? ... It is a possibility, and if it is, or whether it is not, I still ended up saying I will pray for them and I will pray for our nation.”

Pastor Manche said that after quoting the Bible verse, he also wrote: "is this a coincidence, who knows? We pray that God will have mercy on our nation and our leaders. On the other hand we pray that the grace of God should touch all those who are hurt and be healed equally".

However, he claims that this section was removed in a screenshot of the comment that was shared widely on social media this morning.

The controversial Evangelist community made the headlines last week when it presented a 10,000-signature petition to parliamentarians to oppose the Civil Unions Bill and in particular the clause allowing same-sex couples to adopt children.

Pastor Manche will be discussing the River of Love and its views on #Times Talk at 6.55pm this evening.