By Joe Snell | April 15, 2024
Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a sermon in Sydney on April 15 at the altar of his church. Three worshippers were also injured in the attack.
A live stream of the service shows a man dressed in black charge the altar and swung an object that appeared to be a knife at the priest, yelling in Arabic. The congregation moved forward to protect the Bishop.
Emmanuel and another priest are in stable condition, the church said in a statement posted on social media.
The injured worshippers suffered non-life threatening injuries and were treated on site by paramedics.
Officers said they arrested a 16-year-old at the scene. The motive for the attack is still unknown. Police declared the stabbing as a “terrorist incident” because of elements of “religious motivated extremism.”
Several hundred people gathered outside the church to protest the stabbing. Riot police were called to disperse the crowd.
“We ask for your prayers at this time,” the statement read. “We also kindly ask anyone at the church to leave in peace as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, teaches us.”
Emmanuel was born in Habbaniyah, Iraq in 1970 and arrived in Australia at the age of 13. He was formerly the Bishop of the Ancient Church of the East. Today, he leads the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney.
Emmanuel’s fiery sermons present a mix of traditional religious messaging with commentary on global affairs such as the Covid pandemic and the war in Gaza. The faith leader has a big presence on social media, with over 200,000 subscribers on the church’s YouTube channel and another 100,000 on his own channel. His videos shared on Instagram and TikTok have been viewed millions of times.
His church, Christ the Good Shepherd, is located in Sydney’s western suburbs, home to a large population of Assyrians as well as other migrant communities.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Correction: A previous version of this story listed the attacker as a 15-year-old boy. He is 16-year-olds.