Man arrested after reported stabbing at church in Sydney

A man has been arrested after reportedly stabbing a bishop and churchgoers in Sydney, Australian police said.

No life-threatening injuries have been reported.

The attack occurred during a televised service on Monday, police said.

A video on social media shows a man dressed in black approaching a cleric man identified as the bishop at Christ the Good Shepherd in suburban Wakely and appearing to stab him repeatedly.

Members of the congregation are seen screaming and rushing to the bishop’s aid.

The church website identified the bishop as Mar Mari Emmanuel.

NSW Ambulance said paramedics had treated a man in his 50s for multiple cuts and taken him to a hospital, and three others were being treated for one or more cuts at the scene.

“A large police response is under way and the public is urged to avoid the area,” police said.

The premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, described the scenes as “disturbing” on social media and urged the community to remain calm and “stick together”.

Religious leaders expressed shock and condolences as crowds gathered outside the church and the hospital.

Australians are still in shock after a lone assailant stabbed six people to death in a busy Sydney shopping mall on Saturday and injured more than a dozen others.

Christ the Good Shepherd had been preparing for Palm Sunday later this month.

Disturbing scenes tonight in Wakeley tonight.

I have received a briefing from the Commissioner of Police and NSW Health on the situation.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and first responders who are working to keep us safe.

1/2

Advertisement

— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) April 15, 2024

The bishop was featured in national news last year.

A video posted in May 2023 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about a campaign targeting the LGBTQ+ community showed the bishop in a sermon saying: “When a man calls himself a woman, he is neither a man nor a woman, you are not a human, then you are an it.

“Now, since you are an it, I will not address you as a human anymore because it is not my choosing, it your choosing.”