In a shocking turn of events, the bishop of an ultra-conservative Assyrian Orthodox church in Sydney was viciously stabbed during a live-streamed service on Monday night. The attack, which police are calling a religiously-motivated “terrorist incident,” left the bishop and a parish priest injured and sent shockwaves through the community.
The assailant, a 16-year-old male, was captured on camera stabbing the bishop multiple times before being subdued. Both the bishop and the priest were rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the attacker underwent surgery for his wounds and is now under police guard.
This disturbing incident comes just days after a mass stabbing at a shopping mall near Bondi Beach that claimed the lives of six people and injured several others. While police have ruled out any links to terrorism in that case, the recent attack on the bishop has prompted the establishment of a joint counter-terrorism task force in Canberra.
Authorities have revealed that the teenage attacker was known to police but was not on any terrorist watch lists. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, known for his outspoken views on lockdowns and vaccines during the pandemic, was targeted in what police believe to be an act of religiously motivated extremism.
As the investigation unfolds, the community is left reeling from the senseless violence that has struck their church. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed solidarity with those affected by the attacks and reassured the public that the terrorism threat level would not be raised in response to this incident.