The priest stabbed during a sermon at a church in western Sydney is a well-known anti-vaxxer who criticized lockdowns during the Covid pandemic.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was giving mass at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Monday night when he was attacked at around 7pm.
Horrific footage of the incident, which was streamed live on the church’s YouTube page, shows Bishop Emmanuel looking on in shock as the black-clad attacker suddenly rains blows on his face and head.
The attack comes just days after six people were stabbed to death in a separate rampage in Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was giving mass at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Monday night when he was attacked at around 7pm.
Bishop Emmanuel rose to prominence during the Covid pandemic by criticizing harsh lockdown measures which he called “mass slavery”.
He claimed that vaccines would not work against the virus because living “normally” would increase immunity.
‘We are humans? Because they treat us like animals,” Bishop Emmanuel said in a sermon in 2021.
‘They are encouraging people to get vaccinated and stay home. They’ve had enough.’
Since then, he has developed a large following on TikTok and has 290,000 followers on the church’s Facebook.
Horrific footage of the incident, which was streamed live on the church’s YouTube page, shows Bishop Emmanuel looking on in shock as the black-clad attacker suddenly rains blows on his face and head.
A NSW Police spokesperson said Bishop Emmanuel suffered “non-life-threatening injuries”.
“Officers arrested a man and he is assisting police with investigations,” the spokesperson added.
WhatsNew2Day Australia has approached NSW Ambulance for comment.