An Australian bishop was stabbed multiple times as he was delivering his sermon Monday night, in an attack that came just days after six people were stabbed to death at a nearby mall.
Footage posted online Monday shows Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel speaking at Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church when an unidentified man in a black hoodie confronts him.
The bishop appears to try to talk to the man, who then stabs the bishop’s face and neck.
Emmanuel then fell to the floor as congregants jumped to his aid.
He was promptly rushed to a local hospital, News.com.au reported.
His condition is unknown.
Three others were also injured and were being treated at the scene for lacerations, including a man in his 30s, a man in his 20s and a man in his 60s, according to News.com.au.
The suspect has been taken into custody and is cooperating with the investigation, NSW police told the outlet.
A motive for the attack is unknown.
Emmanuel has gained a following online in recent years as an outspoken critic of COVID restrictions.
He described lockdowns in one sermon as “mass slavery” and has spoken out against vaccine mandates.
“Are we humans? Because we are being treated like animals,” the bishop said in one 2021 sermon, according to News.com.au.
“They are encouraging people to go and take a vaccine and stay at home. They have had enough.”
The attack Monday comes just days after a knife-wielding man stabbed more than a dozen people at a popular mall in Sydney.
It is unclear if the two attacks are linked.
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