Another stabbing in Sydney. This time the site of the attack is an Orthodox Church, Christ The Good Shepherd, in the western suburbs of the Australian capital, just 40 kilometers from the shopping center where on Saturday afternoon a 15-year-old boy killed six people with a large blade, before being shot by an officer. According to the police, it was a terrorist attack.
An attack that sparked violent religious clashes that went on for hours between the local Christian community and the Australian police. The attacker injured several people during morning mass, live streaming on the church’s social channels, starting with Mar Mari Emmanuel, an ultra-conservative bishop, leader of the Christian Lives Matter movement, famous for his anti-LGBT campaigns .
Sydney, a man attacks the bishop who is celebrating mass with a knife: several injured. The attacker arrested
Four people were injured, all hospitalized with injuries to their limbs and face, but none of them appear to be in danger of life at the moment. The young man, whose identity is still unknown, was immediately arrested, however the incident triggered a furious protest. News had spread on social media, unverifiable and not confirmed by any official source, according to which the attacker was of Arab origin and had attacked while shouting ‘Allah Akbar’. This was enough to warm hearts: shortly afterwards the Christian protest broke out in the area around the church, barely contained by hundreds of officers in riot gear and which lasted until late at night. This church, called “of the Assyrians” is the point of reference for the local Orthodox community, largely made up of refugees who fled the war in Iraq and Syria: many of them, exasperated, with large crosses in their hands, protested, wounding some officers and damaging several cars. Their goal was to take justice into their own hands, to free the perpetrator of the attack from the hands of the police. However, the police themselves had made it known hours ago that the attacker had already been transferred to a safe place. The political authorities and all the leaders of the various local religious organizations have launched an appeal for calm and reconciliation. In short, according to initial investigations, the two attacks have no connection to each other. This time everything happened early in the morning, when a man dressed in black approached the altar where the bishop was giving his sermon. His steps were slow and calm at first. Then, suddenly, when he was a few centimeters from the religious man, he attacked him with a small knife in his hand, trying to hit him on the head. The bishop, however, managed to block the blows. In a few seconds, all around, the faithful in the front rows of the church surrounded and blocked the attacker. An attack broadcast live on the Church’s social networks, so much so that images obviously went viral online.