Tensions rise after bishop, priest are wounded in knife attack inside church

SYDNEY — A teenager has been accused of wounding a Christian bishop and a priest during a church service in the second knife attack to rock Sydney in recent days, leaving communities on edge and a besieged church urging against retaliation.

The 16-year-old was overpowered by the congregation at Christ the Good Shepherd Church after he allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Rev. Isaac Royel during a service Monday that was being streamed online.

Police have not commented on reports that the boy’s fingers were severed by parishioners in the Orthodox Assyrian church in suburban Wakeley, but confirmed his hand injuries were “severe.”

Video of the attack spread on social media and a mob converged on the church demanding vengeance. They hurled bricks at police, who temporarily barricaded the boy inside the church for his own safety. Many in the crowd chanted “an eye for an eye.”

Several people including police officers required hospital treatment following the hourslong riot.

The church said in a statement Tuesday it “denounced retaliation.” Police stood guard around mosques in parts of Sydney on Tuesday after reports that text messages were circulating urging the Assyrian Christian community to retaliate against Muslims.

Sydney’s Lakemba Mosque, Australia’s largest, has hired additional private security for the next week after receiving fire bomb threats Monday night.

Police and community leaders said public anxiety had been heightened by a lone assailant’s knife attack in a Sydney shopping mall Saturday that killed five women and a male security guard who attempted to intervene. The 40-year-old assailant, Joel Cauchi, had a history of mental illness and trouble with women and a fascination with knives. He was shot dead by police.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged the public against vigilantism.

“We understand the ... concerns (of) the community, particularly after the tragic event at Bondi Junction on Saturday,” Albanese told reporters, referring to the Westfield Bondi Junction mall.

“But it is not acceptable to impede police and injure police doing their duty or to damage police vehicles in a way that we saw last night,” Albanese added.