NSW Police declare church attack as a terrorism incident

Let’s get more now on what we know about the bishop and the church at the centre of that stabbing incident in Sydney.

Transcript

00:00 Mari Emmanuel is quite a prominent figure, not only within his own community and within

00:07 his church, but also online.

00:09 He's the conservative leader of the Assyrian Orthodox Christ of the Good Shepherd Church.

00:17 The Assyrian Church of the East is its own distinct brand of Christianity, but we do

00:22 know that this church in particular broke away from the main church back in 2014.

00:32 So Mari Emmanuel, we know from the church's website, became a priest in 2009 and a bishop

00:38 in 2011, but he came to a sort of online fame during the COVID-19 pandemic.

00:46 He was known for his anti-lockdown views, his sermons have been widely shared on social

00:53 media and TikTok in particular.

00:57 They're also live streamed across YouTube and Facebook and the church's following on

01:02 those platforms is combined of about 240,000 people.

01:07 And so that's obviously going to be people not only within Sydney and Australia, but

01:11 also across the world.

01:13 So we know he's also traveled to the United States, according to the church's website.

01:18 He went over to Phoenix, Arizona in the US last year to deliver sermons there.

01:25 The church itself also has a Sunday school and youth ministry as well.

01:29 So it's quite significant.

01:31 And people, members of the community that have spoken today have talked about how much

01:36 he's much loved and respected within the community, but also quite significantly across the world

01:42 with this online following.

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