Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne breaks silence on video of Muslims at St Patrick’s Cathedral

A video showing thousands of Muslims outside Melbourne’s largest church went viral. Now the Archbishop of Melbourne has hit out.

The Archbishop of Melbourne has broken his silence after a video showing thousands of Muslims gathered outside the city’s largest church went viral around the world.

News.com.au exclusively reported last weekend that footage filmed on July 7 outside St Patrick’s Cathedral showing the annual Ashura Muslim procession had drawn a huge response globally.

Videos of the event had been viewed millions of times and attracted the attention of anti-Islam personalities with huge followings around the world, many of whom suggested it showed something sinister taking place.

Some prominent Australian ex-politicians also joined the pile-on, including former Victorian Liberal politician Bernie Finn who wrote: “Pretty damn odd, thousands of Muslims surrounded St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.”

But as this author pointed out, the footage was selective and misleading and characterised a peaceful event — a significant day in Islam, particularly for Shia Muslims — as something dangerous.

On Tuesday afternoon, after being approached by news.com.au, Archbishop Peter Comensoli issued a statement calling for calm and clarifying that the event has the support of the church.

“On 7 July, members of the Shia Muslim faith community in Melbourne engaged in a religious procession through the streets of Melbourne,” he said.

“This was a peaceful event that has occurred annually for over a decade. This procession has been misrepresented in some quarters as an attack on Christians and, specifically, on St Patrick’s Cathedral. This is simply not the case.

“Like all Victorians, the Islamic community is entitled to exercise freedom of religion. As Catholics, we expect nothing less.”

News.com.au understands that the Catholic Archdiocese has been in contact with leaders within the Shia community to discuss the misrepresentation of the procession on social media and to assure them that they had no problem with the procession.

But concerningly, the Archbishop said he has been made aware of “a rally being organised for this weekend which appears to be a protest against the procession”.

“Such a rally does nothing for peace and harmony, nor for promoting religious freedom,” he said.

“I strongly urge people not to attend the rally and hope the organisers have the wisdom to call it off. Instead, I urge Catholics and all people of good will to take up the call of Pope Leo to pray for peace in our world, for an end to war and suffering.

Muslims gather outside St Patrick's Cathedral for Ashura, a procession of mourning.

The route for the 12th Ashura Procession in Melbourne.

“As Catholics, we place our trust in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. May He reign in all our hearts.”

News.com.au has seen the protest promotional material. It reads: “Our monuments and heritage deserve respect. It is unacceptable for Australia’s Christian monuments to face hostility and disrespect.”

But as was pointed out several days ago, there was no disrespect — the Ashura procession has been taking place along the same route since 2009.

Social media videos of the event suggested that Muslims stopped outside the church to chant in an act of deliberate provocation.

News.com.au watched a video of the entire 1hr 42min procession. It showed the group stopping at 30 second intervals. Videos showing the Shia gathering appearing to chant directly at the church appeared to be misleading.

They showed the backs of hundreds of Muslims who had lined the side of Albert Street. The procession was passing between them and the Cathedral, moving along the street when footage was shot from a low angle.

The Ashura Committee which organised the event told news.com.au the group took longer passing the Cathedral because it had to account for traffic, including trams passing in front of the iconic bluestone church.

“We’re accommodating Yarra Trams and the size of the procession itself. It’s not just that it has to stop, it’s just the length of it stops,” a spokesperson said.

Management at the Hossaini Society of Victoria, a non-profit Islamic Community Organisation based in Melbourne, gave a similar account of the “brief stop” outside the church.

Footage shot from a low angle did not show the procession passing between those facing the church and the Cathedral itself.

“The brief stop near St. Patrick’s Cathedral was simply a point where participants paused to allow others to catch up and for traffic management purposes,” a spokesperson said.

“There was no religious or political intention behind stopping at that particular location.”

A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed to news.com.au they were aware of the event and respect the rights of individuals “to practice their faith peacefully”.

“Police were aware the annual Ashura Procession took place in Melbourne on 7 July. There were approximately 5000 people in attendance and the crowd was well behaved.

“There were no incidents during the event that were reported to police. Victoria Police respect the right for individuals to practice their faith peacefully.”

A police source told news.com.au police believe the group paused at Albert Street near the Cathedral to allow the tail end of the group in the march to catch up.

The story initially gained traction when right-wing internet personalities took exception to the footage.

British anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson, who has a legion of fans including 1.3 million followers on X, shared a video with the words: “Insane scenes as hundreds of Muslims circle Melbourne cathedral.”

Archbishop Peter Andrew Comensoli at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

It was viewed almost two million times and followed by thousands of hateful comments.

Failed Liberal candidate for Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Katherine Deves, whose views on the trans community were met with backlash across both sides of politics in 2022, wrote of the scenes: “A horde of Muslim men surround Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Catholic cathedral in a display of dominance & intimidation.”

Ashura marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who stood against injustice and oppression 1400 years ago and died for what he believed in — which happened to be a peaceful and spiritual version of Islam.

Ashura falls on the 10th day of the Islamic calendar month and processions take place in major cities all over the world — including New York, London and Melbourne.

A map shared by organisers of the Melbourne procession shows the route each year travels from Treasury Gardens along Landsdowne Street, turns left on Albert Street, goes past St Patrick’s Cathedral to Parliament House on Spring Street and finishes back in Treasury Gardens.

Originally published as Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne breaks silence on video of Muslims at St Patrick’s Cathedral