By Carrie Fellner, Harriet Alexander and Sally Rawsthorne
For two days after the Bondi Junction massacre, the city pulsed with emotion. Flags were lowered, flowers gathered. Six people were dead after no more than going to the shops.
But when a second knifeman burst into Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Monday night and stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and other members of the congregation, the pile teetered. By the time police arrived, it was a riot.
Parishioners confront police after the stabbing of Assyrian bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel on Monday night.Credit: Wolter Peeters
More likely to be heard from behind the smartphone screen than the pulpit, Emmanuel has won legions of young followers on social media, earning him the moniker the “TikTok Bishop”.
He was preaching to a small congregation when set upon by his assailant, but thousands were tuning in via a Facebook livestream and witnessed the confronting scenes unfold.
Almost immediately, phones were pinging across Cabramatta, Parramatta and Fairfield as the footage was saved and shared among thousands of members of the Assyrian, Maronite, Catholic and Coptic Christian communities.
Within minutes, they were arriving by the carload at the church, an unassuming brick building with fairy lights strung up along its facade.
The Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Tuesday.Credit: Oscar Colman
Members of the Christian community who agreed to be interviewed on Tuesday said the stabbing was the spark that detonated community anger, but the fuse was lit long ago.
Christians, who had long been the target of religious persecution in the Middle East, had sought refuge and anonymity in the suburbs of western Sydney, they said. The attack shattered the illusion of safety.
“That’s why everyone was so passionate and upset last night,” said Monica Gayed, a Coptic Christian.
“The majority of people in our community have parents or are parents that have fled from war crimes.
“This is what we get now – it’s come into our back door and we’re just so over it.”
It was not only Assyrians who had mobilised but also an enormous community of Maronite, Coptic and Catholic Christians who all “support one another in times of crisis and despair”.
An Assyrian community member outside the church on Tuesday told the Herald her community had left Iraq because, in part, of attacks on Christians by the Muslim majority.
“That’s why everyone is so scared and angry,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.
“It happened there, now it’s happening here. People are scared, you don’t expect to see things like that in Australia.”
Fairfield is home to most of Australia’s Assyrian population of 40,000 people from countries across the Middle East including Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Assyrians practise their Christian faith at a number of churches in south-western Sydney.
The woman was grateful that Muslim leaders in Sydney had condemned the attack, and said she had also been contacted by a number of Muslim friends who had apologised for the attacker’s behaviour.
‘People are scared - you don’t expect to see things like that in Australia.’
Assyrian community member
“I thought that was really nice as well,” she said. “They didn’t have to do that.”
Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone said the stabbing attack in the eastern suburbs had made for a febrile environment and people reacted in a way that they otherwise might not have done.
“The majority of people who came were concerned about their relatives and friends and they came to make sure everyone was OK,” Carbone said.
“There were a lot of emotions based on what happened in Bondi. It was the unknown because in Bondi many innocent people were murdered and people didn’t know what had happened inside, and I think emotions got the best of people, especially young people.”
There was no underlying community tension, he said. The teenage perpetrator did not live in the area.
For at least one 15-year-old who lived close to the church and became caught in the melee as he tried to assist an old lady down the road to safety, the attack was inexplicable.
“I put on my Crocs, I see everyone surrounding the church,” he said.
“It was crazy. There were cars everywhere. I had pepper spray in my mouth, I started coughing.”
The 15-year-old said he was familiar with the bishop and his jokes from TikTok, and the community loved him and would protect him like a father.
“I don’t understand a guy my age doing this. I’m just at home playing games. I just don’t understand that.”
Mar Mari Emmanuel is estranged from the dominant Assyrian Church of the East, which stridently rejects any association with him.
Prominent Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia denounced Emmanuel in a video posted to YouTube in February and warned others not to confuse the two churches.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked during a service on Monday night.
“Please, those who refer to [Emmanuel] as Assyrian Church of the East, be careful, don’t come at that mistake because we will come at you legally,” he said, before pointing to a recording of Emmanuel telling his congregation that he would like to pinch the “fat thighs” of baby Jesus and clean up his “poo poo”.
But Reverend Father Shlemon Dinkha, who ministers at St Marys Assyrian Church of the East, said the Assyrian Christian community was peaceful and did not wish ill of Emmanuel.
“Assyrian Christians have lived with everyone in Fairfield in harmony, regardless of their faith and beliefs,” Dinkha said.
“Even though [Christ the Good Shepherd Church] is not part of our congregation, they’re Assyrian as well, and we condemn any act of violence not only against our colleagues but against human beings.”
Jasmine, with her dog Milo, said the community was shocked by the attack.Credit: Oscar Colman
All the Christians who spoke with the Herald on Tuesday were effusive in their praise of the bishop, who they described as a peaceful and passionate man who inspired them in their faith.
“I’ve known him for a long time,” said a Lebanese Maronite Christian woman who asked to be referred to only by her first name, Jasmine.
“When I heard about it, everyone was just heartbroken.”
Coming just two days after the Bondi Junction attack, the community was fearful for their safety, she said. While she was adamant she would still attend the church, she said she would need security guards there to feel safe.
“It’s not going to be the same,” she said.
“Church is a beautiful place for everyone to come to pray and be in the Lord’s presence.”
Lina Davis, a Wakeley resident of nearly 40 years, was frightened on Monday night as helicopters thundered above her house.
“For this to happen in my area just goes to show you’re not safe anywhere; a church is the safest place in the world, you would think.”
Davis was devastated by the attack on the bishop but condemned the actions of the rioters.
“They already had caught the person doing it, so there’s no need for anybody to treat police in a bad way. It is absolutely disgusting,” she said.
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