- Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was allegedly stabbed during sermon
- His alleged attacker said bishop had 'involved himself in my religion'
- Follow Daily Mail Australia's live coverage of the Sydney church stabbing here
The teenager who allegedly stabbed a bishop in an act of terrorism justified his actions by telling police the Christian leader had 'sworn' at 'my prophet', and reportedly screamed the Islamic phrase 'Allahu Akbar'.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked while performing a service at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, in Sydney's west, on Monday night.
He was captured on the live stream of the attack shouting 'Allahu Akbar' as he stabbed the bishop in the head, neck and torso at least eight times.
Horrified parishioners leapt into action, with some rushing to the bishop's aid and others helping to detain the teenager inside the church.
Video showed the alleged 16-year-old perpetrator detained by police on the ground inside the church before he spoke in Arabic.
It is understood the words translate to: 'If he didn't swear at my Prophet I wouldn't be here. If he didn't involve himself in my religion I wouldn't be here'.
One of the men involved in restraining the teenager following the attack, before police arrived, described how he approached the teenager from behind and forcefully pushed him to the ground.
'He kept saying: "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar",' the man said in a video posted to social media.
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw was asked to confirm if the teenager had an Islamic motivation, but despite the witness testimony, he would not say.
'We have a lot of intelligence to go through and confirm,' he said.
'I can't go through that. One of the things I want to say it's a disgraceful act from the community who attacked police at that scene.'
The Australian National Imams Council and other individual Muslims have condemned the attack on Bishop Emmanuel.
'These attacks are horrifying and have no place in Australia, particularly at places of worship and toward religious leaders,' the Imams Council said in a statement.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess was asked if he was aware of the comments and if the bishop had said or done anything to trigger the attack.
'We're aware of those comments, and everything else is open inquiry lines to understand why the individual got to where he did,' he said.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel (pictured) was attacked while giving a sermon at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church on Monday night with a 16-year-old boy arrested by police
In video of the melee the alleged attacker is heard saying in Arabic: 'If he didn't swear at my Prophet I wouldn't be here. If he didn't involve himself in my religion I wouldn't be here'
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) was asked to confirm the teenager's religion amid speculation he had recently converted to Islam
Mr Burgess was asked why the incident in Wakeley was considered a terrorist attack while the stabbing in Bondi Junction wasn't.
'The simple answer there is to call it a terrorist attack you need indications of, information or evidence that suggests actually the motivation was religiously motivated or ideologically motivated,' he said.
'In the case of Saturday that was not the case. In this case [Wakeley] information that we and the police have before us it would indicate strongly that is the case and that's why it was called an act of terrorism.'
Mr Burgess said ASIO would 'look at individuals connected with the attacker to assure ourselves there's no one else in the community with similar intent'.
The spy boss added: 'At this stage, we have no indications of that.
'But it's prudent that we do this to determine there's no threats or immediate threats to security. At this time, we're not seeing that.'
Mr Burgess said Australia's national terrorism threat level would remain at 'probable' as one incident was not enough to make a change.
He urged all Australians to be mindful of the language they used amid rising tensions in the community.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in condemning the violence said the National Security Committee had held a meeting on Monday night.
He said a joint counter terrorism taskforce had been established with the AFP and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Tuesday declared the attack was a terrorist incident 'centred around religion'.
Police were seen outside the Orthodox Assyrian church in Wakeley on Tuesday
Residents in Wakeley have expressed their concern for the bishop's welfare
Police confirmed one of the alleged 16-year-old attacker's fingers was cut off as he was pulled away from the bishop.
It had been speculated one of those who initially detained him had cut it off, but it is now understood he accidentally severed the finger himself amid the chaos.
Shared pictures which showed all four fingers on the left hand severed are understood to be fake.
The attack led to further violence on the street near the Assyrian church, where hundreds of people gathered and began targeting police officers.
They were forced to shelter inside the church for several hours after their attempt to extract the injured alleged attacker, as some members of the enraged crowd called for his lynching.
Bricks, concrete and fence palings were used to attack police and damage equipment, injuring officers and rendering vehicles unusable.
Police officers were injured, and one was left with a broken jaw.
'That is unacceptable and those that were involved in that riot can expect a knock at the door,' Ms Webb said.
'We will find you and we will come and arrest you.'
Paramedics assessed and treated 30 patients, with seven taken to hospital, NSW Ambulance commissioner Dominic Morgan said.
'This was a rapidly evolving situation where the crowds went from 50 to a number of hundreds of people in a very rapid period of time,' he said.
'Our paramedics became directly under threat ... and had to retreat into the church.'
Mr Albanese said people should let police and security agencies do their job rather than taking the law into their own hands.
'It is not acceptable to impede and injure police doing their duty or to damage police vehicles in a way that we saw last night,' he said.
