Sonny Bill Williams posts bizarre message about horror stabbing in Sydney church at the hands of influencer and accused rapist Andrew Tate

Sonny Bill Williams has shared a bizarre post about the Sydney church sermon stabbed by controversial influencer Andrew Tate.

Shortly after 7 p.m. on Monday, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was preaching at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, western Sydney, when a 15-year-old boy dressed in black approached the altar and allegedly stabbed him several times.

Horrific footage of the incident, broadcast live on the church’s YouTube page, showed Bishop Emmanuel looking up in astonishment as the attacker suddenly punched him in the face and head.

The image quickly circulated on social media, with former All Blacks star Williams, 38, sharing it from Tate’s X account with a message to Bishop Emmanuel.

Tate’s original post implied, without any evidence, that Bishop Emmanuel was stabbed because of comments he allegedly made about the Israel-Gaza war.

Although the stabbing was declared a terrorist act by NSW Police, the teenage suspect’s alleged motive has not been revealed.

Tate, who is facing rape allegations, captioned the video of the attack: “Anti-Zionist ‘Stop Killing Little Muslim Girls They’re Angels’ Preacher Stabbed in Sydney Australia.”

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a service in Sydney (photo)

The two-time Rugby World Cup winner shared the clip of Tate, posting: “Praying for his full recovery”, alongside an open palm emoji.

The horror incident sparked unrest outside the church as hundreds of people gathered in protest, throwing bottles and bricks at a hastily erected police barrier as chants of “eye for an eye” and “take him out” could be heard.

Immediately after the attack, footage was released showing the alleged attacker being tackled on his stomach by at least three people, including a police officer, as he smiled and appeared to mock his captors.

A man, with blood visible on his jeans, sits with his legs straddling the alleged attacker’s head.

“People pray and you (allegedly) come to do this?” the man said, lightly hitting him on the cheek.

The policeman intervenes: “Stop, let go, please. You will make things worse.

But then the man holding the camera pulls the other man’s leg aside to reveal the face of the alleged attacker.

He smiles and appears to laugh as the man holding the camera says “you’re a fucking idiot, you’re going to get blamed.”

The alleged attacker then appears to say: “Do you think they are going to hurt my brother? while the police try to make the men leave.

After the stabbing, groups of outnumbered police officers huddled together as bottles and bricks were thrown at them.

Tate (pictured) and his brother Tristan were accused of rape and human trafficking in Romania

Former All Black Sonny Bill, 38, sent his prayers on social media after the attack

Some in the crowd cheered as car windows were smashed.

Footage posted on social media appeared to show a ladder being used to smash a church window.

Police attempted to maintain a perimeter in nearby Welcome Park, but were repeatedly broken by rioters who ran toward the church.

They then deployed tear gas to allow their officers to leave the area.

Some people gathered could be heard shouting “they are attacking us with gas”.

On Tuesday, police described the attack as a terrorist incident.

It comes just 48 hours after six people were murdered in Westfield Bondi Junction by a knife madman.

Joel Cauchi, 40, stabbed five women and a security guard to death and injured several others before being shot dead by a police officer.

A NSW Police spokesperson said Bishop Emmanuel suffered “non-life-threatening injuries”.

“Officers have arrested a man and he is assisting police with their investigation,” the spokesperson added.

There were hostile scenes outside Christ the Good Shepherd Church Monday evening.

Worshipers gathered outside the church with palpable tensions following the attack

Police have been deployed to deal with the situation in Sydney’s western suburbs

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Ambulance for comment.

Mgr Emmanuel has many faithful on social networks, with more than 17,000 subscribers on Facebook.

He gained notoriety during the pandemic when he called Sydney’s lockdown “mass slavery” and claimed vaccines were unnecessary because living “normally” would boost immunity.

The Church of Christ the Good Shepherd has nearly 200,000 subscribers on YouTube.