Melbourne: A Catholic priest of Kerala was stabbed in the neck here at a church on Sunday by a man who called him unqualified to say mass because of his nationality.
The victim identified as Tomy Kalathoor Mathew aged 48, who was a priest in church Foyer.
A man armed with a knife approached Tomy Kalathoor Mathew in the church foyer moments before the Italian language mass at St Matthew’s Parish in Fawkner.
As local media reported, the offender told the priest that because he was Indian, he must be a Hindu or a Muslim and therefore unqualified to say mass.
“There was some shouting and a lot of movement at the back of the church and then I saw Father Tommy coming to approach me. He waved me over and asked me if I could look at his neck because he said ‘I’ve just been stabbed’,” said Melina, one of the parishioners.
A 72 years old man from Fawkner was arrested and charged with intentionally and recklessly causing injury.
Talking to media, detective senior constable Rhiannon Norton said “At this stage, we believe the incident is isolated. There’s nothing to suggest he’s a danger to anyone else”.
“People should never be treated like this. This fellow is doing wonderful work for his parishioners and this is really a blight on the great work that many, many Catholic priests are doing,” he added.
Father Tomy Mathew suffered minor injuries and remains in a stable condition at The Northern Hospital.
Vicar general Monsignor Greg Bennet said the priest was doing well in the hospital and wanted to get back to work soon.