MONTREAL:  A priest was stabbed in front of his congregation live on television during morning mass on Friday at Canada's biggest church. Montreal police said a 911 call was placed at around 8:40 a.m. local time. When officers arrived at the landmark church, a male suspect was already detained by security guards.

The Footage broadcast on a Catholic television station and picked up by the top-rated CTV network showed a man in jeans, parka and white baseball cap approach Claude Grou at St Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, in front of 60 horrified parishioners. He is seen chasing the priest around the altar and standing menacingly over the preist as he falls to the ground, scattering candles and a banner, before stabbing his victim.

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Witness Philip Barrett said he saw a tall man, who appeared to be a Caucasian in his 30s, rise from a pew and quickly walk to attack Rev. Claude Grou, the Oratory’s rector.

“He walked over behind the altar and he seemed to strike the priest’s body,” Barrett said. “I think the priest fell down at that time. I do remember the priest was moving away from the man but it happened so quickly there was almost no time to react.”

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The video shows a tall man in a dark jacket and white baseball cap rounding the altar and charging at Grou as he thrusts his right arm toward the priest. Grou runs backward a few steps before the assailant pushes him into a banner.