The teen suspect and at least two police officers were also hospitalized, Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Andrew Holland told journalists.

Paramedics treated 30 patients, with seven taken to hospitals, 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," Morgan said.

"Our paramedics became directly under threat ... and had to retreat into the church," Morgan added.

The church in a message on social media said the bishop and priest were in stable condition and asked for people's prayers. "It is the bishop's and father's wishes that you also pray for the perpetrator," the statement said.

Holland commended the congregation for subduing the teen before calling police. When asked if the teen's fingers had been severed, he said the hand injuries were "severe."

More than 100 police reinforcements arrived before the teen was taken from the church in the hours-long incident. Several police vehicles were damaged, Holland said.

"A number of houses have been damaged. They've broken into a number of houses to gain weapons to throw at the police. They've thrown weapons and items at the church itself. There were obviously people who wanted to get access to the young person who caused the injuries to the clergy people," he said.

Australians were still in shock after a lone assailant stabbed six people to death in a Sydney shopping mall on Saturday and injured more than a dozen others.

Holland suggested the weekend attack heightened the community's response to the church stabbing.

"Given that there has been incidents in Sydney the last few days with knives involved, obviously there's concerns," he said. "We've asked for everyone to think rationally at this stage. "

The church said in a statement on Tuesday the 53-year-old Iraq-born bishop's condition was "improving."

Emmanuel has a strong social media following and is outspoken on a range of issues. He proselytizes to both Jews and Muslims and is critical of liberal Christian denominations.

He also speaks out on global political issues and laments the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

The bishop, described in local media as a figure sometimes seen as divisive on issues such as COVID-19 restrictions, was in national news last year with comments about gender.

A video posted in May 2023 by the ABC about a campaign targeting the LGBTQ+ community showed the bishop in a sermon saying that "when a man calls himself a woman, he is neither a man nor a woman, you are not a human, then you are an it. Now, since you are an it, I will not address you as a human anymore because it is not my choosing, it your choosing."