Footage broadcast on a Catholic television station and picked up by the top-rated CTV network showed a man in jeans, a parka and a white baseball cap approach Claude Grou at St Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal.
He is seen chasing the priest around the altar and standing menacingly over Grou as he falls to the ground, scattering candles and a banner, before stabbing his victim.
Witness Adele Plamondon, told public broadcaster Radio-Canada the priest was about to start reading the gospel, when “this man drew a knife and ran up to stab him.”
“I’d thought he was just going to kneel in front of the alter to pray, like many people do,” she said.
The suspect remained silent during the assault but appeared “very determined,” Plamondon added.
Grou recovered enough to get to his feet and is seen backing away as security officers surround the assailant, who drops his knife. Three guards restrained him while others tended to Grou, who appeared to be in shock.
The priest was taken to hospital, where his condition was said to be stable, with police reporting to AFP that he had been “slightly wounded in the upper body.”