Pope Leo XIV has condemned Sunday’s terrorist attack on the Jewish community at Bondi Beach, saying: “Enough with these forms of antisemitic violence! We must eradicate hatred from our hearts.” Source: NCR Online.
The Pope prayed for “the victims of the terrorist massacre carried out” on Sunday when at least 15 people were killed and dozens were injured after two gunmen opened fire on the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah near Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach.
Leo made his remarks yesterday as he unveiled the Nativity scene in St Peter’s Square.
The Nativity scene and tree “are signs of faith and hope,” he said. Whether coming to the Vatican to see them or contemplating the creche and tree at home, “we ask the Lord to renew in us the gift of peace and fraternity.”
“Let us pray for those who suffer because of war and violence,” he added, mentioning in particular the victims of the attack in Sydney.
Earlier, he had sent a telegram to Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher via Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican News reported.
The Pope expressed his deep sadness for the loss of “members of the Jewish community gathered for a Hanukkah celebration” and he offered his “assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless act of violence”.
Archbishop Fisher also called for an end to an “atmosphere of antisemitism” in Australia following the deadly mass shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday, The Catholic Weekly reported.
“Any attack on individual Jews is an attack on the whole Jewish community and an affront to the Australian way of life, Archbishop Fisher said in a statement in which he called for an unequivocal condemnation of the attack and swift justice for the victims.
He also shared that he has Jewish heritage from his great-grandmother, and that as Christians “an attack on the Jews is an attack on all of us.”
“We all share in profound grief and righteous anger following last night’s terrorist attack on Bondi Beach,” the archbishop said.
“That a celebration of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah could end in at least 16 dead, including a young child, and many more injured, horrifies ordinary Australians.
“The brazen and callous disregard for human life, and the hatred of some people toward all Jews, is an unspeakable evil that must be repudiated by every Australian.”
The archbishop also condemned a rise in antisemitism over the past two years.
“[It has] festered, leading to intimidation, division, and the normalisation of incendiary language.
“Opposite my own cathedral in Hyde Park there have been weekly demonstrations where inflammatory messages have been regularly articulated which could only have ‘turned up the temperature’ and perhaps contributed to radicalisation. This must stop.”
Catholic Religious Australia president Br Gerard Brady CFC expressed “deep sorrow and distress over the antisemitic attack”.
“All Australians should be safe to live out their faith. We are profoundly dismayed that on the first night of Hanukkah, a joyous celebration of Jewish life in the public square, this horrendous act of religious and racial persecution has occurred,” Br Brady said.
FULL STORY
Pope condemns ‘antisemitic violence,’ ‘terrorist massacre’ in Sydney (By Cindy Wooden, CNS via NCR Online)
Pope Leo is “deeply saddened” by attack in Australia (Vatican News)
Antisemitism ‘must stop,’ says Archbishop Fisher OP following deadly Bondi Beach shootings (By Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly)
Catholic Religious Australia stands in solidarity with the Australian Jewish community (CRA)
