The victims of the Bondi massacre on Sunday have been remembered and commemorated in a vigil Mass held at St Anne’s Catholic Church, North Bondi. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The vigil took place a day after the Sunday attack on Jewish Australians at the “Hanukkah by the Sea” event, which left 16 dead and 40 others injured.
Fr Anthony Robbie, parish priest of St Anne and St Patrick, both based in Bondi, said the community has gone through “more than their fair share of distressing experiences” over the past few years.
“We had the stabbings last year at Bondi Junction, and now this, and even if only a small number of people are directly affected, the wider ramifications are very strongly felt,” he said.
“There’s a true sense of unease, distress, anxiety, which spreads through people, and some of those feelings go on for a very long time, so we can expect to be dealing with this and looking after people for quite some time to come.”
He said the victims, the majority of whom are Jewish people, must now “live with the constant dread of what might happen” in the wake of the attack.
Fr Robbie condemned the attack as a “terrible outrage” which was a shock to not only those directed impacted but the wider community in Bondi and beyond.
“It’s particularly awful that people who are trying to celebrate with their families or seeking happiness in a famous tourist spot should be confronted with some cruel violence unexpectedly,” he said.
“The violence visited upon the innocent is always the worst and becomes the most shocking and most deeply felt to the kind-hearted among us.”
The Mass, a special event held by the parish, attracted over 100 mourners, some who were visibly affected by the events of the previous day and seeking spiritual solace.
“This is our reminder that our hope doesn’t come from within this world, that we understand that only the solution to the evils of this world is from the acceptance of God,” he said.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Archbishop Peter A Comensoli yesterday led a Mass of Reconciliation at St Patrick’s Cathedral that brought together Catholics, members of the Jewish community, and people of other Christian denominations and faiths, Melbourne Catholic reports.
In his homily, which he prefaced by saying it would be “unpolished” but “from the heart”, Archbishop Comensoli directly addressed the violence and shared his anger about the societal attitudes that contributed to it.
“Violence that took place on Sunday came out of violence that took place in speech and in reflective thoughts,” Archbishop Comensoli said.
FULL STORY
‘True sense of unease’ in Bondi after terrorist attack (By Tara Kennedy, The Catholic Weekly)
Archbishop condemns ‘collective complicity’ in Bondi attack at Reconciliation Mass (Melbourne Catholic)
