On Sunday 14 December, Australia’s most fatal terrorist incident sent shockwaves around the world. The incident, in which an Islamist inspired father and son duo opened fire at a beachside Hanukkah event, saw 15 innocent people die. Among them were rabbis, a Holocaust survivor, and a ten year old girl.
The tragic loss of life was curtailed by acts of bravery, both from the Australian emergency services and members of the public. Boris and Sofia Gurman, married for 34 years, intervened after noticing an Islamic State flag displayed on the attackers’ vehicle. Boris managed to seize the father’s gun, with his wife also assisting, but another weapon was retrieved and both were shot dead.
Another hero was Ahmed al Ahmed who, once the attack was fully under way, crept up on the elder attacker and wrestled him to the ground, disarming him and turning his gun on him. His intervention almost certainly saved innocent lives.
Regrettably, the attack was not without precedent. Rampant antisemitism has scourged the country in recent years, escalating after the 7 October attacks. Jews have faced violence and discrimination across Australia, and in January of this year a childcare centre in a Jewish area of Sydney was set alight and graffitied with antisemitic slogans.
The Catholic Church has been unanimous in its condemnation of the attack and in expressing solidarity with the Jewish people. Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland, called on Christians “to do everything in our power to counteract prejudice and hatred towards our Jewish brothers and sisters, or indeed towards any minorities”.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Church in England and Wales, wrote to the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, whose relatives were at Bondi Beach at the time of the incident. Cardinal Nichols offered his “deepest condolences” and said that “such senseless violence is a tragic reminder of the pain that hatred and terror inflict on innocent people, and it is a hurt felt across faiths and nations”.
Pope Leo, speaking from St Peter’s on Monday, entrusted “to the Lord the victims of the terrorist massacre committed against the Jewish community in Sydney”. He went on to demand that there be “no more of these forms of antisemitic violence. We must eliminate hatred from our hearts”.
A telegram was also sent from the Vatican, signed by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher OP, stating that the Pope “offers the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless act of violence” and expressing a “renewed hope that those tempted to violence will undergo conversion and seek the path of peace and solidarity”. He also asked for “the divine blessings of peace and strength upon all Australians”.
Archbishop Fisher has released his own statement. The Archbishop of Sydney 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”. He also called for the attack to be “condemned unequivocally and justice for the victims delivered swiftly”.
Speaking as a Catholic leader at the centre of the affected community, he went further. The Archbishop condemned the climate that had led to the attack, saying that “for more than two years, an atmosphere of public antisemitism has festered, leading to intimidation, division, and the normalisation of incendiary language”. He also cited the specific example that opposite St Mary’s Cathedral “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”.
On behalf of Sydney’s Catholic community, Archbishop Fisher extended the deepest condolences to Jewish brothers and sisters, assuring them of prayers and closeness for all the victims of the attack, their families, and the wider community. “We love our Jewish neighbours and friends, and we must do all we can to keep them safe.”
Archbishop Fisher will also host a public memorial for the victims of the Bondi terror attack at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, on Wednesday 17 December.
