Jenan Taylor
15 December 2025
Anglican leaders have extended their solidarity to the Jewish community in Australia after a massacre at Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday.
A child was among 16 people killed, and about 38 were injured when at least two gunmen shot at families gathered at the celebration and others near the Bondi Pavilion.
The incident has sent shockwaves around Australia and the world, and has been declared an act of antisemitism and terrorism.
ABC News reported it was the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
Melbourne Archbishop Ric Thorpe condemned the massacre, describing it as a senseless act, and a “profound evil that has no place in Australian society.”
Addressing the Jewish community in a social media message, he affirmed Melbourne Anglicans were unwavering in their support for them.
“This was an attack on your community, but it is also an assault on the shared values of harmony and religious freedom that we all hold dear.
“May we reject division and instead work together to protect the safety and dignity of every person in our nation,” Archbishop Thorpe said.
The incident comes as Victoria’s Jewish community celebrates the Chanukah Pillars of Light festival at Federation Square.
Read more: Faith leaders prioritise togetherness to tackle discord
Jumbunna episcopate Bishop Paul Barker expressed grief and sympathy for the Jewish community in a letter to leading rabbis participating in the celebrations.
He encouraged clergy and lay leaders to reach out to Jewish neighbours and the Jewish community with compassion and sympathy.
“We pray for peace, for a joyful celebration, and for an end to religious violence in Australia and beyond,” Bishop Barker wrote.
Provincial Archdeacon for Reconciliation, First Peoples Recognition and Treaty the Venerable Canon Uncle Glenn Loughrey said violence against individuals and communities were never justified.
He invited participants of an interfaith discussion group he facilitates for the Australian Federal Police, and clergy and community members to join in a silent witness and mourning event for the dead and injured.
Other Anglican leaders, including Brisbane Archbishop Jeremy Greaves, Newcastle Bishop Peter Stuart, and Christian organisations including the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change expressed their condolences to Jewish Australians.
“We pray for healing, physically and spiritually,” ARRCC president Thea Ormerod said in a statement to the Jewish community.
“You have long felt a lack of safety but, with this event, your sense of safety in Australian society has been violated. This is wrong.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Sunday a dark day in the nation’s history and vowed every effort would be put into place to address the incident.
Police confirmed that one of the two gunmen had been killed and the other, a 24-year-old man, was in custody.
Canon Loughrey’s silent witness event is at 1 St Leonards Avenue, St Kilda, today.
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