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People pay their respects at Bondi Pavilion Dec. 15, 2025, to victims of a shooting during a Jewish holiday celebration at the beach in Sydney. Two gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach Dec. 14, killing 15 people, including a child, officials said, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation. (OSV News photo/Hollie Adams, Reuters)

USCCB president expresses church’s solidarity with Jewish community


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OSV News Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, Feature, Gun Violence, News, World News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed the Catholic Church’s solidarity with the Jewish community in the wake of a Dec. 14 terror attack by two gunmen that targeted Jewish beachgoers at an event celebrating the first day of Hanukkah at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, seen in a file photo, as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter to leaders of the Jewish community in the United States, expressing the Catholic Church’s prayerful solidarity with the Jewish community following a Dec. 14, 2025, terror attack on Jewish beachgoers in Australia. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Archbishop Coakley made the comments in a letter to leaders of the Jewish community in the U.S., following condemnations of the attack and prayers for those affected by Pope Leo XIV and Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney.

“The festival of Hanukkah begins this year for the Jewish community with a moment of profound sorrow,” Archbishop Coakley wrote. “The shooting in Sydney, Australia is a painful reminder that hatred remains a threat to our lives, our communities, and the bonds that unite us.”

The text of the archbishop’s letter was released by the USCCB late Dec. 15.

“At the same time, the selfless intervention of a Muslim man who disarmed one of the gunmen stands as a sign of hope that compassionate concern for others can still prevail,” the archbishop continued. “On behalf of the Catholic community in the U.S., I promise our prayers and our solidarity at this difficult moment.”

Archbishop Coakley was referring to a beachgoer who tackled and disarmed one of two gunmen while the other gunman fired from a nearby bridge. His heroic actions were captured on a video circulating online.

The attack occurred in the early evening as hundreds were gathered for a Hanukkah celebration at Archer Park, a grassy area in Bondi Beach. Fifteen people died, including one of the gunmen; a 10-year-old girl, a rabbi and two Holocaust survivors were among victims.
The second gunman, police confirmed, was in custody and in critical condition. According to authorities, over 40 people were wounded and taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital.
“Moments like these revive old fears and deepen a sense of vulnerability that no community should have to bear,” Archbishop Coakley said. “I wish the Jewish community to know that the Catholic community stands with them in sorrow and in resolve, committed to friendship that does not waver when fear threatens to paralyze us.”

Noting Hanukkah coincides “with the season of Advent observed by the Church, Jews and Catholics both share in the promise that light and hope prevail over darkness,” he added.

“May these celebrations strengthen our hearts, honor the memory of those killed and injured, and help us to build a world shaped by justice, compassion, and peace,” Archbishop Coakley wrote.

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