Statement by Archbishop John McDowell on attack in Sydney
In a statement following the terrorist attack on a Hanukkah gathering on Bondi Beach, Sydney, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop John McDowell, expressed his sympathy with the Jewish community, as follows:
“There are times when the ends of the earth can seem very near to us. Such was my feeling today when I heard about the brutal murder of innocent Jewish people - men, women and children - as they gathered to light the first candles of Hanukkah, the Festival when Jews all over the world remember the Dedication of the Second Temple. This will be a deeply unhappy Hanukkah for many Jews, especially those who have friends and relatives in the large Jewish diaspora in Australia. My thoughts and prayers, and the prayers of many people in Ireland, will be with the victims and families of those affected by today’s atrocity and by the creeping anti-Semitism which plagues so many parts of the world.”