Abe Conference - Bondi Vigil - Photo: Kim Chong
Healing the Heart of Bondi: Interfaith as a Bridge in Times of Crisis
Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach is usually a place of laughter and the rhythmic crash of the Pacific, a sanctuary for family, fitness, and wellbeing. However, on 14 December 2025, that idyllic atmosphere was shattered. A horrific antisemitic terror attack targeting a "Chanukkah by the Sea" celebration left 15 innocent people dead and 40 others injured.
In the wake of such senseless violence, it is natural to feel a tightening of the heart and a fearful glance toward the “other”. Yet, for the Columban mission, it is precisely in these moments of fracture that the work of interreligious dialogue becomes a vital tool for healing and a fundamental expression of our Christian witness.
The Dialogue of Life
When a crisis like the Bondi shooting occurs, the first casualty is often trust. Fear paints our neighbours as ‘strangers’ and our strangers as ‘threats’. Dialogue restores that trust by refusing to allow one person’s actions to define an entire community.
Interreligious dialogue often entails what we call the “dialogue of life”. It is found in the quiet moments that follow a crisis. It is the numerous private expressions of condolence by Muslims to their Jewish friends. It is the embrace between Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins and Bilal Rauf, special adviser at the Australian National Imams Council, during a vigil in Sydney’s Hyde Park for the 15 killed. It is among the crowds who flocked to Bondi to hold vigil and to lay a sea of flowers, stones and notes for the victims and their families.
My fellow members of the Abraham Conference Organising Committee, a cornerstone of Sydney’s interfaith landscape that has fostered kinship between Jews, Christians, and Muslims for more than 20 years, came together in vigil and shared lament in the very place where terror sought to divide them. Coming together at Bondi was a profound reminder that when one part of our community suffers, everyone suffers.
When violence attempts to hijack the narrative of a faith, dialogue serves as the corrective. It reminds us that a person’s extremist actions do not represent the religion. By showing up for one another at the Bondi Pavilion, the faith communities refused to let fear and distrust dictate their relationship. They choose to see the person before the prejudice, proving that the bonds of our common humanity are more durable than the wedges driven by hate.
Abe Conference - Bondi Vigil - Photo: Kim Chong
Moving From Prayer to Action
World Interfaith Harmony Week, established by the UN, calls us to “Love of God and Love of neighbour”. Its theme takes on a poignant urgency for Australians. We are learning that harmony is not a static state we reach; it is a choice we make every single day.
Interreligious dialogue helps us move beyond the “labels and masks” that keep us apart and to reach out to our neighbours. It allows us to see the light in the other. By coming together, we ensure that the darkness of a single afternoon does not overstay its intrusion into our hearts.
As we look toward the first week of February, let us commit to being builders of bridges rather than walls. Whether it is attending an interfaith breakfast or simply reaching out to a neighbour of a different faith, these small acts of connection are the threads that mend our social fabric.
In the end, the gatherings at Bondi in the aftermath of such devastation show us that even amid profound heartbreak, we are not alone. We are a community of many faiths, but we have one heart. And that heart, though bruised, remains open.
Kim Chong is the Media & Community Liaison at the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations.
