Abe Conference - Bondi Vigil.
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 Hanukkah 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 can quickly paint our neighbours as strangers and those strangers as threats. Dialogue restores that trust by refusing to allow the actions of a few to define an entire community. At the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations, we often speak of 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.
Correcting the Narrative of Hate
When violence attempts to hijack the narrative of a faith, dialogue serves as the essential corrective. By showing up for one another at the Bondi Pavilion, Sydney’s faith communities refused to let distrust dictate their future. They chose to see the person before the prejudice, proving that the bonds of our common humanity are more durable than the wedges driven by hate.
Columban mission is rooted in the belief that we must be bridge-builders. Our work in interreligious dialogue encourages us to move beyond the “labels and masks” that keep us apart. It allows us to see the light in the “other” and ensures that the darkness of a single afternoon does not overstay its intrusion into our hearts.
Moving From Prayer to Action
The call to open our hearts to others is not a static goal, but a choice we must make each day. Whether it is through formal interfaith forums or the simple act of reaching out to a neighbour of a different background, these connections are the threads that mend our world. The gatherings at Bondi showed us that even amid profound heartbreak, we are not alone. We are a community of many faiths and beliefs, 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.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban Interfaith eBulletin.
