WASHINGTON – In the wake of news about the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Australia at a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday that left 16 people dead, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, 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.

The text of his letter follows:

The festival of Hanukkah begins this year for the Jewish community with a moment of profound sorrow. 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. 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. On behalf of the Catholic community in the U.S., I promise our prayers and our solidarity at this difficult moment. 

This Festival of Lights – which commemorates an event in salvation history cherished by Catholics as well as Jews – proclaims the truth that light endures, even when darkness seems overwhelming. As the prophet Isaiah declares, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone” (Isaiah 9:1). In lighting candles at Hanukkah, the Jewish people bear witness to God’s faithfulness, to hope preserved through suffering, and to the courage to believe that darkness does not have the final word. 

Moments like these revive old fears and deepen a sense of vulnerability that no community should have to bear. 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.

As this year’s Hanukkah celebration 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. 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.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Nativity scene and the Christmas tree are signs of faith and hope, Pope Leo XIV said.

"As we contemplate them in our homes, parishes and town squares, let us ask the Lord to renew in us the gift of peace and fraternity," he said, calling for prayers for all those who suffer because of war and violence. "We must eliminate hatred from our hearts."

The pope was speaking Dec. 15 during a meeting with the government representatives, artisans and donors responsible for providing the Christmas decorations in the Paul VI Audience Hall and in St. Peter's Square.

Pope Leo thanked the Costa Rican artist who created the Nativity scene for the audience hall, titled "Nacimiento Gaudium." Created by Paula Sáenz Soto, it features a pregnant Virgin Mary and 28,000 colored ribbons, each representing a life saved from abortion thanks to the prayers and support provided to many mothers in difficulty by Catholic organizations, according to a press release by the Vatican City State's governing office. 

On Christmas Eve, the statue will be replaced with a different image of Mary kneeling in adoration of the newborn Baby Jesus, and 400 ribbons will be placed in Jesus' manger containing prayers and wishes written by young patients at the National Children's Hospital in San José.

"I thank the Costa Rican artist who, together with the message of peace at Christmas, also wanted to launch an appeal for the protection of life from the moment of conception," Pope Leo said.

"The Nativity scene and the Christmas tree are signs of faith and hope," he said to all those present. "Let the tenderness of the child Jesus illuminate our lives. Let God's love, like the branches of an evergreen tree, remain fervent in us."

The pope thanked those from a small town in the northern autonomous province of Bolzano who donated the 82-foot-tall Norway spruce weighing 8.8 tons that was to be lit in a special ceremony Dec. 15 when the large Nativity scene in the square would be unveiled.

"For pilgrims from all over the world who will gather in St. Peter's Square, the Nativity scene will remind them that God draws close to humanity, becomes one of us, entering our history in the smallness of a child," the pope said.

"Before every Nativity scene, even those made in our homes, we relive that event and rediscover the need to seek moments of silence and prayer in our lives, to find ourselves and enter into communion with God," he said.

The Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square for 2025 came from a diocese south of Naples, not far from the Amalfi coast. Among the gifts being offered by the shepherds are agricultural products famous from the region, such as San Marzano and Corbarino tomatoes, walnuts, spring onions and artichokes.

Both the creche and the tree were to be in St. Peter's Square until Jan. 11 -- the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. 

The Vatican City State governing office said that the tree's needles and green branches will be sent to an Austrian company to extract its essential oils, and the wood will be donated to a charity.

When Pope Leo met Dec. 13 with hundreds of people acting in a living Nativity scene being held at Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major, he said the creche "is an important sign: it reminds us that we are part of a wondrous adventure of salvation in which we are never alone."

"Spread this message and keep this tradition alive. They are a gift of light for our world, which so badly needs to be able to continue to hope," he said.

Cardinal Parolin spoke of a “tragic reality” of killing, “often by decapitation”—a tragedy that has “a fundamentally religious root” and is “almost completely ignored at the international level.”

Addressing Latin American priests, religious, and seminarians studying in Rome, Cardinal Fernández offered what he described as “an extremely important, key clarification for a healthy Mariology”:

It is not that God is distant and Mary gives us that closeness that God does not have. Please don’t say this. It is quite the opposite: it is impossible for Mary to be closer to us than the Father, than Christ, than the Holy Spirit [are]. No way.

What happens is that in her, in her face as a Mother, we can easily discover the closeness of God who is the one who reaches the deep intimacy of our heart. In her we recognize that love of the Father of which the Gospel speaks to us, the love of the Father, the tenderness of Christ and the power of the Spirit that we read in the texts of the Gospel.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Pope Leo by phone on the feast day and renewed her invitation to the Pontiff to visit Mexico.

“The first climate migrants have arrived in Australia,” Giada Aquilino reported. “They are about 300 inhabitants” of Tuvalu, “long threatened by rising ocean levels caused by the devastating effects of climate change.”

Christ “gives voice to the oppressed and to those whose voices have been silenced by violence and hatred,” Pope Leo said. “He defeats ideologies that make us deaf to the truth. He heals the ailments that deform the body.”

The Pope concluded, “Let us rejoice, since Jesus is our hope, especially in times of trial, when life seems to lose meaning and everything appears darker, words fail us, and we struggle to understand others. May the Virgin Mary, model of expectant hope, attentiveness, and joy, help us to imitate the work of her Son by sharing bread and the Gospel with the poor.”

“Our Commission has confirmed that the consensus between Methodists and Catholics about the foundation of faith and the source of our salvation far outweighs our remaining differences on matters relating to the means of saving grace in the life and practice of our respective communions—although here, too, we have made great advances toward mutual understanding and agreement,” said the dialogue’s co-chairmen, Archbishop Shane Mackinlay of Brisbane and Edgardo Colón-Emeric, dean of Duke Divinity School.

Founded by John Wesley in the 18th century, Methodism was originally a movement within the Church of England. There are 40.5 million Methodists in 138 countries, according to the World Methodist Council.

Three groups of martyrs were beatified in two separate Masses on December 13.

“Working on one’s own feelings and thoughts” is “necessary for those deprived of their freedom, but even more so for those who have the obligation of representing them and making sure that they are treated justly,” Pope Leo preached. “The Jubilee is a call to conversion and, as such, it is a source of hope and joy.”

The Pope added, “Let no one be lost! Let all be saved! This is what our God wants, this is his Kingdom, and this is the goal of his actions in the world.”