Archbishop of Sydney: “We must reject hateful words and threats of violence”

Posted on February 20, 2026 
Filed under Sydney Diocese

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has today issued this Public Statement:

“Public Statement
“We must reject hateful words and threats of violence”

Recent remarks by Senator Pauline Hanson that there are ‘no good Muslims’ are foolish and dangerously divisive. They have been roundly and rightly rejected by leaders across the political spectrum.

Moreover, threats of violence against the Lakemba mosque are grotesque and must be rejected by all Australians of good will.

Christians believe that all people fall short of God’s good standard. The Bible says:

‘There is no one righteous, not even one; … there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away…there is no one who does good, not even one.’ (Romans 3:10-12)

It is a devastating diagnosis of the desperate state of all humankind apart from the merciful intervention of God to rescue and redeem us. Christians believe that God’s rescue comes through Jesus Christ, the unique and only Saviour of the world.

Christians, Muslims and Jews disagree about the nature of God, the person of Jesus and the way of salvation. We disagree about things that we think of as being of first importance.

But Christians will reject hateful words about entire communities of Australians on the basis of their religion or culture.

As Sydney Anglicans, we champion the freedom of all communities to practice their faith (or lack of faith) free from threat and intimidation – even when as Christians, we conscientiously differ in our beliefs.

‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23), so Christians gratefully rejoice in the ‘free gift of God’ and will offer hope in Jesus to all people, ‘with gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3:15).

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel

20 February 2026”

– Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.