New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan said that despite recent violent attacks, he encouraged worshippers to “be not afraid.”
By Catholics for Catholics
It’s not about docility, but about spiritual courage.
Newsmax reported that Timothy Cardinal Dolan extolled people of all faiths to “be not afraid” amid violence targeting select groups.
After a weekend that included deadly shooting attacks in Australia and at Brown University in Rhode Island, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York posted on social media on Monday, looking to inspire folks to embrace courage.
According to Newsmax, for Dolan, the implication is clear: When violent throngs or radicals try to bully communities — whether Jews going into a synagogue, students caught in the midst of gunfire on campus, or families mourning overseas — the best response is not surrender to panic, but resolve grounded in faith and solidarity.
In other words, Newsmax published in an article, Dolan’s lesson doesn’t call for passivity. It calls for spiritual courage and for Americans to not give in to the politics of terrorization that tells believers to hole up, stay quiet, or “be scared.”
I don’t know if you remember, sadly, the terribly mean protest outside one of our Jewish synagogues here in New York City. The crowd was shouting to the poor people who just wanted to worship, “Be scared!” But we remember the words of the Bible: “Be not afraid.” We’re not scared… pic.twitter.com/C7dsKixZ0V
— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) December 15, 2025
As the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons unfold, Dolan’s charge is a direct rebuke to the forces that want communities fractured and fearful: Remember the timeless command, “be not afraid,” and stand with those under threat.
The attack in Australia, which targeted a Hanukkah ceremony at Bondi Beach in Sydney, killed at least 15 people and has been called a terrorist act by New South Wales police.
As the third week of Advent started, Dolan, in a message and video posted on X, recalled a “terribly mean protest” outside a Jewish synagogue in New York City, where demonstrators shouted at worshippers going in for Sabbath services: “Be scared! Be scared!”
Dolan rebuffed the intimidation, pointing instead to a repeated biblical command: “Be not afraid,” and telling believers to stand firm in faith rather than give in to fear.
Worshippers should never be intimidated into fear; faith calls Americans to show courage, Dolan said.
Dolan’s remarks, reported by Newsmax, come as fresh examples of targeted violence and threats that dominated headlines over the weekend. Pope Leo XIV denounced what he called “antisemitic violence” after the deadly attack in Australia.
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