TRINITY Church, Boston, was closed on Sunday as the FBI carried
out investigations into the bomb attack on the city's marathon (News, 19
April), which took place just yards away.
The church's congregation worshipped instead at Temple Israel
Synagogue. The previous day, the FBI had allowed church officials
to enter the church for half an hour to gather vestments and
communion bread and wine, reports said.
The offices of the Episcopal diocese of Massachusetts and the
Cathedral Church of St Paul were closed last Friday as Boston went
into lockdown while police searched for one of two men suspected of
carrying out the bomb attack, which killed three people and injured
282.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in the early hours of last Friday
during a shoot-out with police. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a
19-year-old student, was captured late on Friday in a boat in
Watertown, Massachusetts, after a day-long manhunt.
Mr Tsarnaev has since been charged with conspiring to use a
weapon of mass destruction, and could face the death penalty if
found guilty.
In a statement issued after Mr Tsarnaev's capture, the Bishop of
Massachusetts, the Rt Revd M. Thomas Shaw, said: "It's a relief to
have the events of this long day behind us. Let's continue our
prayers for all who have been touched by the violence of the past
week and all who have worked tirelessly for our safety."
Bishop Shaw joined the congregation of the Church of the Good
Shepherd, in Watertown, on Sunday, near where Mr Tsarnaev was
apprehended.
The Priest-in-Charge of the Church of the Good Shepherd, the
Revd Amy McCreath, posted a photo on her blog on Saturday taken
from the churchyard. It showed the scene, across from the
churchyard, where Mr Tsarnaev had been found, blocked off with
orange barriers and patrolled by FBI agents.
Ms McCreath was previously Episcopal chaplain at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where a police officer, Sean
Collier, was killed in the shoot-out during the evening of Thursday
of last week. "My heart goes out to the MIT community," she told
the Episcopal News Service last Friday. "I am grieving with them as
they mourn the loss of a fine colleague."
President Obama spoke at a multifaith service at the city's RC
Holy Cross Cathedral on Thursday of last week. He said: "Scripture
teaches us, 'God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity,
but of power, love, and self-discipline.' And that's the spirit
you've displayed in recent days.
"When doctors and nurses, police and firefighters, and EMTs and
guardsmen run towards explosions to treat the wounded - that's
discipline. When exhausted runners, including our troops and
veterans - who never expected to see such carnage on the streets
back home - become first responders themselves, tending to the
injured - that's real power.
"When Bostonians carry victims in their arms, deliver water and
blankets, line up to give blood, open their homes to total
strangers, give them rides back to reunite with their families -
that's love."