As Boston, and the
nation, moves from shock and deep sadness to healing after the Boston
Marathon bombings, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley said he hopes members of
the community will maintain the solidarity in spirit and faith they have
displayed throughout the ordeal. "We encourage them not to be overcome by the evil that has taken place," Cardinal O'Malley said of the April 15 bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260, many severely.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer also lost his life before the carnage was brought to an end.
"We have to have a spirit of peace in our hearts and not be filled with hatred and resentment," the cardinal added.
He made the comments in an interview with the Rhode Island Catholic, newspaper of the Providence Diocese, during a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Providence Seminary, whose student body includes seminarians studying to be priest for the Boston Archdiocese.
Cardinal O'Malley said he also hoped the actions of the alleged perpetrators do not color overall attitudes toward Muslims or immigrants.
He acknowledged that the trauma allegedly inflicted by two brothers still makes the attack difficult for many to bear.
The two, who were Muslim, had roots in the restive Russian Republic of Chechnya and lived on the outskirts of the city they targeted.