As 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the remaining man suspected in Monday's Boston Marathon bombings and Thursday night's shootout with police was arrested Friday, cheers erupted on Boston streets and on television broadcasts. It wasn't uncommon to see Boston residents give thanks to God, and similar sentiments echoed across social media.
But prayers of another kind also poured out online: those for Tsarnaev. The teenager had been on the run since he and his brother killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer and wounded a Boston transit officer Thursday night, authorities said. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was caught hiding in a boat behind a house in Watertown, west of Boston. His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during Thursday's shootout.
"A wise young lady just reminded me that as we pray for everyone in Boston, we must pray for this 19 year old too...because we're Catholic," tweeted the Rev. Manny Alvarez, a priest in the Archdiocese of Miami, shortly after the arrest.
"We also need to remember to pray for the suspect, because we are Catholic. He is also a child of God, after all," said the editors of news website CatholicaOmnia on their Twitter account.
"While you're praying for the suspect, also keep the petitions to heaven going for all the victims of the #BostonBombers , alive and dead," wrote @OpenlyCatholic.
While they were elated he was caught, several other users on the social media site also said they were praying for the suspect, too.
Our God is a God of mercy AND just. As brothers & sisters of Christ, we must pray for the captured suspect, for he still is a child of God!
— Christian Adair (@FriarWannabe) April 20, 2013
Related
Before You Go
