Update (May 10): In an exclusive interview with the Boston Globe, Richmond resident Martha Mullen describes how she helped end the burial protests by arranging a burial for Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev at Al-Barzakh Cemetery, in Doswell, Virginia.

––-

Update (May 9): Tsarnaev's body has been buried at an undisclosed location.

––-

BOSTON (RNS) – Soon after the Boston Marathon bombings, local Christian leaders stepped swiftly into the public eye, convening vigils and urging peaceful healing in the wake of senseless violence.

But their public voices have fallen mostly silent as noisy resistance grows to the prospect that suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev could be buried in local soil.

Cemeteries and even some mosques have refused to take his body. His city, Cambridge, has urged family members to bury him elsewhere. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez and local talk radio host Dan Rae want him dumped in the ocean, like Osama bin Laden. Clergy have largely kept mum.

"The only ...

You have reached the end of this Article Preview

To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Log InSubscribe

Already a CT subscriber? Log in for full digital access.