Boston priests say they understand police policy at Marathon bombing site
May 10, 2013
Two Catholic priests who were turned away from the scene of the Boston Marathon bombing have said that they understand the reasons why police refused to allow them access to wounded bombing victims.
Father Tom Carzon, OMV, said that media reports suggesting tensions between police and priests were mistaken. He told the Boston Pilot, the archdiocesan newspaper, that he understood the desire of police officers to keep people away from what was still considered a danger zone.
Another priest who was turned away, Father John Wykes, OMV, agreed that the police were doing their best to contain the danger and confusion at the bombing site. “But, that said, I think that there was a time when if you had a collar you were just let in to any kind of emergency or difficult situation," he told The Pilot. Father Wykes suggested that priests should be given an opportunity to qualify as emergency responders.
The archdiocesan newspaper reported that chaplains were on hand at local hospitals to administer the sacraments to the surviving victims of the bombing.
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Further information:
- Priests turned away from bombing site 'understand' police decision (Boston Pilot)
- At Boston's bombing scene: Catholic priests need not apply (City Gates, 4/26)
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