wfn.org | NCC Continues Pastoral Support to Grandmas

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC Communication Department, 212-870-2227
Web: www.ncccusa.org; e-mail: news@ncccusa.org

NCC1/28/2000  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC CONTINUES ITS PASTORAL SUPPORT OF ELIANS GRANDMOTHERS
NCC Remains On Call to Further Help to Reunite Elian with 
His Father, Grandparents

 January 28, 2000, NEW YORK CITY  The National Council 
of Churches has not pulled back from its commitment to Elian 
Gonzalezs grandmothers and their mission, the Rev. Dr. 
Robert W. Edgar, NCC General Secretary, said today.

The grandmothers goal of winning their grandsons 
return to his father is a goal the NCC has shared since the 
Council got involved in early December, he said.  Indeed, 
we become more convinced every day that this little boy 
should be reunited immediately with his biological father 
and closest family members in Cuba.

Dr. Edgar reiterated his satisfaction that the NCC-
facilitated U.S. visit of Elians grandmothers had achieved 
two goals  offering them the opportunity to speak firsthand 
of their love for Elian and helping to arrange their visit 
with Elian.  The grandmothers ultimate goal  to take Elian 
back to Cuba with them  is yet to be realized, and the NCC 
remains on call to help, he said.

As their governments official presence in the United 
States, the Cuban Interests Section is assisting the 
grandmothers with their itinerary during their remaining 
days in the United States following their visit with Elian.  
This is what any citizen seeking help with a matter in 
another country would hope for from their government, Dr. 
Edgar said.  

The NCC continues to provide pastoral presence and 
support for the grandmothers in the person of the Rev. Dr. 
Joan Brown Campbell, the NCCs immediate past general 
secretary.  She was co-chair with Dr. Edgar of the NCC 
delegation that hosted the grandmothers.

How the NCC Got Involved in Elians Case

The National Council of Churches was approached for 
help in the Elian Gonzalez matter in early December by the 
Cuban Council of Churches  with whom it has a multifaceted 
relationship that began before the Cuban revolution and 
includes humanitarian aid, work for normalization of U.S.-
Cuban relations and advocacy for greater freedom for Cuban 
Christians to worship, witness and serve.

Alarmed that the United States was not returning the 
boy quickly and automatically to his father and that a 
fundamentally humanitarian concern was becoming increasingly 
politicized, the two Councils proposed that they serve as 
the intermediaries in the physical return of Elian to his 
father.  The Cuban government agreed to the plan and U.S. 
officials quietly expressed interest.

But when several weeks passed without movement -- and 
when the INS postponed a late-December hearing in Elians 
case until late January and when members of Congress began 
to propose a measure to grant U.S. citizenship to Elian -- 
the Cuban Council of Churches asked the NCC to visit Elians 
father and extended family in Cardenas, Cuba.  A central 
concern was that while Elians Miami relatives had many 
spokespersons and advocates, the immediate family in Cuba 
had few.

Dr. Campbell and the Rev. Oscar Bolioli, the NCCs 
Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, accompanied by 
an NCC Communication Department staff member, made the trip 
Jan. 2-5, met the family and shared their impressions with 
both U.S. and Cuban government officials.  

As that NCC team was en route back to the United States 
on Jan. 5, the INS announced its ruling that Elian should be 
repatriated, by Jan. 14, to his father.  But further delays 
prompted the two church councils to support yet another 
project  the grandmothers visit to the United States.  
(Because of the fathers concern for his own physical safety 
should he make the trip, and his fear of legal entanglement, 
the grandmothers  among Elians primary caregivers -- 
offered to come on the familys behalf.)

NCCs Pastoral Concern for Elians Grandmothers, Elian, and 
Family

Dr. Edgar today said he remains committed to the 
statement he made on Jan. 8, which reads in part:

The longer this whole process drags on, the more 
disconnected this small child becomes from those who have 
raised him and who love him. Using delaying tactics to 
prevent this child from going home is unseemly and it isn't 
fair to use him as a pawn in a political dispute.

As a former Representative in Congress, I will use the 
knowledge gained through 6 terms to discover if a logical 
and compassionate solution can be found. This is a time when 
people of good will should focus on the needs of one little 
boy rather than on how he can be useful for some other 
purpose.

I'm hopeful that this tragic situation can have a 
positive effect. Throughout the generations, children often 
have pointed the way to a new way of looking at things. The 
Bible says that "a little child shall lead them." Elian 
Gonzalez could be the catalyst for a changed relationship 
between the peoples of Cuba and the U.S. His safe return 
should mark a commitment to finding ways to be more caring 
and generous with each other.

 Accordingly, the National Council of Churches shares 
the grandmothers anguish and concern about legislative 
efforts in Congress that serve to further delay Elians 
return to his father.  Elians paternal grandmother, Mariela 
Quintana, on Jan. 21 said, "Nobody outside has the right to 
make him (Elian) an American citizen. He was born in Cuba, 
lives in Cuba, hes a Cuban. No one, even Congress or the 
President, can change his status."

 Christians in both Cuba and the United States  along 
with leaders in both countries governments -- have 
expressed their appreciation for the efforts of the two 
ecumenical councils for reconciliation in a situation that 
has divided a family; kept Elian, a little boy who has just 
lost his mother, from grieving and healing properly in the 
bosom of his immediate family, and exacerbated tensions 
between the U.S. and Cuba.  

 Ultimately, Dr. Edgar commented, it is the 
normalization of relations between the United States and 
Cuba that will make unnecessary the perilous crossing by 
boat that cost the lives of Elians mother and 10 others, 
and that puts extraordinary economic pressure on ordinary 
Cubans.

 Dr. Campbell, who first met Elians grandmothers on 
Jan. 3, has been in close contact with them ever since.  She 
has been alongside Mrs. Quintana and Raquel Rodriguez, 
Elians maternal grandmother, virtually every step along the 
way since she and the others from the NCC flew to Havana 
Jan. 20 to pick the grandmothers up for the U.S. visit.  

 She, along with Dr. Edgar and the Rev. Bolioli, were 
present for the grandmothers meeting with U.S. Attorney 
General Janet Reno and INS Commissioner Doris Meissner in 
Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22.  Along with NCC Communication 
Director Randy Naylor, and the Very Rev. Oden Marechal, 
President of the Cuban Council of Churches, those three were 
part of the long afternoon of negotiations (Monday, Jan. 24) 
at the Tamiami Airport  negotiations by phone with the 
Miami relatives and INS officials that failed to win the 
Miami relatives agreement with the grandmothers request 
that they be able to visit Elian at a neutral site.

 The Cuban Interests Sections vice consul waited 
outside the room until those negotiations were completed, 
Dr. Campbell noted.  By the time he was admitted, the 
grandmothers already had decided to go to Washington, D.C., 
to press their case with members of Congress  just as it 
was the grandmothers who had insisted on coming to the 
United States in the first place.

Dr. Campbell described the grandmotherss concern to be 
sure to say and do the right things for Elians sake in 
their visit with him.  She urged empathy for the 
grandmothers anxiety as they looked forward to the long-
awaited visit in the context of a constant barrage of media, 
helicopter rides, shouting crowds and heavy police presence.  
She praised the grandmothers strength, courage and 
articulate expression of their love for Elian and their 
desire to take him home with them.

Furthermore, Dr. Campbell, a devoted mother and 
grandmother herself, was the only person from the NCC to go 
with the grandmothers Wednesday afternoon into the house 
where they met with Elian.  She said the grandmothers told 
her afterward that it felt like visiting a loved one in a 
hospital or prison  all of a sudden, it seems, times up 
and you have to leave.

Editors Note  A Word in Response to Some Frequently Asked 
Questions (FAQs)

1. Following the grandmothers visit with Elian, Sister 
Jeanne expressed the opinion that Elian should remain with 
his Miami relatives.  What is the NCCs view on her 
statement?

We are very appreciative of the extraordinary efforts that 
Sr. Jeanne undertook in offering her home as a safe, 
comfortable, inviting and neutral environment in which the 
grandmothers could spend a precious two hours of supervised 
visitation with their grandson Elian.  She was a kind and 
gracious host.  We were surprised when she chose to step out 
of her assigned role of neutrality.  We would not have 
wanted her to publicly support our cause and assumed that 
she would not support the other side in this question.  As 
an academic and head of a university we thought that her 
reflections would be based on research and not anecdotal 
information.  It had been our hope that the kindness and 
generosity offered prior to and during the visit would have 
given her a helpful and significant role in the ongoing 
resolution of this issue.  We regret that Sr. Jeanne, in 
choosing to state her opinion after exercising the role of 
neutral host so admirably, has in her action further fueled 
the fire of controversy and eliminated herself as a neutral 
facilitator in any future discussions on this matter. 

2. Who paid the grandmothers travel expenses?  

During the NCC-hosted part of the grandmothers visit, all 
but one flight was paid for by private donations.  The Jan. 
22 roundtrip flight (New York-Washington-New York) was paid 
for by the NCC at a cost comparable to commercial air 
tickets ($3,100 for seven passengers).  The grandmothers 
stayed in a private residence in New York City, as did the 
Rev. Oden Marichal, President of the Cuban Council of 
Churches, who accompanies them.  The Cuban Interests Section 
took on responsibilities for the grandmothers travel costs 
beginning with their return on Jan. 26 from Miami to 
Washington, D.C.

3. The NCCs work to facilitate the reunification of Elian 
Gonzalez with his father and grandparents in Cuba has 
received much publicity.  How is the Council assisting other 
families who wish to be reunified?

The Council, its member communions and their congregations 
help to resettle thousands of uprooted people in U.S. 
communities every year.  For example, in 1999, we assisted 
more than 6,700 newcomers representing more than 30 
nationalities.  In general, about 80 percent of these cases 
are ones in which families are reunified.  We are concerned 
for all families everywhere who are separated by conflicts 
between governments.  We pray for them and work for their 
reunification in many ways.

In recent years, our U.S. resettlement caseload has included 
approximately 2,000 Cubans annually.  We are authorized to 
assist those Cubans who come to us through the U.S. 
Department of State Resettlement Program or the Department 
of Justice Cuban/Haitian Program.  Decisions about who will 
be accepted for resettlement in the United States are made 
by the U.S. government, not by the NCC.  Decisions about who 
will receive exit permits from Cuba are made by the Cuban 
government, not the NCC. Working within legitimate U.S. 
government programs, the Council makes great efforts to 
assist Cuban refugees and has done so for decades.  No doubt 
there are people in the Cuban American community who oppose 
our stand on the Elian Gonzalez case who were themselves 
assisted by the Council.

While we must abide by the decisions of government in our 
resettlement work, we are advocates for a more humane U.S. 
immigration policy.  As a U.S-based organization, we 
participate in legislative discussions and public forums to 
carry the message of welcome and refugee protection to 
Congress and others. 

Further, as a faith-based organization with global concerns, 
we cherish our relationships with Christian councils and 
other church bodies in more than 80 countries around the 
world, including Cuba.  Because our unity in Christ is a tie 
that transcends geo-political boundaries, we and our church 
partners often find that we can build on church-to-church 
contacts even when our respective governments have 
differences.  We pray that our work on the Elian Gonzalez 
case, which we undertook at the encouragement of the Cuban 
Council of Churches, might help to build such a bridge of 
good will. For many years we have been working for 
normalization of relationships between the U.S. and Cuba, 
which among other things, would ease the plight of the many 
Cuban families who are now separated.

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