wfn.org | Elian's father thanks religious community for its support

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 28, 2000       News media contact: Joretta Purdue ·(202)
546-8722·Washington     10-21-32-71BP{301}

NOTE: A photograph will be available with this story.

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - Across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court building,
where justices would soon clear the way for Elian Gonzales to return to
Cuba, the 6-year-old boy's father was saying goodbye on June 27.

Juan Miguel Gonzales had brought Elian to the United Methodist Building to
thank the religious community for its help in reuniting him with his son.
They were accompanied by five of Elian's classmates and their parents, along
with other family members and friends.

The following day, June 28, the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute appeal
from Miami family members that would have kept the boy in the United States.

Elian had stayed with a great uncle and other distant family members in
Miami after he was plucked from the sea off the Florida coast Nov. 25. His
mother and nine other people had drowned when the boat carrying them from
Cuba sank on its way to the United States. 

Within three days of Elian's rescue, his father - who was divorced and
remarried - asked the United States for the boy's return. Elian's Miami
relatives, whom he had joined upon his release from the hospital, began the
process of seeking asylum on his behalf. Elian had his sixth birthday in
Miami in December. 

The controversy escalated over the following months. 

Now, seven months later, Juan Miguel told a group of people employed by
different church, ecumenical and nonprofit organizations that they had
become friends.

"I wanted to come again to meet you all on behalf of my family and the
people who accompany me to express our deepest appreciation for everything
you have done," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "Words are not
enough to express our deepest appreciation to you."

He said he was happy "to have very good friends here in the United States"
and to see them once again. 

In welcoming the group, the Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, staff head of the
United Methodist Board of Church and Society, acknowledged that United
Methodists and other religious people had played a role in uniting father
and son, and that for him the issue was "as simple as that."

"We have withstood the great negative opposition, the politicizing on an
issue that has to do with a father and his child, to bring us to a point
that we hope and pray that, at least by tomorrow, we can celebrate
completely," Fassett said.

United Methodist Bishop Felton E. May of the Baltimore-Washington Area
praised Fassett before the approximately 75 people who had gathered. "As the
church we want to affirm your outstanding leadership in doing what God was
having you do," May said. "We know it has not been easy."

Fassett and the Board of Church and Society found themselves both supported
and castigated in March, when the agency created a fund to help Juan Miguel
retain a U.S. attorney to represent him in the courts. The fund was
supported solely by voluntary contributions; no church dollars were used.

On April 19, the fund was transferred to National Council of Churches
oversight, and contributions are now being received directly by the law firm
involved. 

During the quiet reception, Juan Miguel presented Fassett with a large
envelope he said contained money orders and checks he had received with
letters of support. He asked Fassett to see that the contributions were
given to the attorney.

"I think it's important to note that this is probably the last batch of
contributions for defraying the cost of legal counsel for Juan Miguel,"
Fassett commented. He said he thought it significant that "the largest
number of contributions have come from Cuban Americans, and a large portion
of those have come from Cuban Americans in the Miami area." 

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United Methodist News Service
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