Boston Archbishop urges Elian be returned to his father
By Associated Press, 04/19/00
BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law said Elian Gonzalez should be reunited with his father in order to help him come to terms with the death of his mother, who drowned off the Florida coast while fleeing Cuba with her young son.
"Absent clear evidence of the father's unsuitability as a parent, Elian belongs with his father," Law argued in an op-ed article in today's Boston Globe. "He needs the reassuring embrace of his father's love to help him begin to deal with the terrible loss he has sustained in his mother's death."
Law said the controversy over the young boy has been created by those who believe in a democratic system of government, and those who support a communist dictatorship.
"It is true that Disney World is much further from Cuba than the map records. It is also true that chocolate milk is not readily available to little Cuban children," Law wrote. "It might be argued that Disney World could be brought closer and chocolate milk could be made more readily available if the United States would lift the (trade) embargo."
The Cardinal said the bond between a father and son is of far greater value than the superiority of a system of government. He said he has visited Cuba many times over the past 10 years, and while he has no illusions about that country's faults, he has seen happy children in loving relationships with their parents.
"Perhaps Elian will someday choose to come to this country. Perhaps his father will also make that choice," Law wrote. "Perhaps Elian will stay in Cuba and help to build a better future for his country, and help to restore the relationship that should exist between neighboring states.
"In the meantime, however, we should let the circus end and allow the return of Elian to his father so that they might mourn together all that has been and allow them the privacy and the time to get on with their lives."
Elian Gonzalez plays with a ball in the backyard of the home of his relatives yesterday in the Little Havana district of Miami. (AP Photo)
