CNN. September 3, 2000. Web posted at: 5:49 PM EDT (2149 GMT)
HAVANA (AP) -- Seeking to strengthen ties that were built with Cuban religious groups during the Elian Gonzalez custody case, a delegation from the U.S. National Council of Churches arrived in Havana Saturday and plans to meet with the boy's family next week.
The council, an ecumenical group of mainline Protestant and Orthodox churches, supported efforts to reunite the boy with his father earlier this year after relatives in Miami sought custody of the child following his mother's death at sea in 1999.
"We hope that the Elian Gonzalez case can show us that a little child can lead us into a new future," said Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the New York-based council.
Edgar visited Cuba earlier this year when the National Council of Churches sponsored a trip by Elian's grandmothers to visit the boy in the United States.
Referring to Elian's return to Cuba in June, and his entry into second-grade classes Friday, Edgar said "it took a long time, but we are all delighted that Elian is back at home and back at school."
On Tuesday, the eight-member delegation will distribute 1,000 kits of school supplies donated by congregations in the United States to schools in Elian's hometown of Cardenas, 90 miles (140 kms) east of Havana.
At the invitation of the Cuban Council of Churches, four of the eight members of the delegation will preach at Sunday services in Havana churches.
The two groups will discuss how to improve relations between Cuba and the United States. "We are coming with our eyes open and with sense of urgency that a new relationship can be built," Edgar said.
They will also talk about how to "reach out in new ways to Roman Catholics, Pentacostals and evangelicals."
While once overwhelming Roman Catholic, Protestant and evangelical congregations have been growing rapidly in Cuba in recent years.
Relations between Cuban churches and the communist government have steadily improved over the past decade, including a historic visit here by Pope John Paul II in January 1998. Frictions remain, however, and the Catholic Church continues to press for more religious freedoms, especially access to
the media and church schooling.
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