'Together Again'

Cardinal greets family of El Duque after helping their passage from Cuba

By BRIAN CAULFIELD

Dozens of Cuban-Americans filled the pews of St. Patrick's Cathedral waving small flags of their country and applauding as New York Yankees star Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez entered with his family for the Sunday Mass of Cardinal O'Connor--a key figure in getting the pitcher's mother, ex-wife and two daughters to New York for the Yankees' World Championship parade up Broadway two days earlier.

"I am here to say 'thank you' immensely from the bottom of my heart to the cardinal, for all that he has done for my family to be here at this moment in the land of freedom," Hernandez told CNY.

The cardinal approached the cathedral's first pew to greet Hernandez and his family 15 minutes before Mass started and later said jokingly from the pulpit that, contrary to popular belief, the liturgy was not being offered in honor of El Duque, who won the second game of the World Series during the Yankees historic four-game sweep of the San Diego Padres.

Hernandez was Cuba's leading pitcher before fleeing the country 10 months ago on a raft with other refugees. He was signed by the Yankees shortly after arriving in the United States and contributed significantly to the Bronx team's record-setting 125-victory season.

"The Mass as always is offered in honor of Almighty God," the cardinal said Oct. 25. "We thank him for making it possible for Mr. Hernandez and his family to be with us today."

He also indicated that the family may have permission from Cuba to stay in this country. The cardinal said during Mass that a message from President Fidel Castro, who approved its travel, "explicitly states the family is free to return to Cuba if it so desires."

The cardinal later told reporters that permission for family members to stay in the United States would depend on the decisions of U.S. officials.

Hernandez, in an interview later, said that when his family landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey in the early morning hours Oct. 23, "The first thing I did when I saw them was hug them and kiss them. We were happy to be together again."

At Mass he sat with his mother, Maria Podroso Cruz; his ex-wife, Norma Manso, and their two daughters, Yahumara, 8, and Steffi, 3.

According to the cardinal's spokesman, Joseph Zwilling, Hernandez spoke to the cardinal about baptizing his younger daughter though no specific date has been set for the ceremony.

The cardinal, in his homily, held up Hernandez and his fellow Yankees as examples of dedication and determination who should inspire all believers to greater efforts in their spiritual lives.

He urged believers not to become discouraged by the circumstances of their lives, stating that the word "discourage" comes from the French meaning to be separated from one's heart. Discouragement is "not the way you get on a little boat and sail off from your homeland, as Orlando Hernandez did," he said.

Despite human weaknesses, he continued, Jesus asks all those who follow him to strive toward perfection, with the grace of God, and not settle for an easy mediocrity.

"I don't want to idolize the Yankees, but can you imagine Joe Torre (the team's manager) or George Steinbrenner (the owner) getting all the players together in the locker room and saying, 'Boys, go out and play real nice and have fun and don't hurt yourselves. Remember, it's only a game.' Of course not. Nothing would work if these players didn't pour themselves out, if it weren't ferociously meaningful to all of them."

Concelebrating the Mass were Father Edward J. McMahon, S.J., chaplain for the Yankees, and his assistant Father Thomas S. Prout, S.J., of Loyola School in Manhattan.

The cardinal outlined the steps that brought the family here, beginning with Hernandez' letter to the cardinal Tuesday, Oct. 20, asking for his intervention. President Fidel Castro had banned Hernandez from Cuban baseball after his half brother, Livian Hernandez, defected to the United States and played for the Florida Marlins--leading that team last year to the World Series.

The cardinal studied the pitcher's request, then sent a hand-delivered letter the next day to Castro through an emissary, Mario J. Paredes, director of the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center, who had arranged the archdiocesan pilgrimage to Cuba in January for the visit of Pope John Paul II.

High-level approvals were needed on the U.S. end as well, he said, noting that FBI director Louis Freeh and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno helped cut the red tape. Vice President Al Gore also was reported to have been personally involved in the effort.

After getting Castro's permission for the family to leave, a chartered plane whisked the Cubans to Miami where, accompanied by Paredes, they were met by Steinbrenner's private plane which took them to Teterboro.

Paredes said Castro made it clear to him in Cuba that he approved the passage because of "the respect that he has for His Eminence, Cardinal O'Connor." The cardinal has met twice with Castro on his two visits to Cuba, in 1989 and earlier this year.

Paredes told CNY that everybody involved pushed hard to get the family to New York for the thunderous ticker-tape parade for the Yankees on Friday which drew more than 3 million people to lower Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes.

With cheering crowds packed two blocks deep along the parade route--including many schoolchildren and people of all ages dressed in Yankee gear--office workers along Broadway dumped tons of shredded paper from their windows to carry on the ticker-tape tradition.

It was the second time in three years that the Yankees, led by Torre, won the World Series, and the Bronx Bombers' 24th overall championship crown. In 1996, they were the surprise winners who rose from the mat after losing the first two games to the Atlanta Braves.

This year they are hailed by experts as one of the greatest teams ever, if not the greatest. With no superstars, the Yankees were known for their self-sacrificing teamwork, tireless work ethic and even temperaments that kept them motivated while winning their division pennant by more than 20 games.

The team's spirit was shown after outfielder Darryl Strawberry was diagnosed with colon cancer and forced to watch the postseason games from a hospital bed. The players wore Strawberry's number 39 etched on their caps and dedicated their victories to him. At the parade, Strawberry was well enough to ride in an open Cadillac with his wife, Charisse, and was greeted with choruses of "Darr-yl!" from the crowd.

Squeezed into the sea of humanity with her two daughters was Lillian Kearns of SS. John and Mary parish in Chappaqua. Commenting on the cardinal's intervention with the family of Hernandez, she told CNY, "I'm very proud of the cardinal for getting involved. Sometimes religious leaders need to get involved to help humanity."

Her daughter, Julie, 16, said, "It's a really nice thing to do, to get them here to a safer and better place and give them religious freedom."

Remarking on the best baseball season in his lifetime, Ryan Hawkins, a 16-year-old junior at Loyola School, said, "They got 125 wins. They're the winningest team in baseball history."

The rapid series of events that brought the family members from Cuba began the afternoon of Oct. 20 when the cardinal received a faxed letter from Hernandez asking for help in getting them to the World Series. He wrote a letter and gave it to Paredes, who by coincidence was traveling to Cuba the next day for a three-day health care conference with a delegation that included Dr. Mary Healey-Sedutto, director of the Catholic Health Care Network, and representatives from St. Clare's Hospital in Manhattan.

On Wednesday, Paredes took the cardinal's letter to Castro. That night, Cardinal O'Connor received a call from the Cuban ambassador to the United Nations, who said the request had been granted. The cardinal called Steinbrenner at the San Diego stadium during the first inning of the game to tell him the good news, and asked Paredes to assist the family's hasty travel arrangements.

"The family was deeply touched and impressed. They couldn't believe that the government would let them out. For them it was a huge surprise," Paredes told CNY. "The question was not only whether President Castro would allow them to come, but would our government let them in. The Cuban government was extremely gracious until the very end."

Mary Ann Poust and Vincent F. Iosue contributed to this story.