OBIT-ZAMPERINI
War hero, Olympian Zamperini dies at 97
LOS ANGELES (AP) β Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete and World War II prisoner of war who forgave his captors after becoming a Christian, has died at the age of 97.
Zamperini was a distance runner for the U.S. in the 1936 Olympics, where he met Adolf Hitler. As a soldier in World War II, Zamperini survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in a Japanese prison camp, where he was tortured.
Zamperini became a born-again Christian in 1949 at a Billy Graham crusade. He eventually traveled as an inspirational speaker preaching the power of forgiveness.
He is the subject of Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling book “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption,” which is being made into a movie directed by Angelina Jolie and is scheduled for a December release by Universal.
Zamperini’s death was confirmed by Universal Pictures studio spokesman Michael Moses. A family statement said Zamperini had been suffering from pneumonia.
Sound:
273-a-05-(Ron Allice, former USC track and field coach, who knew Louis Zamperini for 20 years, in AP interview)-“to this country”-Former USC track and field coach Ron Allice says people of all ages could relate to Louis Zamperini. (3 Jul 2014)
< 275-a-13-(Ron Allice, former USC track and field coach, who knew Louis Zamperini for 20 years, in AP interview)-“a concentration camp”-Former USC track and field coach Ron Allice says when he attended the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Louis Zamperini showed that he had forgiven the captors who beat and tortured him during World War II. (3 Jul 2014) < 274-a-15-(Ron Allice, former USC track and field coach, who knew Louis Zamperini for 20 years, in AP interview)-“changed his life”-Former USC track and field coach Ron Allice says Louis Zamperini went from being an Olympian in the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin to surviving 47 days on a raft and two years in Japanese prison camps in World War II. (3 Jul 2014) < 219-a-09-(File tape of Louis Zamperini, subject of the book and upcoming film “Unbroken”, in September 2011 appearance at Faith Community Church)-“on the raft”-In a 2011 appearance at Faith Community Church in West Covina, California, Zamperini recalled the message he heard Billy Graham preach. (3 Jul 2014) < 221-a-11-(File tape of Louis Zamperini, subject of the book and upcoming film “Unbroken”, in September 2011 appearance at Faith Community Church)-“all my guards”-In a 2011 appearance at Faith Community Church in West Covina, California, Zamperini recalled the sudden change he experienced when he gave his life to Jesus Christ at a 1949 Billy Graham crusade. (3 Jul 2014) < 220-a-10-(File tape of Louis Zamperini, subject of the book and upcoming film “Unbroken”, in September 2011 appearance at Faith Community Church)-“kept his promise”-In a 2011 appearance at Faith Community Church in West Covina, California, Zamperini recalled the promise he made to God when he was taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. (3 Jul 2014) < 218-v-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–Louis Zamperini, an Olympic distance runner and World War II prisoner of war who forgave his captors after becoming a Christian, has died at the age of 97. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (3 Jul 2014) < 222-a-11-(File tape of Louis Zamperini, subject of the book and upcoming film “Unbroken”, in February 2014 interview)-“touched his hand”-In an interview this past February, Louis Zamperini recalled what Adolf Hitler said to him after he ran the 1500 meters in the 1936 Olympics. COURTESY: NBC’s Today show ((mandatory on-air credit)) (3 Jul 2014) < SUPREME COURT-BIRTH CONTROL High court grants Wheaton College plea WASHINGTON (AP) β A divided Supreme Court has allowed, at least for now, an evangelical college in Illinois that objects to paying for contraceptives in its health plan to avoid filling out a government document that the college says would violate its religious beliefs. The justices said that Wheaton College does not have to fill out the contested form while its case is on appeal but can instead write the Department of Health and Human Services declaring that it is a religious nonprofit organization and making its objection to emergency contraception. The college does provide coverage for other birth control. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have denied Wheaton’s request and made the college fill out a form that enables their insurers or third-party administrators to take on the responsibility of paying for the birth control. The order follows the high court’s decision on Monday giving Hobby Lobby and other businesses with religious objections the ability to opt out of paying for birth control for women covered by their employee health plans. Sound: 255-c-20-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)-“and distribute contraception”-AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports that the Supreme Court is letting Wheaton College avoid filling out a firm that would enable its insurers or third-party administrators to pay for emergency birth control. (3 Jul 2014) < 254-v-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The Supreme Court has allowed, at least for now, an Illinois college that objects to paying for contraceptives in its health plan to avoid filling out a government document that the college says would violate its religious beliefs. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (3 Jul 2014) < SCHOOLS-RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES Nixon signs religious liberties bill for schools JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) β Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation intended to protect students’ religious expression at public schools. The bill signed Wednesday says students cannot face discrimination for expressing their religious viewpoints in homework, artwork and other class assignments. It says those projects must be graded according to ordinary academic standards. The legislation also says that students may pray while at school and wear clothing and jewelry displaying religious messages to the same extent that other types of clothes are accessories are allowed. Another part of the bill says that student religious groups shall be given the same access to using school facilities as other kinds of non-curricular groups. SENATE-ARKANSAS Faith at issue in Senate race in Arkansas LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) β More fighting words in the closely watched Senate race in Arkansas. This time it’s about religion. GOP congressman Tom Cotton said Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor believes that “faith is something that only happens at 11 o’clock on Sunday mornings.” Cotton spoke in a TV interview about the Supreme Court ruling about insurance coverage for contraception. Cotton said it showed the president’s health care law infringed on people’s freedom and said Pryor and the president think faith happens only on Sundays. Pryor called that a “deeply personal attack” and said it’s out of bounds for Cotton to question his faith. Cotton says he was talking about the health law. Cotton calls Pryor a “man of faith,” but says he wishes Pryor would respect other people’s right to practice their faith. POWERBALL WINNER Tennessee man claims $259 million Powerball prize NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) β A member of a religious order who has taken a vow of poverty has the winning $259 million Powerball ticket in the Tennessee Lottery. Roy Cockrum of Knoxville appeared Thursday at the lottery headquarters in Nashville to claim the prize. He plans to accept a lump sum payment of $115 million. Cockrum worked for 20 years as an actor and stage manager for theater and TV productions before following a call to religious service with The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, an Episcopal religious community in Cambridge, Massachusetts. According to the society’s “Rule of Life,” members of the monastic order take “lifelong vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience in an enduring fellowship.” The 58-year-old Cockrum, who’s known as Brother Roy, said he plans to use most of the money to start a foundation that will support performing arts organizations around the country. Cockrum said he’ll “work very hard to make sure that every single penny of this prize is a blessing to whoever it touches.” ATHEISTS-INVOCATION Atheists want to deliver city council invocation ROWLETT, Texas (AP) β A Dallas-area atheist group wants equal time at a suburban city council meeting that begins with a religious invocation. The group Metroplex Atheists has given Rowlett (row-LEHT’) city officials 10 business days to respond to a request that two of its members get on the list of people authorized to give invocations. The group’s president, Randy Word, says he’d rather see no invocation. But he says if there is to be one, he wants his group eligible to deliver a secular message. The town east of Dallas allows invocations from licensed clergy members from religious groups that meet inside the city. City Attorney David Berman tells The Dallas Morning News that the city probably won’t respond to the letter. Mayor Todd Gottel says as long as he’s in office, they’ll pray. OBIT-SCHACHTER-SHALOMI Founder of Jewish Renewal movement dies at 89 BOULDER, Colo. (AP) β Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, has died in his Boulder, Colorado, home. He was 89. Schachter-Shalomi, known to his followers as Reb Zalman, died Thursday in his sleep after a long illness, according to Rivkah Walton of the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Schachter-Shalomi started the renewal movement in the early 1960s as a way to use contemporary religious and political scholarship to re-examine Judaism after the Holocaust. The nondenominational movement draws on Judaism’s prophetic and mystical traditions, and Schachter-Shalomi was heavily influenced by Buddhism, Sufism and the Catholic mystic Thomas Merton. The rabbi was among the first in Judaism to ordain women. He also was a friend of Timothy Leary, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. The rabbi experimented with LSD to see if it could enhance spirituality. Walton said, “He didn’t stick with it, but he was willing to find out.” PRIEST-NUN SLAYING Lawyer: No further steps to free convicted priest TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) β A defense lawyer won’t take further steps seeking to release a dying Roman Catholic priest who was convicted of killing a nun in 1980 and hoped to spend his final days in his Ohio hometown. Attorney Richard Kerger had previously told a federal judge that the Rev. Gerald Robinson has been in a Columbus prison hospice unit since the end of May after suffering a heart attack and wants to die in Toledo. He asked the court to release Robinson to the care of relatives. The judge rejected the request Thursday, concluding that his court doesn’t have jurisdiction to grant such compassionate release. He says Robinson isn’t eligible for such relief under federal law and Ohio law on the issue excludes prisoners serving time for murder. Kerger says he understands the decision. PRIEST ABUSE-LAWSUIT Appeals court upholds sex abuse lawsuit dismissal CHICAGO (AP) β A federal appeals court says an Illinois man cannot sue the Vatican or Archdiocese of Chicago over allegations of sexual abuse dating back decades. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals released its opinion Wednesday upholding a lower court ruling in the case of Charles Anderson, who claimed he was abused by priests and other church employees in the 1950s and 60s. Anderson filed his lawsuit in 2011, while he was serving time in Shawnee Correctional Center for armed robbery. He claimed he had been abused by a priest at a Lisle orphanage and later by a priest and other employees at Maryville Academy. A federal district court dismissed the lawsuit because the statute of limitations had run out and the Vatican had not been served successfully in the case. VATICAN-LEGION OF CHRIST Vatican taps Jesuit to be pope’s advisor to Legion VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Vatican has named a Jesuit canon lawyer as special papal adviser to the Legion of Christ to help guide it for the next few years following revelations that its founder was a pedophile and a fraud and that the order needed reform. The Rev. Gianfranco Ghirlanda is the second pontifical envoy named to try to turn the Legion around. Cardinal Velasio de Paolis presided over a three-year reform effort that ended in February. Ghirlanda had been one of de Paolis’ deputies. His appointment signaled that Pope Francis, himself a Jesuit, doesn’t trust that the initial reform resolved all the Legion’s problems. The Legion said Thursday that Ghirlanda, while not part of the central government, would help clarify the Legion’s relations with its lay movement, Regnum Christi. MORMON MISSIONARIES-SOCIAL MEDIA 32,000 Mormon missionaries to get iPad minis SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β The Mormon church is expanding a program that gives missionaries iPad minis and broadens their proselytizing to social media. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a news release this week that a test program that began last fall with 6,500 missionaries serving in the United States and Japan went well. That has prompted the church to expand the initiative. Church leaders expect to have the specially configured mobile devices in the hands of more than 32,000 missionaries by early 2015. Most Mormon missionaries will cover the cost of the $400 device. Mormon scholars say it’s the latest example of the LDS church’s gradual embrace of the digital age and its recognition that door-to-door proselytizing is not the most effective way to expand church membership. NIGERIA-ATHEIST Freed from mental ward, atheist gets death threats LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) β A Nigerian atheist released from the mental ward to which his staunch Muslim family committed him by force says he is getting death threats. Mubarak Bala tells The Associated Press by telephone that he is in hiding in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria and fears for his life. Blasphemy can be punished by death in some interpretations of Shariah law which holds in Nigeria’s north. Bala says he is trying to reconcile with his family, especially the father, two uncles and older brother who beat him up, drugged him and kept him in the psychiatric ward of Kanu Teaching Hospital for more than a week after he renounced Islam. His lawyer says relatives acted to keep Bala safe. Bala was freed Wednesday when striking doctors discharged all patients.
