AMERICANS-EBOLA-SECOND PATIENT
Aid group: American with Ebola weak but improving
ATLANTA (AP) β A second American who came down with Ebola in Liberia is now hospitalized in Atlanta.
SIM missionary Nancy Writebol has joined Samaritan’s Purse Dr. Kent Brantly at Emory University Hospital, where they’re being given an experimental treatment that has never before been tested on humans.
SIM USA President Bruce Johnson says he looks forward to praying with her and “telling her some of the stories of how God has made a way for her to come here.”
Johnson says he spoke with her husband, who’s still in Liberia. David Writebol said his wife was able to stand and get on the plane in Liberia with assistance. When she arrived in Atlanta, she was wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher.
Johnson says SIM has spent nearly $1 million since Writebol and Brantly were diagnosed with Ebola, and Samaritan’s Purse has spent more than $1 million. He says the missionaries’ medical evacuation insurance may cover some of the cost.
Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed)
207-w-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA)–A second American missionary who came down with Ebola in Liberia is now hospitalized in Atlanta. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (5 Aug 2014)
< 208-q-07-(Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, at news conference)-“to come here”-Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, is asked what he’s looking forward to now that Nancy Writebol is hospitalized in the U.S. (5 Aug 2014) < 209-a-18-(Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, at news conference)-“would be saved”-Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, says he and Nancy Writebol’s husband hope the Ebola afflicting her and Dr. Kent Brantly leads to a cure. ((note length of cut)) (5 Aug 2014) < 210-a-07-(Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, at news conference)-“a million dollars”-Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, says evacuating the two missionaries from Liberia has been costly. (5 Aug 2014) < 148-a-09-(Bruce Johnson, president, SIM USA, at news conference)-“was great news”-SIM USA President Bruce Johnson says Nancy Writebol’s husband says she was able to stand and get on the plane that brought her to the U.S. (5 Aug 2014) < 149-a-09-(Bruce Johnson, president, SIM USA, at news conference)-“contact point was”-SIM USA President Bruce Johnson says there’s no indication how Nancy Writebol got infected. (5 Aug 2014) < 150-a-12-(Bruce Johnson, president, SIM USA, at news conference)-“the right direction”-SIM USA President Bruce Johnson says Writebol’s husband told him that she is getting better. (5 Aug 2014) < UNITED NATIONS-IRAQ UN condemns persecution of Iraq’s minorities UNITED NATIONS (AP) β The United Nations Security Council is warning that the Islamic State extremist group may be held accountable for crimes against humanity for its systematic persecution of minorities in Iraq. The council strongly condemned the radical group for attacking and killing minorities including Christians. A press statement approved Tuesday noted that the large-scale offensive by the Islamic State group has crossed the border from Syria to Iraq and said the group poses a threat “not only to these countries but to regional peace, security and stability.” The council singled out the Islamic State group’s attacks on the Iraqi towns of Sinjar and Tal Afar near the Syrian border for condemnation, expressing deep concern for the hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee and many others who have been executed or kidnapped. Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) 232-a-08-(Mark Lyall Grant, president of the United Nations Security Council, reading Security Council statement)-“executed and kidnapped”-UN Security Council President Mark Lyall Grant says the council condemns Islamic State militants’ persecution of Iraqi ethnic and religious minorities. (5 Aug 2014) < 233-a-11-(Mark Lyall Grant, president of the United Nations Security Council, reading Security Council statement)-“crime against humanity”-UN Security Council President Mark Lyall Grant says the council is issuing a warning to Islamic State militants. (5 Aug 2014) < 234-a-08-(Mark Lyall Grant, president of the United Nations Security Council, reading Security Council statement)-“nationality or civilization”-UN Security Council President Mark Lyall Grant says the council condemns acts of terrorism by the Islamic State group. (5 Aug 2014) < IRAQ Iraqi lawmaker cries out for persecuted religious minority BAGHDAD (AP) β A lawmaker from Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority fainted after making an impassioned plea in parliament to save her people who have been fleeing persecution from Islamic State militants. The Islamic State captured the northern towns of Sinjar and Zumar on Saturday and issued an ultimatum to tens of thousands of Yazidis to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death. Yazidis follow an ancient religion with links to Zoroastrianism. Yazidi lawmaker Vian Dakheel issued a teary plea for help Tuesday during discussions over the country’s spiraling refugee crisis. She shouted, “In the name of humanity, I call upon all of you to save us! Save us! Our families have been slaughtered.” She then fainted. UNICEF reported Tuesday that at least 40 children from Sinjar were killed in the violence and more than 25,000 children are now stranded in the surrounding mountains where they are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. GAY MARRIAGE-ARCHBISHOP Catholic leader in Ohio urges marriage prayer CINCINNATI (AP) β Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr is urging Roman Catholics in his archdiocese to pray that a federal appeals court considering bans on same-sex marriage will uphold what he calls “traditional marriage.” Schnurr says Ohio’s bishops strongly supported the voter-approved 2004 state ban. He says traditional marriage is “the union of one man and one woman for life.” In the request circulated this week online, Schnurr expresses hope that the court will “act wisely.” His archdiocese includes nearly 500,000 Catholics. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will hear arguments Wednesday in six cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. Some opponents of same-sex marriage plan to pray publicly outside the downtown courthouse. Supporters plan nearby rallies. EPISCOPAL-SAME-SEX MARRIAGE Pittsburgh Episcopals OKs same-sex certificates PITTSBURGH (AP) β The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh says its clergy may sign marriage certificates for same-sex couples. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the new rule is spelled out in a letter to the diocese from Bishop Dorsey McConnell. The Episcopal Church approved a provisional rite for same-sex couples at its General Convention last year, subject to approval by local bishops. In approving the rite for use in the Pittsburgh diocese last year, McConnell did not order diocesan priests to perform same-sex marriages, but simply gave them the option to perform them if their conscience dictated. That was before a federal judge in May struck down Pennsylvania’s law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, effectively making same-sex marriage legal in the state. Diocesan spokesman Rich Creehan said the latest move gives clergy who choose to marry same-sex couples the power to issue legally binding marriage certificates. PITTSYLVANIA PRAYER Judge: Pittsylvania prayer injunction will remain DANVILLE, Va. (AP) β A judge says he won’t dissolve an injunction barring Virginia’s Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors from opening meetings with sectarian prayers. An opinion filed by U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski says a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling doesn’t support dissolving the injunction. In May, the Supreme Court upheld the practice of reciting prayers at the start of the Greece Town Board’s meetings in Greece, New York. The Pittsylvania County board cited the ruling in its motion to dissolve or modify Urbanski’s injunction. Urbanksi says the Pittsylvania County case is different. He says the board took an active role in leading the prayers and dictating their content. He says he can’t modify the injunction while the board’s appeal of it is pending before the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. IMMIGRANTS-LAS CRUCES Las Cruces church to close migrant shelter LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) β A short-term shelter for immigrants at a New Mexico church is closing. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the city’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary has ceased operating the shelter. The decision comes as federal authorities say fewer unaccompanied minors and families have been caught illegally crossing the border in Texas in recent weeks. Church officials say more than 200 immigrants passed through last month. Each one was given a cot, a shower, clean clothes, hot meals and health checks. The Catholic diocese says they all stayed no more than two days before leaving to find family in the U.S. The shelter may reopen if needed during hurricane season. Federal agencies have been overwhelmed the last few months by more than 57,000 unaccompanied children from Central America. LOUISIANA SENATE-ABORTION Landrieu hit on her support of abortion rights BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) β As she seeks a fourth term, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu is once again trying to reconcile her support for abortion rights with her Catholic faith. As a moderate Democrat in a conservative state, Landrieu has grappled with the issue of abortion over the years, finding herself at odds with leaders of her own faith. Both of her Republican opponents, U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy and tea party favorite Rob Maness, oppose abortion with only one exception, when the mother’s life is threatened. As part of his campaign, Maness has highlighted Landrieu’s support of Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The 58-year-old Landrieu has tried to downplay the issue during her long political career, saying abortions should be as rare as possible but that she thinks women should have the right to make their own decisions about whether to have one. VATICAN-POPE-GERMANY Pope speaks in German to 50,000 Catholic kids VATICAN CITY (AP) β Pope Francis has brushed up his German to greet some 50,000 German-speaking young people on a pilgrimage to Rome. Francis followed the all-German program during the Tuesday evening service in St. Peter’s Square and read from prepared German texts. Unlike his predecessors, Francis rarely strays from Italian or his native Spanish while speaking in public. Vatican officials have said he isn’t comfortable speaking in other languages and doesn’t want to show favoritism. But Francis lived in Germany in the late 1980s, and his willingness to cater to the young German-speaking crowd Tuesday made clear his familiarity with the language.
