DAILY NEWS
NEW YORK'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER

Scientology earns an assist
at Ground Zero, says Travolta

John Travolta is thrilled that his beloved Church of Scientology found its way to Ground Zero.

When the longtime devotee of the religious group heard that his church was aiding rescue workers at the World Trade Center site, he told Rosie O'Donnell that "Some of our volunteer ministers who are on Ground Zero along with the Red Cross are using these assists that are taking people out of shock. And they really work."

The "assists" to which Travolta refers are procedures used to get an individual to confront and handle physical difficulties by addressing spiritual trauma. It was "these assists" that attracted Travolta to Scientology in the first place.

"I was in Mexico, shooting a movie with an actress who was a Scientologist," Travolta told O'Donnell in the December issue of her magazine, Rose.

"I wasn't feeling well, and she gave me one of these assists, and I felt better immediately, and I thought, 'Hey, there has to be something to this.' I was only 21."

Travolta adds that Scientology even helps him know what role his own celebrity should play in the world - especially at a time like this.

"One of my favorite quotes from [Scientology founder] L. Ron Hubbard is, 'It's all right to think that you're the most important person in the world as long as everyone else is equally important."

"Celebrities can be more valuable in the time of crisis, but we are not more important." As all of us have seen these last two months.