Jane, Ted Split Over Religion?

Citing unnamed sources, a conservative online magazine reported this week that the Ted Turner- Jane Fonda split was partially prompted by Fonda's "embrace of 'born-again' evangelical Christianity."

WorldNetDaily.com said that the 62-year-old actress attends Bible study classes, but didn't specify where.

Meanwhile, a minister acquaintance of Fonda's says she has expressed a desire to become more spiritual but would not say whether that was the reason for her separation from husband and CNN founder Ted Turner, 61.

The Rev. Gerald Durley said he doubted that Fonda was regularly attending Bible study but that Fonda has "found a certain sense of peace among people who've found peace with Christianity."

"I think as she approached her 60th birthday, she began to search for more meaning,'' Durley said in Saturday's editions of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am extremely impressed with the genuineness and sincerity in her search for spirituality and wholeness.''

Durley is a board member of Fonda's Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. The pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church and the former president of Concerned Black Clergy said he is around Fonda "quite a bit.''

But the newspaper said Durley would not comment on the couple's eight-year marriage, Turner, or the cause of the separation.

Turner Broadcasting System officials would not comment on the Web site report.

The outspoken media tycoon previously denounced Christianity as being for "losers'' in 1990. He insulted Pope John Paul II during a 1998 speech in front of an abortion rights group. He later apologized.

The newspaper reported that the Jan. 17 edition of People magazine quoted Turner as saying "Jane wants me to become a saint...But I'm not,'' at an awards dinner in California.

WorldNetDaily's anonymous sources say that Fonda's conversion began two years ago when her chauffeur began "witnessing" to her about his faith in Jesus Christ.

"At first Fonda was reportedly troubled by those conversations. Later, she began to welcome them and attend church with her chauffeur," the online magazine reports.

Turner founded CNN and owns the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks. He created CNN in 1980 as part of his Turner Broadcasting System Inc. empire. TBS was swallowed by Time Warner Inc. in 1996 in a $7.57 billion merger, and Turner is now a vice chairman of Time Warner.

In 1998, he established the United Nations Foundation after pledging to give $1 billion over 10 years to U.N. projects that benefit the environment and women and children's health.

Fonda won best actress Oscars for Klute in 1971 and Coming Home in 1978.