BARRINGTON, Ill. - Hostile takeovers are nothing new in the corporate world, but what happened to the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) is an exceptional tale of the hostile takeover of a nonprofit organization. The anti-cult advocacy group is being dismembered and absorbed by its adversaries, who attorneys say have deftly outmaneuvered CAN in the courts. CAN's fate highlights the crippled state of what was once a prominent movement that for years kept America's unorthodox religious groups on the defensive. The modern ...

BARRINGTON, Ill. - For 20 years, the Cult Awareness Network ran the nation's best-known hotline for parents who grew distraught when unconventional religious groups they neither trusted nor understood suddenly won the allegiance of their children. From its offices in a Chicago suburb, the network (known as CAN) answered more than 350 telephone inquiries a week, counseled relatives at conferences attended by thousands and gave news interviews to everyone from small-town daily newspapers to "Nightline." As CAN's influence rose, so did ...

Title "The S Files" [S as in Scientology Logo] [Presenter Dermot Murnaghan (DM henceforth) no relation to any other DM] Tonight we're going to expose serious financial crime in one of the Scientology cult's most successful operations in Britain. We show how they cooked the books, made false statements to obtain bank loans, and changed invoices to fiddle their VAT. [Extract from "Trust" ad] This advert for the Church of Scientology was recently shown on cable TV. It was a major ...

The founder and former head of the Church of Scientology in Lyons was convicted of fraud and involuntary homicide today in the death of a church member who committed suicide after going heavily into debt to pay the sect for counseling sessions. A French tribunal sentenced the defendant, Jean-Jacques Mazier, to serve 18 months in prison, with an additional 18 months suspended, and fined him $100,000. The eight-day trial, in the first week of October, also examined charges of fraud, attempted ...

The onetime building of the Riverside Young Men's Christian Association, a Cultural Heritage Landmark designated as Italian Renaissance in style, is trying to develop an active community status. It faces University Avenue at Lemon Street. It has an auditorium, which combines earlier smaller rooms, available for conventions and other meetings. Its newest portion, the gymnasium built in 1951, has been decorated with murals designed by artist Sam Huang. Among its uses are programs called quincineras, a coming-of-age celebration for Hispanic girls. ...

One of the Church's most powerful groups is waging a holy war on the evil tide of brainwashing religious cults sweeping Scotland. Woman's Guild bosses are to hold a special summit aimed at stamping out the growing menace of the fanatics. Today, we reveal how many young Scots have fallen under the spell of these maniacs. The Guild plans two days of talks at Carberry Tower, near Edinburgh. Experts, victims and religious leaders from all Churches will debate the menace of ...

NEW YORK — Time magazine has agreed to settle a lawsuit by a member of the Church of Scientology who accused the magazine of libeling him in a 1991 article about the controversial church's activities. Under the settlement reached this week, the magazine agreed to publish a statement in next week's issue indicating it did not intend to suggest that Michael Baybak, the church member who brought the suit, had violated any law or regulation.

I refer to the article "Ex-Scientologists testify to suffering" (C-M, Oct 4). Scientologists and non-Scientologists alike have come out in defence of the religious persecution in France. First, the French Government blows up the Rainbow Warrior, then despite world condemnation, they expose the Pacific to atomic fallout. Now we have them deciding that a new religion has become too popular and a threat to their hypocrisy. Scientology may be new and controversial but no one can deny it is the fastest-growing ...

Jairus C. Godeka conversed freely with the television set. He would laugh aloud for no reason. He said the FBI was watching him and bugging his telephone. He heard voices that commented incessantly on his behavior. Godeka spun out these and more suspicions and fears during a 1987 interview at a Northeast Portland mental health clinic. But never once did he mention what was to become a grinding obsession - the Church of Scientology. Godeka is scheduled to be formally arraigned ...

PORTLAND — The man accused of shooting four people in a Church of Scientology branch pleaded not guilty today to 13 criminal counts arising from the Sept. 25 incident. Along with the shootings, Jarius Godeka is accused of taking a hostage and setting a fire at the church's Celebrity Centre. No trial date was set. Godeka, who was jailed briefly early this year for threatening to kill church members and demanding money, had blamed the church for business problems.

PARIS: The Church of Scientology is battling charges in a Lyon courtroom that it is a manipulative and fraudulent cult that practices false medicine and hounded one of its followers to his death. The case could derail the sect's campaign to be accepted as a mainstream faith in several European countries. Last week, it began beaming satellite television advertisements to Britain, its biggest recruiting ground in Europe, despite not being recognized there as a bona fide religion. The advertisements stress a ...

Seven months ago, Jairus Chegero Godeka threatened to kill everyone in the Portland Church of Scientology unless they gave him $50,000 for ruining his life. On Wednesday, police say, Godeka walked into the church's downtown Portland office and shot and wounded four people, including a pregnant receptionist. Godeka set a fire and briefly took another woman hostage at the church's Portland Celebrity Centre before a police officer persuaded him to surrender. The attack brought activity on Southwest Salmon Street and Broadway ...

Four shot at Oregon Scientology center PORTLAND, Oregon (CNN) – A man carried a gun and a can of gasoline into a downtown Church of Scientology on Wednesday, shot four people and started a fire, police said. The suspect, identified as Kenya native Jairus Godeka, 38, surrendered after walking out of the church's Portland Celebrity Center with a female hostage whom he released unharmed. Godeka was promptly arrested, and firefighters quickly doused the flames. A pregnant woman was hospitalized in critical ...