Sunday night, Tom Cruise rewarded high-ranking members of the Church of Scientology with tickets to a private screening of his new movie, "Lions for Lambs." This is the provocative anti-war movie which he executive-produced for United Artists with partner Paula Wagner. I rather doubt that director Robert Redford, who's also a co-star, and Cruise's other co-star, Meryl Streep, had any idea that the screening room at the Museum of Modern Art and the cocktail party following was full of Scientologists, including ...

Prosecutors call the church a "criminal organization." The church says it's a "witch hunt." BRUSSELS — It all began with a woman who wanted her money back. In 1997 a former member of the Church of Scientology, unhappy with courses she had taken, tried to get a refund of 700,000 Belgian francs - about $17,000. Authorities began looking into the church's finances and interviewing people. Now, 10 years and 76 cartons of documents later, prosecutors say the evidence points to one ...

As she strolls down Dadabhai Naoroji Road in Mumbai, Aussie Marion Whitta gets a tap on the shoulder from a tall Indian fan. "I bought Dianetics (the first book of a post-modern faith called Scientology) in 1987 in Melbourne," he says. He is in a yellow polo shirt inscribed with the Scientology logo on the back. He walks with her for about 50 paces, interrupting the conversation she is trying to have with friend. He recounts the moment he first encountered ...

MADRID (AFP) — A court in Spain has ruled in favour of listing the controversial Church of Scientology among the nation's official register of religions, according to a decision obtained by AFP Thursday. The administrative tribunal of Madrid's High Court ruled that a 2005 justice ministry decision to scrap the church from the register was "against the law." Responding to a petition filed by the church, the ruling said that no documents had been presented in court to demonstrate it was ...

A religious booklet sent to his office makes it seem that Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz officially endorses the musings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Mayor Katz's image and the official City of Winnipeg logo appear on the back cover of the 68-page booklet, which implores readers to observe life lessons such as "do not take alcohol to excess," "don't be promiscuous," "preserve your teeth" and "don't do anything illegal." The booklet, called The Way to Happiness, purports to be "presented ...

The six-story building that houses the New York headquarters for the Church of Scientology is located on 227 West 46th St., reserving its place amid an ever-bustling, tourist-laden Times Square.Rendering of the new Scientology complex Inside, over 80 staff members work hard on finalizing community service programs for the Church’s most recent real estate purchase: a 50,000-square-foot property on 125th St. in East Harlem. Valued at more than $13 million, the new property is intended to restore Harlem as a center ...

Connecticut Avenue runs strong with places available for all ages and ethnic groups. The avenue is filled with shops and restaurants, and at every corner are small residential neighborhoods. The Founding Church of Scientology sits just blocks from the Dupont Circle metro station. Tony Bokas, a member of the Scientology Church and Maryland resident, described the area as an essential spot in the District that attracts a huge number of politicians. "Important people come by all the time with police squads ...

IN a booklet called The Way To Happiness, it appears as if Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz officially endorses the musings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Katz's image and the official City of Winnipeg logo appear on the back cover of the 68-page booklet, which implores readers to observe life lessons such as "do not take alcohol to excess," "don't be promiscuous," "preserve your teeth" and "don't do anything illegal." The booklet purports to be "presented by Sam Katz, mayor" and ...

Hollywood star Kelly Preston took time out of filming new comedy Old Dogs with her husband John Travolta, to support a Scientology charity concert in West Sussex. The 45-year-old actress was master of ceremonies at the 11th annual Gala Charity Concert at Saint Hill, home of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard and headquarters for the Church of Scientology UK. Kelly said: "It was a great day. What we were doing with the concert is perpetuating what L Ron Hubbard started in ...

UNIFORMED police distributed Church of Scientology propaganda at Whyalla High School, contrary to guidelines for religious education. A team of police officers visiting the school showed classes a DVD on living a moral life and distributed a booklet entitled "Whyalla High School presents the way to happiness, a common-sense guide for better living", written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. One outraged parent who did not wish to be named said she had explicitly told the school her children were not ...

I'm going to take you back to my early days as a lawyer. It was the mid-to-late 1970s. I was working at Eddie Goodman's firm, Goodmans. David Stockwood (for my money one of the top civil litigators in Toronto for the past 30-plus years) ran the litigation department. For some reason he trusted me to handle the litigation for an upstart, feisty little paper that was still growing, the Toronto Sun. It had hungry journalists and none was hungrier – and ...

THE Church of Scientology is preparing to expand its creed to the north of England by opening a centre in Manchester next year. The church, which has been criticised as a cult, has paid £3.6m for a disused distillery in the city. It plans to turn the five-storey building, near Old Trafford, into “a place of worship and religious instruction”. The move is part of a world-wide expansion strategy by the American organisation, which was founded by L Ron Hubbard, a ...

THE CHURCH of Scientology is pressing ahead with plans to convert a Trafford distillery into a "place of worship" for hundreds of followers. The controversial group - whose celebrity members include Tom Cruise and John Travolta - bought the Grade II-listed building on Chester Road for a reported £3.6m. Plans to convert it into a "place of worship and religious instruction" were withdrawn earlier this year when the Trafford council expressed concerns about parking. But the Church of Scientology is planning ...

Last month, the School Board sent a warning to parents about the “harmful effects” of drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Much of the flier’s information was taken from the Internet, including from a Web site run by a group founded by the Church of Scientology. This week, six national organizations and eight local groups sent a letter requesting that the School Board retract the flier and send a new one stating that ADHD is a disease that requires ...

Construction of the Island View condominium and retail complex on the northern edge of downtown won't begin by the end of the year as initially planned because of slow sales and a slight change to the project's design. But officials with Triangle Development of Clearwater say sales have steadily picked up and construction will begin by Dec. 31, 2008 - the new deadline the City Council unanimously approved Wednesday night. Triangle executives asked the council for a one-year extension on their ...

A WOMAN accused of stabbing to death her Scientologist father and teenage sister was suffering a psychotic episode and is likely to mount a mental illness defence, her doctor said. The 25-year-old, who cannot be named, is facing two counts of murder and a third of maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to murder over a stabbing at her south-western Sydney home on July 5. The woman, who has been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder, allegedly fatally stabbed her 53-year-old father ...

A settlement has been reached between a local gun range and its members. The $8 million dollar deal ends the class action lawsuit against the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute. I-Team Reporter Colleen McCarty first broke the story about allegations of fraud and racketeering at the resort a few years ago. On Monday morning, in a California federal court, a judge approved the final settlement agreement. Under its terms, qualified Front Sight members will receive a full refund with the total ...

The smiling photo of Gavin Newsom and the city seal emblazoned on a booklet called "The Way to Happiness" sure make it seem as though San Francisco's mayor is heartily endorsing Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings. The booklet's back cover even shows a letter of support purportedly written by Newsom that echoes some of the mayor's favorite buzzwords: San Francisco is "a city of innovation" and is "the finest city in the world." But the giveaway is in the second ...

SAN FRANCISCO — The city of San Francisco has ordered a Scientology group to stop using a picture of Mayor Gavin Newsom on its promotional materials. A group called the Way to Happiness Foundation International sent a box full of booklets to Newsom's City Hall office describing some of Scientology's core principles. The pamphlets came emblazoned with the seal of the city of San Francisco and featured a picture of a smiling Newsom with a fictitious letter from him. The president ...

Sure, says Mayor Frank Hibbard. It can be a little unsettling sometimes — throngs of Scientologists wandering Clearwater's streets in their blue or khaki trousers and crisp dress shirts. Sometimes, it makes the neighbors a bit uneasy. "When you come to downtown, no one likes being a minority," Mr. Hibbard said. But mostly, folks in this picturesque Gulf Coast city have come to accept that Clearwater is to Scientologists what Salt Lake City is to Mormons, what Mecca is to Muslims. ...

No, Mayor Tom Leppert hasn't made the leap from public servant to spiritual healer. And despite the claims of a booklet that landed on his desk at City Hall this week, he isn't endorsing The Way to Happiness. The booklet, so titled and featuring the writings of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, was sent to the mayor's office complete with the city of Dallas seal and a ringing endorsement purportedly from Mr. Leppert. The front cover features a painting ...

What was intended as a goodwill tour by a visiting group for the Church of Scientology has run into a bit of controversy. The Scientology visit tent in front of the Government building, endorsed by the Government, has remained largely empty since opening last Wednesday. However, a training course was held for a group of police officers and other support servicemen. The visit hit a bad patch when claims were made that the tour received the blessings of the National Council ...

Amidst the controversy over Columbia University's proposed expansion into Harlem, another expansion is occurring with far less protest. The Church of Scientology in Harlem, currently operating out of a storefront space on Third Avenue, recently purchased several buildings on 125th street, where they plan to rebuild and expand the church. Scientology, known for its controversial views and prominent celebrity members, has several churches in Manhattan, the largest of which is here in Times Square. They also have a small church in ...

Critics aside, they say Scientology's detox center cures ills. By Art Carey Inquirer Staff Writer Within days of beginning treatment, Mike Wire noticed changes. His pain eased. His mood brightened. His sense of smell returned, sharper than ever. A retired millwright from Bucks County, Wire, 60, is among thousands of rescue workers, firefighters and police officers who developed an array of serious ailments after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Wire spent 21/2 ...

Posted at 17:47 on 07 October, 2007 UTC “A visit of scientology volunteers to Samoa has caused some upset.” The Scientology group are in Apia to train officers in disaster management. The government supports the goodwill visit, but Christians from various congregations have warned about the possible negative impact. A senior lecturer of religious studies at Otago University in New Zealand, Dr Gregory Dawes, says apart from being competition to Christian denominations, there are also other grounds for concern. “There is ...

Could footage of Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg's execution in Tom Cruise's new film have been sabotaged by Berlin officials? Eldad Beck Published: 10.07.07, 19:44 / Israel Culture Berlin - What is causing the series of mishaps taking place on the set of a movie starring Tom Cruise in the role of Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg - the man who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler? Over the weekend the movie's production team confirmed that footage for the movie entitled “Valkyrie," shot some ...

On 9/11, Bobby Morrill got a call from his cousin Bobby Stewart, project manager for a construction company, inviting him to come to Manhattan to help clean up the mess. Morrill, who lives in Newark, was there the next day. He worked for 36 hours nonstop, directing fellow ironworkers as they began untangling the mound of twisted steel beams and girders. That first night, Morrill slept under a table in Battery Park. He wound up spending 10 weeks at Ground Zero, ...

Picture: "Lisa Gengo exercises before going into the dry sauna on the 23d day of her program. The exercise speeds niacin into circulation. Gengo had worked near Ground Zero."] Among medical professionals calling for further research into what's going on at the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, Lisa Gengo is unique. Since July, Gengo has been visiting the clinic once a week and she plans to go through the detox program herself. "I'm using myself as a guinea pig," she ...