Difference between revisions of "Church of Scientology"

'''Scientology''' is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author [[L. Ron Hubbard]], and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indicate that in the United States there were about 25,000 followers (in 2008); around 2,300 followers in England (2011); and about 1,700 each in both Canada (2011) and Australia (2016).

Hubbard initially developed a set of ideas that he called ''Dianetics'', which he represented as a form of therapy. This he promoted through various publications, as well as through the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation that he established in 1950. The foundation soon entered bankruptcy, and Hubbard lost the rights to his book ''Dianetics'' in 1952. He then recharacterized the subject as a religion and renamed it Scientology, retaining the terminology, doctrines, and the practice of "auditing".

In 1979, several executives of the Church were convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. Federal Court. The Church itself was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a decision upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation in 2013. The German government classifies Scientology as an anti-constitutional sect. In France, it has been classified as a dangerous cult.