J ani ary 8. 1097 • T he P oru and O bserver
P age B4
r*
‘Ihe Church of Scientology obtains official
religious recognition in ‘Britain
The British government hasotli-
cially recognized the Church ol
Scientology as a religion, more than
40 years alter the first Church was
opened in Britain. This was made
known by a spokesman tor the B rit­
ish Home Office this week in a
statement published by the national
newspaper, the Daily I elegraph, and
other media in the United K ing­
dom
Earlier this year, Scientology was
already recognized as a religion by
the B ritis h Arm ed Forces and
B rita in ’ s Independent Television
Commission which acknowledged
Scientology’ s religious bona tides
when it added the Church to the
religious permitted to air T V spots
I
on British TV
"W e are elated about this deci­
sion. The British government is
showing commendable leadership
in bringing religious Ireedom and
pluralism to Europe which so tar
has been dominated by a lew state
churches.' said Heber C. Jentzsch.
President o f the C hu rch o f
S cientology In te rn a tio n a l, the
mother church o f the religion.
The news about this latest recog­
nition was announced at a New
Year’ s Eve gathering o f over 7.000
Scientologists at the Shrine Audito­
rium in Los Angeles which satellited
lo S c ie n to lo g y co ng re g a tio n s
around the world. In Portland, more
than 2(X) Scientologists saw this
satellite transmission, receiving the
news with cheers and a standing
ovation. Other Scientol-ogists w ill
gather in Portland to see a video
tmm^g-ol the broadcasting later this
week.
SUt}9,s> entered the Church ot
Scientology into its register o f rec­
ognized religions. The recognition
not only reflects Scientology 's rapid
growth in Asian nations, but is the
first recognition by a government ol
Tope to visit Cuba
Vatican officials chose a symbolic
place to announce Pope John Paul
Il's first visit to Cuba next year: the
Havana cathedral.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega, head o f
the Cuban Bishops' Conference, an­
nounced the January 1998 visit late
Friday just before his Italian coun­
terpart offered Mass there lo cel­
ebrate W orld Peace Day.
The holy father is desirous ot
visitin g our co un try," Ortega said
in a statement before he and Italian
C ardinal C a m illo R uini celebrated
Mass in the I 8th century stone ca­
thedral. R uini is head ot the Italian
Bishop's Conference, w hich do­
nated medical equipm ent to the
island.
V a tica n spokesm an Joaquin
Navarro-Valis confirmed today the
pope would go to Cuba in the second
half o f January 1998. He gave no
other details.
"He would have liked to do so
before the end ot 1997. but the Christ­
mas holidays o f that time oblige him
to postpone the trip until January of
1998," Ortega said
Both Cuba and the Vatican had
agreed to postpone the Cuban visit
because o f the 76-year-old p o n tiff's
fragile health, the Mexican news
agency Notunex reported
The o fficia l Cuban newspaper
Granina said the Bishop o f Rome
would be received “ w ith all the con­
sideration and respect that the su­
preme p o n tiff o f the Catholic Church
and sovereign ot the state ot the
Vatican C ity deserves."
O fficials in the Vatican reiterated
Friday that the trip reflected im prov­
ing relations w ith the Communist
island, which were helped hy Castro s
unprecedented visit to the Holy See
in November.
Among conditions for the papal
visit, the Vatican has insisted on
greater liberty for the church in Cuba,
including permission for foreign
priests to aid the island's 200clergy­
men
D espite tensions o ve r the
government’ s official rejection o f
religion,Cuba has maintained diplo­
matic relations with the Vatican since
1935.
I
a predominantly Muslim country
The Church has become well-
known m the United States. Canada.
Australia. Latin America, western
Europe and Africa over the last lour
decades, but il is not well know n that
Scientology .nourishes also in areas
such as Pakistan, Taiwan. Indonesia.
India. Hong Kong. Roumania, Hun
gary. Lithuania, Estonia. Polan. Latvia.
Belarus,
U kra in e ,
M oldo va ,
Uzbekistan. Tajikistan. Kyrgyzstan,
A ze rba ija n,
A rm enia,
Z aire,
Botswana, Canary Islands. Slovakia
and even Croatia. In the Common­
wealth o f Independent States alone
there are 54 Scientology missions
spread throughout twelve states. I he
newest Scientology missions were es­
tablished Iasi week in Kathmandu.
Nepal and three other Nepalese cities
Assisting in the expansion was
this year's release o f the Scientology
websites on the World Wide Web
At the launching ol the Internet sites
last March 13. Scientology's site re
ceived 33<).<X)O "hits'' per week on
average. As 1996 comes to a close,
the Scientology sites have increased
this number to a remarkable 41 lO.IHKI
"hits' per week. This is classed in die
top ten percent on the Internet. As a
comparison, in December ol 1995,
the Vatican opened its own internet
site. In its first year, that site attracted
1.5 m illion hits.
The Scientology. site, in nine
months, attracted I 2 m illion hits II
has also been awarded over 30
Internet site awards, including the
Top 5% ol A ll Websites Award from
Starting Point, the EZ Connect Best
o f the Net Award, the Quiet Revolt!
lion W inning Site Live Star Awai;d.
ta lk in g on the World Wide, Web
Premiere Site, anil the Magellan Four-
Star Site Award.
As the Washington Post described
the site: "The most elaborate reli­
gious site ol al I belongs to the C hut eh
ol Scientology As a model o f the
craft ol creating a web site, the
Scientology site is one ol the best in
existence today.”
In commenting on the rapid inter­
national expansion, the President ol
the Church o f Scientology Interna­
tional. Rev Heber Jentzsch staled.
"Scientology is expanding as it rep­
resents the brightest hope lor man in
die last 2.000 years by fu lfillin g
people's most important needs. We
keep growing because people can
experience the b e n e fits ol
Scientology in the here and now.
The d a ily m iracles we see in
Scientology are those that people
have dreamed ol lor centuries. W ith
die technologies ol Scientology we
can not only repair broken mar­
riages, rehabilitate drug addicts, and
restore literacy, but, very im por­
tantly, bring the individual to a ree
ognition ol his own spiritual nature
ami potential. I Ins is what religion
is about, and. like all religions, we
seek the belter world around us
Scientology is an applied reli
gious philosophy which recognizes
that man is a spiritual being and
offers a practical methodology us­
able by anyone to become happier
and more able. Founded by author
anil humanitarian. L. Ron Hubbard.
Scientology provides exact prin­
ciples for improving spiritual aware­
ness. self-confidence, intelligence
and ability.
I he lust Church o l Scientology
was founded in 1954 in Los Ange­
les. It lias grown to more than 3,000
churches, missions and groups in
I 13 countries, w ith over 8 m illion
members around the world.
There are tw o Churches ot
Scientology in Portland, including
the Celebrity Centre, w hich is dedi­
cated lo assist in the field ol the ails.
Both were started in the late 60’ s
Church breads with Milosevic
A l ter decades ot fo llo w in g C om ­
munist rulers, leaders ot the Serbian
Orthodox Church have broken their
alliance w ith President Slobodan
M ilosevic, shaking his rule and
boosting their own standing w ith
believers
"M ilosevic must go it Serbia wants
lo live," Father Sava, a priest in
Belgrade's Bezaniska Church. said
Monday, the eve o f Tuesday's O r­
thodox Christmas. Worshipers in the
church held candles and prayed to a
choir’ s velvet sound.
Yugoslavia's Orthodox churches
have joined the chorus o f protesters
who have rallied against M ilosevic
since he annulled Nov. 17 local elec­
tions won by the opposition.
In their strongest attack ever,
Serbian Orthodox Church leaders
assailed M ilosevic last week tor
"crushing the w ill o f the people' and
fomenting c iv il strife.
"He has already placed us against
the whole world, and now he wants to
set us against each other and trigger
bloodshed just to preserve power." the
leaders said in a statement.
Sava said he once believed that
M i losevic was the only one who could
"save Serbia from evil powers."
"Even though he is a Communist,
I trusted him like he was my brother.
I thought he was Serbia s savior
against Western influence. Croats and
all others.” Sava said. "B ut now I see
lhal whatever he touched, he de­
stroyed. Like Satan.
The church's alliance with Serbian
Communists lollow ed W orld Wai
II, when some priests openly sided
with Communist partisans even as
churches were shutdown and clergy­
men were ousted.
Under Communist rule. Serbia
o fficially was a lh c i^ ani|.churchgo­
ers could risk being fire d fro m their
leaders fell in line behind then Com­
munist leaders. They earned the tacit
support ot former Yugoslav Com­
munist strongman Josip Broz I ito.
Tolerance o f religion increased in
the 1980s when Milosevic switched
to nationalism to retain power while
communism crumbled elsewhere.
Church leaders backed Milosevic
when he instigated wars in neighbor­
ing Croatia and Bosnia: Some priests
even rode atop Serbian tanks as they
rolled into Croatia.
They supported Bosnian Serb
leaders, including war crimes sus­
pects Radovan Karadzic and Gen.
Ratko M ladic. Today, a large poster
o f Karadzic still decorates a side
entrance ot the Belgrade o il ice ol the
church’ s leader, Patriarch Pavle.
"The church has always been na­
tionalist in Serbia, as in most other
B alkan states," said Zorana
V la jk o v ic .o t Belgrade s Institute ol
Sociology. "It didn't care too much
about other nations, human and
democratic rights — not to speak of
elections. Now, something seems to
be changing."
Following the Bosnian war. O r­
thodox clergy split over what degree
o f nationalism they wished to follow
and Pavle struggled to tint! a balance
between the two factions.
Last week’ s statement indicated
the faction supporting modern demo­
cratic reforms — and a more benign
interpretation o f national interests —
had won.
It was a victory cheered by Serbian
faithful — about 40 percent o f the
population — as well as by opposi­
tion protesters. Along w ith signs ol
discontent in Yugoslavia's army, the
statement indicated that some ol
M ilosevic’ s traditional pillars o f sup­
port may be crumbling.
" There is no hope for M ilosevic if
he doesn't take our statement seri­
ously," said Metropolitan Am filohije,
head o f the church in the Yugoslav
republic o f Montenegro.
Cox Funeral Home
2736 N.E. Rodney, Portland,
Oregon (503) 281-4891
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Make a Decision”
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“Planning your funeral is our first
consideration. Equipped to serve all
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jobs or even arrested.
As a matter o f survival, church
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