PRESS RELEASES
Church of Scientology Activities
AMAZON RIVER, SOUTH AMERICA •
Scientology Volunteer Ministers Amazon River Goodwill Tour marks seven years of service. Group has provided one-on-one help to more than 200,000.
Flooding is so commonplace along the Amazon River that in some places, entire villages are built on stilts.
JAPAN •
To counter teen bullying and its consequences, Scientology-supported human rights group introduces young Japanese martial arts students to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA •
Volunteers from the Church of Scientology of Sydney encourage drug-free living in 2014
Sydney Scientologists celebrated the Chinese New Year by distributing thousands of copies of Truth About Drugs booklets at the Chinese New Year Market in the heart of the city. Their New Year’s wish: for 2014 to be a year of health and happiness, free from the harmful effects of drugs.
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, RUSSIA •
Volunteers from the Church of Scientology of Nizhny Novgorod help launch a different kind of Winter Olympics: the Anti-Drug Olympiad 2014.
Nine hundred miles north of Sochi, a second “Winter Olympics” has just begun: Drug education and prevention volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Nizhny Novgorod helped launch the Anti-Drug Olympiad of 2014, an initiative aimed at helping youth live healthy, productive, drug-free lives.
TOKYO, JAPAN •
Church of Scientology supports drug education initiative that has reached more than 50,000 through drug education lectures
The volunteers of the drug education and prevention initiative supported by the Church of Scientology of Tokyo have just accomplished a milestone: They have now reached 50,000 people with drug education.
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, RUSSIA •
Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Nizhny Novgorod are committed to drug education year-round.
Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Nizhny Novgorod are out on the streets this January. They are distributing copies of drug education booklets to help local youth learn the truth about drugs and avoid the epidemic of heroin abuse that Russian Drug Czar Viktor Ivanov has described as a “dragon” that is “ravaging our youth.”
AFRICA •
Scientology Goodwill Tours—bringing effective solutions to communities for the past ten years
OKLAHOMA, USA •
Scientology Volunteer Ministers from across the United States volunteer to help communities cope when disaster strikes
With tornado season fast approaching (there were 39 U.S. tornadoes in February 2013) Scientology Volunteer Ministers teams from across the country are poised to respond.
The most erratic of natural disasters, the tornado strikes with a fury unparalleled by any other force of nature. So it was from May 19 to 31, when a series of tornados devastated Oklahoma and other Midwestern states.
ROME, ITALY •
Church of Scientology of Rome works with civic and religious leaders to promote freedom of thought, religion and conscience
The Church of Scientology of Rome hosted a religious freedom round table in December, “Integration and Cooperation: Tolerance, Respect of Religious Belief and Defense of Human Rights.”
The three-hour program focused on human dignity and the historic background of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA •
The Scientology Volunteer Ministers—one of the world’s most effective independent relief organizations
PHILIPPINES •
Bringing help to survivors of super typhoon Haiyan (known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines)
Since Typhoon Yolanda struck on November 8, 2013, a corps of 70 Scientology Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Manila and veteran disaster response specialists from the United States, Australia, Thailand and Japan have provided help to the people of the Philippines.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM •
Brussels-based Churches of Scientology for Europe, dedicated to human rights and tolerance
Human Rights was the keynote of many of the activities organized by the Brussels-based Churches of Scientology for Europe in 2013.
The Church cosponsored the 10th annual Human Rights Summit, held this year at International Auditorium in Brussels and attended by youth delegates representing 30 nations. The Church also hosted the interreligious conference held on the final day of the Summit.
KAOHSIUNG,TAIWAN •
New Scientology Church raises awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The crash of cymbals, the thundering roll of drums…
So began the procession began at the Church of Scientology of Kaohsiung in December in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Church organized this human rights walk and open house to raise awareness of the basic rights every individual has.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK •
Walk, co-sponsored by Scientology-supported human rights initiative, mobilizes youth to defend the rights of others
Copenhagen youth joined in the city’s fifth annual Walk for Human Rights in December to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Beginning in the center of Copenhagen at Vesterbro Torv, youth marched to the Street Mekka indoor sports complex where they gathered for a human rights rally and musical festival.
COSTA RICA •
Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Costa Rica promote human rights awareness
It was an all-day affair with volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Costa Rica celebrating Human Rights Day 2013 with a human rights petition drive.
To help raise awareness of human rights, the volunteers use educational booklets and posters created by Youth for Human Rights, a human rights education initiative supported by the Church of Scientology.
BRESCIA, ITALY •
Church of Scientology Brescia and representatives from diverse religions and creeds spoke on the importance of the freedom of religion at a human rights conference in honor of Human Rights Day 2013
Religious leaders joined in an ecumenical tribute to human rights December 18 in a conference hosted by the Association for Human Rights and Tolerance. Panelists represented of many of Italy’s religious communities.
MILAN, ITALY •
Organized by the Association for Human Rights and Tolerance, the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology of Milan and Youth for Human Rights, the annual United for Africa concert forwards the right to education in Africa
TORONTO, CANADA •
The annual Drug-Free Marshals Christmas Festival, organized by the Church of Scientology of Toronto
The theme of the Drug-Free Marshals Christmas Festival at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto in December 2013 was: “Ask children if they want a drug-free community and they will tell you yes and why!”
A grassroots initiative established in 1993, the Drug-Free Marshals has grown to a global movement of kids telling other kids about the harmful effects of drugs.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA •
New Scientology brochure tells how 600 Scientology Volunteer Ministers who responded to the 2004 tsunami changed the course of the movement.
The holiday season conjures up images of home, family and good cheer. But for more than 600 Scientology Volunteer Ministers who responded to the 2004 tsunami, it evokes a time of heartbreak, disaster and bringing hope where there once was only despair.
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA •
Human rights conference organized by Ogaden Youth and Student Union and Youth for Human Rights November 27 at the Chapel of the Church of Scientology of Pretoria to raise awareness of humanitarian issues affecting the Ogaden people of Ethiopia.
The Church of Scientology of Pretoria hosted a human rights conference November 28 to look into claims of human rights violations and their remedy. Participants included refugees who fled their homeland and have settled in South Africa.