News

St. Petersburg court shuts down Scientology Center

St. Petersburg, July 13, Interfax - The St. Petersburg City Court has closed down the city's Scientology Center, accusing it of offenses such as unlicensed teaching and other activities not stated in its charter, the city prosecutor's office said.

Scientology, officially called the Church of Scientology, is a religion started in the 1950s by U.S. writer L. Ron Hubbard and seeking to solve its members' problems in life and to improve their ability for achievement.

"According to the charter of the Scientologist Center, the objective of the organization is propaganda of the philosophical ideas and teachings of L. Ron Hubbard as guidance for a human being in life. However, propaganda of Hubbard's ideas and teachings was in effect supplanted by unlicensed educational activities that were conducted on a paid basis and fell outside the law of the Russian Federation 'On Education'," the prosecutor's office told Interfax.

Moreover, the Center was engaging in "auditing" and "purification," activities that its charter did not prescribe and that meant putting Hubbard's ideas into practice rather than propagandizing them. It advertised those practices as healthcare services without holding a license for them, the office said.

The Center had provided unlicensed consultant services on professional proficiency and ran tests to find out people's personal characteristics. The results of the tests were used in enrolling new members into the organization, the office said.

The Center was accused of other offenses as well.

The court ruling was a response to a suit from the city prosecutor and was said to have followed inspections by the Justice Ministry.

Print this page

Home

News

.	Customize latest news

• Patriarch Kirill signs a petition calling to ban abortions in Russia 28 September 2016, 12:35
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has twice as many parishes as two schismatic organizations together 28 September 2016, 11:37
• A bomb was used to sabotage the Congress of Orthodox women in Ukraine 27 September 2016, 15:02
• Bell ringing of the Russian cathedral is spread over the center of Paris 27 September 2016, 12:16
• Red paint poured onto the monument to Holy Prince Vladimir in Kiev 27 September 2016, 12:02
• Twenty churches destroyed in Aleppo during the war 26 September 2016, 15:28
• The Russian Church is concerned with new books containing "revolutionary biographies" of Christ 26 September 2016, 14:16
• The Russian Church official speaks about Vatican's unwillingness to discuss the problem of Greek-Catholics in Ukraine 26 September 2016, 13:17
• Rabbi Lazar urges to learn lessons from Babi Yar and stop terrorism 26 September 2016, 12:14
• Most threats to Islamic world exist inside Muslim community - Kazakh foreign minister 26 September 2016, 11:11
• Politicians stand in way of Orthodox unification in Ukraine - head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church 23 September 2016, 17:46
• Patriarch Kirill criticizes monks for their passion for luxury 22 September 2016, 16:47
• Court prolongs until mid December arrest of MSU student accused of attempt to join ISIL 22 September 2016, 15:28
• Russian chapel consecrated at a Syrian airbase 22 September 2016, 12:03
• Georgia's Orthodox Parents protest against pope visit 21 September 2016, 14:58
• The Russian Church accuses Ukrainian Greek-Catholics of attacks against it 21 September 2016, 13:46
• Russian citizen who received training in ISIL jihadist camps detained in Tatarstan 21 September 2016, 13:43
• Orthodox believers of New York send a container with humanitarian aid to Donbass 21 September 2016, 12:51
• Renowned German political expert believes Christianity is a foundation of European future 21 September 2016, 10:01
• Some 300,000 Russian pilgrims visit Israel in space of year - Patriarch Kirill 20 September 2016, 14:52
• Russian Supreme Court outlaws Aum Shinrikyo 20 September 2016, 12:00
• Azerbaijan counts on efficiency of OIC Contact Group for Karabakh 20 September 2016, 11:49
• Radical Islam present big problem for region – Israel 20 September 2016, 11:15
• Barbie is not likely to pass expertise in EurAsEC countries 19 September 2016, 18:43
• Old icons taken from Russia in wartime conveyed to the Berlin Diocese 19 September 2016, 10:23
• Patriarch Kirill gives the Pope of Rome a particle of St. Seraphim relics 16 September 2016, 11:55
• Russian journalists detained in Kosovo while filming footage about Orthodox churches 16 September 2016, 11:00
• Schismatic priest moves out Donbass refugees from a hospice not far from Kiev 15 September 2016, 18:01
• Putin and Medvedev for preserving archeological artifacts from Crimea where many ancient Greek temples were located 15 September 2016, 17:35
• Schismatics and nationalists seize a church in western Ukraine 15 September 2016, 10:58

Other news