Alarm in prisons at Scientology drug cures aimed at inmates (The Guardian - November 15, 2005)

'I mean,' continues the contractor , 'I've heard a lot about it. Is it based on science ? Who's the big man in charge?'

Such questions are likely to be asked more often from today when the controversial Church of Scientology opens its biggest UK centre in a red-carpet bash likely to be attended by some famous followers, who include Tom Cruise, Juliet Lewis and John Travolta.

The building, a former bible centre, cost the church £23m to buy and millions of pounds more to refit and is a testament to the organisation's growing financial strength. From its marble floors to its towering stucco-clad arches, Scientology's latest centre - all 50,000 square foot of it - screams wealth.

'I have always thought there might be a lot of cash in starting a new religion,' George Orwell wrote in 1938. Scientology appears a text book example. Little more than 50 years old it claims to be the world's fastest growing religion with 10 million followers, all of whom pay to study its teachings. In the UK alone it claims to have 123,000 registered followers. Last year it opened 1,300 new missions around the world. In the last few years it has opened palatial centres in New York, San Francisco and Madrid.

The location of its new London centre, in the centre of high finance, suggests it might find a receptive audience.

'One of the big problems in the City is the subject of ethics and morals,' said church spokeswoman Janet Laveau. 'There are also problems with drugs and stress. The Way to Happiness [a key Scientology text] can show them how to handle this and do the right thing.'

It is hard, however, to locate the source of Scientology's apparent appeal, one which now appears to have intrigued Victoria Beckham, who said recently that she has discussed it with her new best friend, Katie Holmes, aka Mrs Tom Cruise.

On the walls of 146 Queen Victoria Street are stencilled the thoughts of the church's founder, L Ron Hubbard, a former detective and science fiction writer who developed Scientology in England during the Fifties and turned it into an organisation of bewildering complexity and power - and the target of a long-running FBI investigation.

'Man is basically good and it is this basic goodness we want to set free,' proclaims one stencilled aphorism. 'The purpose of the mind is to solve problems relative to survival,' runs another. So far so innocuous. As you walk around, though, the statements are more exotic. Slogans talk about the 'gift of immortality' and interactive TV screens explain something called the 'condition of affluence'. There are saunas and treadmills, so followers can 'purify' themselves.

And there are rows and rows of teddy bears, on which followers practise their Scientology skills before employing them on humans. And emeters: electronic devices that, in the hands of a Scientology 'auditor' - someone who has completed a number of the church's courses - can apparently detect a person's mood swings. It is the stuff of Star Trek, all carried out in rooms whose walls are bedecked with pictures of Hubbard. As with every Scientology centre, Hubbard, who died in 1986, has his own room, which cannot be entered by others.

To the outsider it's baffling stuff, but Scientology maintains it can help its followers transform their lives. It makes impressive - and difficult to verify - claims that its courses can get people off drugs and reduce recidivism. It does much, ostensibly laudable work, promoting human rights, and its volunteers can be found helping at the scenes of major disasters, such as the 7 July bombings.

If Cruise or any other celebrities turn up tomorrow as expected it is because they believe Scientology has helped them climb the Hollywood ladder. 'Anti-social types will often try to leech off the success of creative types,' Laveau says. 'Scientology allows people to deal with them. It's about empowerment.'

Anne Archer at opening of new Church of Scientology HQ in London (Pic : PA)

The Church of Scientology unveiled

its new London headquarters today with a grand opening ceremony.

The controversial religion, which counts Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its followers, is expanding its British operation. It has bought and refurbished the former home of the British and Foreign Bible Society, latterly the offices of BP, for its new HQ.

The five-storey Victorian building in the City of London is a stone's throw from St Paul's Cathedral and stands next door to an Anglican church, from where parishioners emerged after their Sunday service to watch the proceedings with some bemusement.

Several hundred Scientologists, including church dignitaries and assorted VIPs, braved the driving rain for the outdoor ceremony. They listened to an address by Scientology leader David Miscavige, whose arrival was greeted with whoops and cheers from the crowd.

Mr Miscavige described the occasion as "momentous". Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard chose London as home to the organisation's first offices.

Mr Miscavige said : "This day will go down in history. Of all the foreign lands where LRH lived and worked, he called England home.

"This is the city wherein he first defined the human spirit as an immortal being possessed of capabilities beyond anything predicted and so arrived at the axiomatic truths on which the whole of Scientology is founded."

Other speakers at the event included United Nations peace envoy Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Ayaz, who praised the faith and told the crowd : "It is my personal belief that this church can restore what this world has lately lost."

Kevin Hurley, divisional commander of the local Snow Hill police station welcomed the church to the City and said its members were "raising the spiritual wealth of society".

The ceremony began with a procession by the London Scottish Regimental Pipe and Drum Band and ended with an explosion of red, white and blue tickertape.

Afterwards the public were invited inside to discover more about the work of the Scientologists. One room is devoted to the accomplishments of Hubbard - described as an explorer, writer, naval officer, humanitarian, artist and philosopher.

Tom Cruise has attracted publicity to the religion with his attack on actress Brooke Shields for taking drugs to combat post-natal depression. His fiancee Katie Holmes was said to have given birth to baby daughter Suri in silence because Scientologists believe noise is harmful to a newborn baby. It was rumoured Cruise would attend the ceremony but he did not show.

Among the guests who did attend was Hollywood actress Anne Archer, whose roles include Michael Douglas's wife in Fatal Attraction. Archer was raised a Christian Scientist but joined the Church of Scientology in 1976 and credits it with turning her life around. She said : "I met some people who I observed to be very sane and who said some very interesting things. I later found out they were Scientologists.

• "At that time I had some problems in my life and I went for my first auditing.
• "The change was so remarkable and so quick. I went from feeling utter despair to positivity within two weeks."

Archer conceded that Scientology has received a bad press but said : "All new ideas are criticised but we are doing remarkable things."

A small group of protesters carrying anti-Scientology placards picketed today's ceremony.

Copyright Press Association 2006.