Tag: Religion and Churches

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 20, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- On the bright South African New Year's Day in 2019, when Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige dedicated the Scientology Advanced Organization and continental headquarters for Africa at Castle Kyalami, "COVID" was an obscure term known only to scientists and public health workers. But it soon entered the world's vocabulary when the first cases of the virus appeared. COVID-19 arrived in South Africa in March 2020 and the country went into lockdown.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 18, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- With inflation driving up food prices and some 30 percent of Los Angeles County families now experiencing food insecurity, Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles dedicate their Saturday mornings to helping fellow Angelenos cope.

COMMERCE, Calif., Jan. 17, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Not only is the East Los Angeles crime rate higher than the U.S. average, the crimes are often drug-related. To help local vendors and residents cope with this problem, volunteers from Bridge Publications Inc., publisher of the nonfiction works of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, reached out to area food trucks and food stands this week to further extend their drug prevention campaign to the community.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., and BRUSSELS, Belgium, Jan. 17, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- A Brussels-based drug education and prevention initiative supported by the Church of Scientology is optimistic that drug education can still prevail despite current drug trends. According to the president of Dites Non à La Drogue (Say No to Drugs), Julie Delvaux, the importance and effectiveness of drug prevention has been grossly underestimated.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., and TOKYO, Japan, Jan. 16, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Each year, the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) presents the Freedom Medal to humanitarians whose work materially forwards the Aims of Scientology. These aims, as set forth by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, are: "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights."

PARIS, France, and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 13, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- It was in Paris at the Palais de Chaillot on December 10, 1948, that the General Assembly of the fledgling United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Youth for Human Rights, an initiative supported by the Church of Scientology, has as its mission to inspire people to become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace by educating them on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

TOKYO, Japan, and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 13, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- It was no ordinary New Year's Day for those living in Japan's Ishikawa prefecture. They would ordinarily spend the day with a prayer for the new year at a temple or by visiting family. This year, on New Year's Day, faults that lay dormant for more than 3,000 years suddenly triggered a 7.6 magnitude earthquake. More than 200 died and tens of thousands were displaced. Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Tokyo, joined by others from as far away as Pakistan, responded to bring help to Wajima, one of the cities hardest hit by the disaster.

COMMERCE, Calif., Jan. 10, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Volunteers from Bridge Publications Inc., publishers of L. Ron Hubbard's nonfiction works, have launched their drug education and prevention campaign for 2024. They are visiting shops and parks and sharing the drug education booklets of the Truth About Drugs campaign with anyone wishing to help take effective action against drug abuse and addiction.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. and BUDAPEST, Hungary, Jan. 10, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the local chapter of Youth for Human Rights and the Church of Scientology of Budapest organized and hosted a conference to explore the history of human rights and where we go from here.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan. 10, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Church of Scientology of New Mexico Volunteer Ministers teamed up with the City of Albuquerque Department of Parks and Recreation to clean up and re-mulch a portion of Robinson Park in the downtown core of Albuquerque. The Volunteer Ministers began early Friday morning following a winter storm that blew through the city the day before.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 9, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- The Church of Scientology Los Angeles Winter Festival on L. Ron Hubbard Way started the new year right with a day filled with fun for the entire family. Despite the 60-degree temperature and clear skies, there was plenty of snow for the slide and the occasional snowball.

BERLIN, Germany, and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 8, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Church of Scientology of Berlin held an art exhibition and poetry reading as a living example of Article 19: Freedom of Expression.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. and ATHENS, Greece, Jan. 6, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- It was as though the town had been singled out by the ancient Greek Fates. No sooner had they recovered from a devastating flood that all but destroyed the city when the flood waters rose again and inundated the region. Learning the city was without power or clean water after Storm Daniel, the worst storm to hit the region in at least 80 years, Scientology Volunteers Ministers loaded a truck with drinking water, and navigating damaged roads, arrived in the town some 200 miles away with supplies, drinking water and a team of disaster-trained volunteers.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 4, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- As we review Scientology accomplishments of the past year, the awarding of the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) Freedom Medal always looms large. Each year, Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige presents this award to persons whose stellar accomplishments have materially advanced the purpose of the IAS.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 3, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- True to the creed of the Church of Scientology, which begins with the belief "That all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights," the Church supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and sponsors programs to raise awareness of these rights: United for Human Rights and its program for young people Youth for Human Rights. 2023 was the 75th anniversary of the UDHR, and Scientology-sponsored initiatives brought understanding of these rights to "small places, close to home."

CLEARWATER, Fla. and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Dec. 30, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- The Say No to Drugs Holiday Classic is a race to save lives. And the message could not be more timely, according to Julieta Santagostino, president of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World Florida, a drug education and prevention initiative supported by the Church of Scientology. "Drugs affect everybody," she says in an episode of Voices for Humanity on the Scientology Network.

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Dec. 29, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Ten years ago, in December 2013, Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige dedicated the Church of Scientology of Kaohsiung. Notwithstanding the joy that accompanies the opening of any new Church of Scientology, this affected not only the people of the city and country, its impact went far beyond.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Dec. 28, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Dozens of members of the East Hollywood Oaxacan community walked down L. Ron Hubbard Way this week, dressed in traditional garb, in the third annual La Posada hosted by the Church of Scientology Los Angeles. La Posada, meaning "The Inn" in Spanish, is a religious tradition dating to the 16th century.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Dec. 26, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a nonprofit charitable mental health watchdog organization established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology, is determined to see to the immediate and full implementation of the UN and WHO direction to end psychiatric human rights abuse.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Dec. 23, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- It was 70-something degrees and clear skies on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But there was a layer of real snow on the ground around Santa's cabin at L. Ron Hubbard's Winter Wonderland. This holiday village is a tradition that began in 1983, when author, humanitarian and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard first provided a 60-foot Christmas tree as a gift to the people of Hollywood.