Cardinal speaks on Scientology a second time; defends Anonymous' right to free speech

***

On Thursday, February 12, for the second time in eight days, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Québec spoke critically of Scientology as reported by the Québec daily Le Soleil and Radio-Canada, Québec . The previous Thursday he had said to the Québec daily Le Soleil of Scientology, "It is not a church." The following week at his annual press lunch he said that he did is not a warpath with Scientology. He reiterated his call on the government to review the criteria to discern which organizations are authentic and which are cults in granting religious status under Québec's Religious Corporations Act

He did say, however, that

"he had observed what is happening elsewhere in the world and in Canada with this organization, in particular the legal disputes and the libel lawsuits involving adherents and opponents."

Anonymous Québec and the rest of the world-wide Anonymous Scientology-critical movement greeted the news of his initial remarks enthusiastically. They hand-delivered a letter to the Cardinal's office in which they commended him, pointed out the worst Scientology abuses, and proposed a 12-point program of education and action for the Catholic Church in Canada. They also issued a press release which was distributed to Canadian media outlets.

The Cardinal explicitly referred to Anonymous without mentioning its name when he said,

those who are crusading against the group have the right to exercise their freedom of speech, and he thus refused to either disapprove or support the actions of the opponents.

The words of the Cardinal are significant news. The Catholic Church has said almost nothing publicly about Scientology. Cardinal Ouellet is the highest-ranking member of the Church to speak out. He is respected for intellectual acuity, pastoral sensitivity, and his work for Catholic charitable organizations His performance at the gathering of Catholic bishops from around the world in 2007 has been praised as a tour de force . His remarks indicate that the Church is doing some re-examination and reflection on Scientology's doctrines and practices, perhaps as a result of Anonymous' relentless exposure of organized Scientology since January of 2008.

So far, the Church of Scientology has not spoken a word of response.

Anonymous Québec is continuing to publicize the Cardinal's remarks and to educate Catholic faithful, clergy, religious, and organizations in Canada and francophone Europe as well as the United States. Their website has become a major French-language source of information on organized Scientology's suppression of free speech and human rights abuses in the Sea Org, which manages and controls the Scientology organization, as well as ongoing issues in Québec and the rest of Canada.

Anonymous Québec has established a bilingual French-English Projet Cardinal situation room which will continue to report and execute the project's next stages to bring the abuses of Scientology to wider awareness in Québec, particularly among Catholics, and to the rest of Canada.

In my humble opinion the best comment on this affair so far was made in the situation room by poster lonesome cowboy:

Béni soit Mgr Ouellet! C'est rare qu'un écclésiastique ose se prononcer de
la sorte. Il a des couilles, cet homme!

Blessed be Cardinal Ouellet. It is rare that a ecclesiastique dare make
such pronouncements. This man has balls!

For Great Justice will be publishing a fuller analysis of this extraordinary sequence of events.

For our initial reporting on the Cardinal's see earlier posts:

Canadian Cardinal on Scientology: It's not a church.

Anonymous Québec Letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology

Anonymous Québec Press Release on its letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology

________________________________________________________________

English translations of Radio-Canada, Québec and Le Soleil articles on Cardinal Ouellet's second set of remarks:

Radio-Canada Québec, February 12: Church of Scientology - Cardinal Ouellet doesn't want a war ( Église de scientologie -Mgr Ouellet ne souhaite pas la guerre )

The Archbishop of Québec, Marc Ouellet, said Thursday [February 12] during his annual press luncheon that he is not on a warpath against the Church of Scientology, which will soon build a $4 million complex in the Saint-Roch quarter.

Archbishop Ouellet states that he is more concerned about the legal definition of what is a Church than about the presence in Québec of a place dedicated to the practice of Scientology. The archbishop of Québec fears confusion and invites the National Assembly to revise the legal framework which defines a religious movement.

"I'm at the point where it seems to me this issue needs to be seriously examined." What is a Church? What is a cult and what are the implications of such a of lack of criteria in relation to the social fabric?" asked Archbishop Ouellet.

Archbishop Ouellet, who acted as General Reporter of the Catholic Church at the last synod in Rome, also considers that religious practice needs to evolve significantly, especially regarding the role of parents in the religious education of children.

The Archbishop believes that devoting more time to religious practice as a family, for example reading the Bible, would promote family life.

__________________________________________________________________

Le Soleil, Thursday, February 12, 2009: Cardinal Ouellet not crusading against Scientology (Le cardinal Ouellet n'est pas en croisade contre la scientologie )

(Québec) - "I am not on a crusade against the Church of Scientology," said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, "I would simply like the government to revise the law that defines a church. The criteria are so vague that a group of three people can start up a church and a religion any way they please."

While answering questions from Quebec City journalists yesterday morning, the Archbishop of Québec had to revisit the statement he made last week in response to questions by a reporter from Le Soleil.

In his opinion, the Religious Corporations Act is too vague and too generous in its recognition criteria. "Can we put on the same footing a Church with a billion followers and a 2000-year history and a small group of followers whose emergence is only recent? There is a need to know whether the law truly reflects reality," reflects the cardinal.

Without denying that minorities can have rights and know that these rights will be respected, he does not believe all organizations should be treated the same way. According to him, the law provides no way to distinguish between a religion and a cult. He deems that the government and lawmakers should think this out in order to establish clear criteria for distinguishing Church and religion from what may be only a passing phenomenon.


Demonstration


Though he said he does not know Scientology, he indicated that he has observed what is happening elsewhere in the world and in Canada with this organization, in particular the legal disputes and the libel lawsuits involving adherents and opponents.

Concerning the demonstration that will be held in front of the Church of Scientology in Québec City [on Saturday, February 14], Archbishop Ouellet replied that those who are crusading against the group have the right to exercise their freedom of speech and he thus refused to either disapprove or support the actions of the opponents.

He also refused to take a stand or comment on the commemoration of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, saying that this issue is very political and that the debate over it is a matter for politicians.

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

How old is Anonymous and where does it go to church?

***

This is cross-posted from Light In The Darkness:

***

The press release and letter of Anonymous Québec to Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet applauding his critical remarks on Scientology has stirred curiosity about the relationship of Anonymous to religion and the involvement of religious people in the movement.

Basically, Anonymous consists of a majority of twenty-somethings and equal pluralities of atheists, religious people, and the religiously non-identifying.

The most significant fact is that Anon is of the generation born into the internet and is creating new Web 2.0 forms of culture, community, and activism. If the Church wants to get a clue about contemporary society and culture, it needs to understand Anonymous.

Anon is the vanguard of the anti-Scientology movement, which before Anon was obscure to the point of public invisibility. Anon has given it Web 2.0 cutting edge activism, and its only, and lulzy, symbols and icons: Headless Guy and the Guy Fawkes Mask.

Anonymous is also on the cutting-edge of creating internet communities of distinctively internet culture and activism, which is just beginning to come into existence. Teh Church needs to understand all this.

There are no statistical demographic data on Anonymous except for two polls on the Anonymous forum Why We Protest. One is on age and the other is on religion. Because the voters are self-selecting rather than randomly selected it does not have strict statistical significance. Nonetheless, the polls are a good general demographic indicator for analysis and reflection.

Here is where they stand today, which happens to be the birthday of Lisa McPherson, iconic martyr to organized Scientology's medical quackery, and anniversary of the first Anonymous protests one year ago.

On February 10, 2009, 7,000 anons from Project Chanology poured off the internet and into the streets to say " Happy Birthday!"to Lisa and to tell L. Ron Hubbard and organized Scientology, "GTFO!" They have been raiding Scientology orgs around the world every month for a year now.

Age:

Poll: Age Poll

Voters: 1411

0 - 17: 15.45%
18 - 25: 47.98%
26 - 35: 18.43%
36 - 45: 10.35%
45 - 60: 6.17%
60+: 1.63%

Religion

Poll: YOUR Religion

Voters: 66

I have collapsed some categories for clarity.

Atheist: 33.33%
Agnostic: 10.61%
Great traditions: 29.28%
Other: 26.78%


Comments on the age poll:

Half of Anonymous is college/immediately post-college age. The next largest group are the late 20/early 30-somethings who form nearly 20% of Anon. Thus 70% of Anon are college to early thirty-somethings. Add in the 36 - 45 age group, and Anon is 80% twenty and thirty- somethings.

What is significant is that over half of Anon was born after 1980. They form what author Chuck Underwood in the Generational Imperative calls, "The Millennials", successors as a social and cultural cohort to Generation X, the Baby Boomers, the Silents, and the G.I. Generation among the five living generations. (See Meet America's Five Living Generations)

I don't agree with many of Underwood's characterizations, but the differences in outlook of distinct groups are real and important to understand, particularly in a movement like Project Chanology, Anon's "large scale plan to take down the Church of Scientology in its present form."

What is significant about the millennials is that they were born into the internet. Anonymous with its image board roots and culture are truly "the children of the internet" and "the internet incarnate" as one of them proclaimed in The State of the Insurgency Address", which remains one of the most powerful manifestos of the essential internet nature of Anonymous, its revolution, and Project Chanology.

The State of the Insurgency is essential reading to understand why Chanology is foremost a free speech movement and secondarily a human rights protest movement. It is true that in a sense all human rights abuse is a genre of suppression of free speech: human trafficking, coerced abortion, false imprisonment, disconnection, and working conditions abuses all involve some degree of suppression of free speech.

However, the victims of all these are individuals. When Scientology suppresses freedom of speech on the internet it oppresses society. No one has seen this as clearly as the original unrelenting anon insurgents from 4chan who launched Project Chanology and were joined by channers from the image board underworld of the internet.

The millennials of Anon launched the first Web 2.0 internet free speech insurgency. They may be starting something less splashy but equally significant, the creation of communities of their own internet culture. In fact, this may be Anon's most important challenge in 2009 to sustain Project Chanology.

The Anonymous local cell site in San Francisco began as We Are Legion, a planning site for Project Chanology activism. It has now morphed into Uplink, a center for internet culture and activism. (Registration required). It is built on a ning platform as are the sites of Anonymous Québec and Anonymous Hamburg, which are among the most active cells in Anon.

Anons don't use the internet. They live on it. What an Anon site like Uplink is doing is experimenting and edging towards the creation of community for people who live on the internet and whose culture is their own, and more importantly, their own creation. Here is how they are doing it

megaphonebitch: How to build an uber planning site for free in under 30 minutes.

There was a wonderful exchange on Why We Protest recently. I can't find the link so I will paraphrase [Update: see original quotes below]

Older cranky anon: Anon culture is the culture of teenagers.

Wise Anon: No. It is the culture of the internet. There are thousands of older people who share this culture, particularly among Information Technology professionals.

Indeed. Pay attention, Cardinal Ouellet.

Comments on the religion poll:

Basically, a third of Anonymous is atheist; another third belong to the great world religious traditions, primarily Christianity; and a third consider themselves "other". This poll has fewer respondents than the age poll and so is somewhat less statistically significant.

A few things strike me. Though atheists are the largest single group, they do not appear to be militant about it any more than religious anons are militant about their beliefs. My impression is that Anon has a more tolerantly agnostic flavor. Agnostics and atheists alike on Why We Protest applauded Cardinal Ouellet's dissing of Scientology.

I have grouped the great religious traditions together because many of the issues regarding Scientology's status in society and law turn on whether it is a New Religion or a religion at all. Christians are the largest group here, with Buddhists and Jews following. And yes, there are Muslim anons. I personally know two, one of whom is a Sufi. This third of Anon forms an important asset in rallying the churches in the work of bringing organized Scientology to accountability in the eyes of society.

In addition, thousands of anons, particularly in the UK and Europe are culturally Lutheran, Catholic, or Anglican. Though personally agnostic or functionally agnostic, many were raised in religious families and attended religious schools. They have social relationships and an understanding of religion's social and political functions which is also an important asset to Chanology.

Special mention should also be made of Jewish anons, particularly for the lively presence of Anon Tel Aviv who collaborated recently with German anons to produce the Hebrew sub-titled version of their interview with a high-ranking German Scientologist Holocaust denier. ( See For Great Justice - Scientology: Holocaust Denial or Just Anti-Semitic?)

For more see Anonymous Tel Aviv and their videos on the channel of Anon Imouse at vimeo.

We have zero information on how Cardinal Ouellet decided to take on Scientology. It is difficult to believe that Anon was not part of that process, if only because he may have asked his assistant one day, "Who on earth are those young people in masks and what are they doing?" Perhaps a reporter should ask him to what extent Anon piqued his interest.

An anon in Germany told me that he hadn't been to church for years but would go back if it would help Chanology. Yesterday, an anon from Anonymous Québec went to meet with his parish priest to speak to him about Chanology and give him a copy of their letter to the Cardinal.

It turned out it was a day off for the curé, so today he is going to the Cardinal's office to personally deliver a copy of the letter there.

I hope the Cardinal or his assistant reads this and invites him in for a chat someday.

In closing, I want to recommend Jeff Jacobsen's illuminating paper We Are Legion: Anonymous and the War on Scientology. It is the most serious sociological treatment of Anonymous that has yet appeared. Significantly, Jeff is a Christian and former Scientology Lisa McPherson Trust staff member [Thanks for the correction Jeff.], who was a member of a Pentecostal church that turned into a cult and who returned to Christianity after he left Scientology. The Cardinal, and anyone else interested in understanding Anonymous needs to read Jeff's paper.

Oh hai. Thx 4 teh infoz!!11unum

Update

Update: a commenter here pointed me to the original post by Anoniemert in the thread "What do Scienologists do for fun? The older cranky anon is, in fact, a former Scientologist newly acquainted with Anonymous culture. Anoniemert is the wise anon:

Arsolycus:

Michael stop trying to be a culture imitator; recovery is important for ex-Scientologists but not to the point where you feel it necessary to imitate the culture of teenagers.

Anoniemert:

I would like to point out, as neutrally as possible, that this is a slightly incorrect view of the culture.

I am not a teenager and have been actively following the culture for years.
The anonymous culture is not the culture of teenagers, it is the culture of the internet.

Due to it's nature the participants of anonymous are mostly teenagers and students.
It also includes many professionals (mostly IT) of any age.

Anonymous Québec Press Release on its letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology

Anonymous Québec Press Release on its letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology

This has been cross-posted from Light In the Darkness.

Related story: Canadian Cardinal on Scientology: It's not a church.

_________________________________________________________________

Press Release concerning Cardinal Marc Ouellet and Anonymous Québec

Contact info: xenuqc@gmail.com

ANONYMOUS QUEBEC APPLAUDS CANADIAN CARDINAL'S STANCE ON SCIENTOLOGY AND OFFERS TWELVE STEP PROGRAM OF EDUCATION AND ACTION

Anonymous Québec cheers Canadian Cardinal Ouellet as he says Scientology is not a church and offers him a thought-provoking twelve point program of education and action for Church consideration and public discussion and asks his blessing on their efforts to bring Scientology to accountability in the eyes of society and its institutions.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Anonymous Québec - Monday, February 9, 2009 - Québec City, Québec - Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Québec sent shock waves through the world of Scientology criticism last week when he stated in an interview with Québec's Le Soleil that Scientology "is not a Church" and raised questions about the criteria used by the Government of Québec to accord religious organization status to groups like Scientology.

His words would have disappeared in the sands of news cycles had not the Scientology-critical group Anonymous Québec (AnonQC) decided to address a letter to the Cardinal praising his stance, enumerating alleged human rights abuses so far largely hidden from public view, and offering for consideration a twelve point action program for the church.

Wide-spread release of the letter among church clerical and lay leaders and the religious and secular media is sure to stir great discussion since Scientology has become of increased public interest since the tragic death of Jett Travolta on January 2, 2009.

More importantly, Cardinal Ouellet is the highest-ranking official in Catholicism to have publicly spoken critically of Scientology in recent memory. He is Primate of Canada and chief pastor of 12.8 million Catholics in Canada. Widely praised for his combination of intellectual acuity, pastoral sensitivity, and administrative skillfulness, he was considered among the leading candidates for the papacy at the conclave which elected Benedict XVI in 2005.

Anonymous Québec draws to the attention of the Cardinal and the public allegations of human rights abuses by former staff members of Sea Org which supplies the organization's middle-level and executive management:

All of these issues require urgent public discussion particularly among the communities of authentic religions, some of whom have been co-opted into silent and tacit approval through the false irenicism of inter-faith religious groups which Scientology has infiltrated.

Among abuses, most shocking is the policy of coerced abortion for female staffers. Coerced abortion is among practices, along with human trafficking and illegal labor practices, mentioned in legal complaints recently filed by former staffers Claire Headley and her husband Marc Headley with the Los Angeles Municipal Court in January.

Introducing its suggested twelve point program of education and action for the Church AnonQC writes:

Anonymous places itself at your service for the education of the churches and the public about the true nature of organized Scientology so far hidden from public view behind the masks of high-profile celebrity Scientologists.

AnonQC recommends creation of educational and pastoral programs along the lines of the Lutheran and Catholic churches of Germany where awareness of Scientology is more acute. It specifically requests funding for sub-titling and production of a French version of the German documentary The Cleared Planet for schools which is being promoted by the Lutheran Church.

The program also recommends negotiating the exclusion of organized Scientology from inter-faith associations on the basis that Cardinal Ouellet has stated, namely, that it is not a church. The program also recommends that the Church form commissions of Catholic lawyers and others to examine the feasibility of bringing a complaint to the UN Human Rights Commission as well as the feasibility of bringing legal human rights complaints such as the Headleys' in Québec courts.

Finally, Anonymous Québec recommends that the Church request the Government of the Province of Québec launch an inquiry into the nature and practices of Scientology and investigate whether the aims and intents of Scientology are compatible with the Canadian Constitution. A similar inquiry in Germany resulted in organized Scientology being placed under special surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungschutz)

Anonymous Québec closes its letter:

We would be honored for your Eminence to give us your blessing to our efforts to bring Scientology to accountability in the eyes of society and its institutions.

Anonymous Québec is a cell of the world-wide Scientology-critical free speech and human rights movement Anonymous that declared war on Scientology on YouTube in January 2008 and continues to raise sharply public awareness of Scientology-critical issues through internet activism and monthly global demonstrations, such as those scheduled for Saturday, February 14, 2009.

References:

Le Soleil, 05 février 2009: Scientologie: «Ce n'est pas une Église» - Mgr Ouellet

English translation of Le Soleil article: For Great Justice: Canadian Cardinal on Scientology: It's not a church.

Anonymous Québec website: AnonQC

Anonymous website and forums: Why We Protest

French text of Anonymous Québec letter to Cardinal Ouellet:

- Light in the Darkness: Lettre d'Anonymous Québec au Cardinal Ouellet

English text of Letter from Anonymous Québec to Cardinal Ouellet:

- Light in the Darkness: Letter from Anonymous Québec to Cardinal Ouellet

Legal complaints of Marc and Claire Headley: Scott Pilutik - Marc Headley v. Church of Scientology International and Claire Headley v. CSI, RTC

On Anonymous: We Are Legion: Anonymous and the War on Scientology by Jeff Jacobsen



###

Anonymous Québec Letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology

***


This is the English version of Anonymous Québec's Letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology. It has been cross posted from Light In The Darkness.

Related story - Canadian Cardinal on Scientology: It's not a church.

_____________________________________________________________

Monday, February 9, 2009

Monsieur le Cardinal Marc Ouellet
Archevêque métropolitain de Québec
Primat du Canada

Eminence,

Anonymous Québec and members of Anonymous world-wide both religious and non-religious alike commend you for your words concerning Scientology as reported in Le Soleil, Thursday, February 5, 2009. [1]

We are in agreement with Your Eminence that organized Scientology is not a church, and with former Apostolic Delegate to Hungary Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber that it is in essence a multi-national commercial operation run on totalitarian lines. [2]

Your Eminence's attention to several of the assaults on freedom of speech and human rights abuses within Scientology:

• Shuddering into silence through fair game of major institutions of society including government, the media, and the churches [3]

• Relentless attacks on freedom of speech on the internet [4]
  

• The practice of coerced abortions in Sea Org, the staff and management of the Church of Scientology, in effect, its clergy and hierarchy. If a woman is pregnant she must abort her child or lose her job.[5][6]

• The extensive and expensive, psychologically and spiritually dangerous practice of exorcism of evil spirits known as auditing of body thetans in the upper level Scientology courses Operating Thetan Levels III - VIII [7]
  

• The routine violation of conscience in requiring members undergoing auditing to reveal the most private of sins, particularly sins of a sexual nature, which are recorded, subject to access by many, culled for Church intelligence files, and which former Scientologists allege have been used for blackmail. [8]

• Its war on psychiatry and avowed and active intention through its front group the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) for the Global Obliteration of Psychiatry, which includes all forms of psychiatry, psychology, psycho-somatic medicine, as well as religious counseling. [9]

• Its shocking record of deaths and suicides, particularly tragically of young people, due to medical and psychological neglect and malpractice [10]

• Its requirement, about which it dissembles in public, that aspirants on its "Bridge Total Freedom" are required to abjure "alternative practices" including all religious practice. A former Catholic nun staff member entangled in Scientology was reprimanded for speaking about the Bible. Another staffer was punished for speaking positively of Christian books [11][12]

• The destruction of family bonds through its barbaric practice of religious shunning known as disconnection, and the terror of thousands of family members who dare not speak up against Scientology lest their loved ones in it be punished.[13]

• Past violations of the law including its criminal breach of trust conviction. [14][15][16][17]
  

• Current law cases in which the organization is being called to account for these and other abuses. Particularly a suit for fraud in France; the two Headley cases alleging slave labor, human trafficking, and coerced abortion practices. [18][19][20]

• Its maintenance of re-education and forced labor camps known as the RPFs (Rehabilitation Project Force ), widely referred to as gulags by former inmates. [21]

• Its deliberate program of religious cloaking of its essentially commercial operations which it universally invokes and by which it deceived the US Internal Revenue Service into granting it recognition as a religious organization. [22]
  

• Its avowed plan to Clear the Planet, i.e. to subject every human being to Scientology auditing while destroying psychiatry and replacing all psychological, academic, moral, and organizational beliefs and practices with Hubbard Technology.[23]

All of these issues require urgent public discussion particularly among the communities of authentic religions, some of whom have been co-opted into silent and tacit approval through the false irenicism of inter-faith religious groups which Scientology has infiltrated.

Anonymous places itself at your service for the education of the churches and the public about the true nature of organized Scientology so far hidden from public view behind the masks of high-profile celebrity Scientologists.

Eminence, we respectfully request that you

• immediately alert the offices of the Primature, Latin rite dioceses and Eastern rite eparchies, and their religious and lay organizations and media to the need for a crash campaign of education on Scientology.

• likewise alert Catholic medical and mental health care institutions and associations of Catholic professionals as well as Catholic organizations concerned with psychological abuse, destruction of families, and coerced abortion

• establish in every diocese contacts knowledgeable about Scientology and capable of giving counsel to families and friends with family members and friends entrapped in Scientology along the lines of the Lutheran and Catholic diocesan cult commissioners in Germany. members of the Sea Org deserve the material assistance of the Church in re-establishing their iives since they leave with very few material resources and are often in need of counseling to recover from abusive experiences.

• encourage the publishing of accounts from survivors of Scientology and make them required reading for those with responsibiity throughout the Primature: Works such as John Duignan's The Complex; Aaron David Gottfried's The Psychiatrist Who Cured The Scientologist ; Jeff Hawkin's Counterfeit Dreams , and Bea Kiddo's excellent bi-lingual (Scientology jargon - English) ebook Devoted to the Cult - Book 1: An Orphan With Parents. In French: La scientologie, facile d'y entrer, difficile d'en sortir (Scientology: Easy to get into, hard to get out) and Les coulisses de la scientologie (Scientology Behind the Scenes) by Jean-Paul Debreuil. [24][25][26][27][28][29]
  

• negotiate the exclusion of Scientology from all inter-faith associations. It is not a church. It does not belong in the community of churches.
  

• establish a commission of Catholic lawyers to analyze and report on the complaints of slave labor, human trafficking, and coerced abortions filed by Marc Headley and Claire Headley and assess the grounds and feasibility for similar complaints being filed in Canada
  

• establish a commission to study the feasibility of bringing a human rights complaint to the UN Human Rights Commission

• convene a conference of concerned churches, government and social organizations at which the most articulate and knowledgeable former Scientologists and critics may speak of their direct experience on the model of the September 4, 2008 conference in Hamburg by the Scientology Working Group of the Hamburg Ministry of Interior. [30][31]

• condemn Scientology's fair gaming of its lawfully and peacefully protesting critics, and particularly the high school and college student members of Anonymous.
  

• fund the sub-titling of the German documentary Der gesäuberte Planet (The Cleared Planet) and encourage its showing in Catholic schools as has done the Lutheran Church in Germany. [32][33]

• request the Government of the Province of Quebec launch an inquiry into Scientology in collaboration with France's Mission Interministérielle sur la Vigilance et la Lutte Contre les Dérives Sectaires de France (MIVILUDES) and also ask the federal government to rule on the compatibility of goals and intentions of Scientology with the Constitution of Canada.[34]

For a year, Anonymous has striven to make known the truth about the Church of Scientology by throwing light on its activities. The means we use are strictly peaceful. We believe this is the most effective way to curb the influence of Scientology. [35] [36]

Anonymous places itself at the service of Your Eminence for the education of the churches and the public about the true nature of organized Scientology so far hidden from public view behind the masks of high-profile celebrity Scientologists.

We invite you and all concerned Catholics and the public, religious and non-religious alike to join us at world wide demonstrations next Saturday, February 14, 2009. Le Soleil has already reported on it. Further details may be found on the websites of Anonymous cells of the Province of Québec. [37]

We would be honored if Your Eminence would give us Your blessing on our efforts to bring Scientology to accountability in the eyes of society and its institutions.

Please accept, Your Eminence, assurances of our most respectful consideration.

Anonymous Québec



[1] Scientologie: «Ce n'est pas une Église» - Mgr Ouellet. English version: For Great Justice - Canadian Cardinal on Scientology: It's not a church.

[2] Light In The Darkness: Scientology organization is a totalitarian business - Hungarian Papal Nuncio

[3] Scientology Critical Information Directory: Scientology's "Fair Game" doctrine

[4] Scientology Launches New Censorship Attack on Internet

[5] Marc Headley: Formerly Fooled and Finally Free From The Deceptive Cult Called Scientology: Scientology is 'Clearing the Planet', One Unborn Child at a Time.

[6] Why Are They Dead? Coerced Scientology Abortions

[7] NOTS Scholarship Page: Demonic Possession in Scientology

[8] Scientology Critical Information Directory: Scientology's Auditing

[9] For Great Justice - Katharine Mieszkowski: Scientology's War on Psychiatry

[10] Why Are They Dead?: Scientology associated deaths

[11] Operation Clambake Message Board: Scientology Orgs: Interfering with religion?

[12] Scientology Critical Information Directory: Michael Pattinson's Experiences with Scientology - Part 11

[13] Scientology Disconnection - Personal stories, current practices, official policies, public relations

[14] Scientology Conviction In Court: The Globe and Mail Report

[15] R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[16] CanLII - 1996 CanLII 1650 (ON C.A.)

[17] Supreme Court of Canada - Decisions - Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto

[18] L'Eglise de Scientologie devant la justice pour escroquerie - Actualité France - Justice - Radio Europe1

[19] Scott Piliutik: Marc Headley v. Church of Scientology International

[20] Scott Piliutik: Claire Headley v. CSI, RTC

[21] Prof. Stephen A. Kent: Brainwashing in Scientology's RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force)

[22] Lawrence Brennan: The Brennan Affidavit

[23] Scientology expert on 'Taking over our government'

[24] John Duignan: The Complex

[25] Aaron David Gottfried: The Psychiatrist Who Cured The Scientologist

[26] Jeff Hawkins: Counterfeit Dreams

[27] Bea Kiddo, livre électronique «bilingue» (jargon scientologue-anglais):Devoted to the Cult - Book 1: An Orphan With Parents

[28] Jean Debreuil: La scientologie, facile d'y entrer, difficile d'en sortir

[29] Jean Debreuil: "Les coulisses de la scientologie

[30] Death By 1000 Papercuts Church of Scientology and Anonymous: Guess Which Group Didn't get Invite to German Seminar

[31] Conférence du ministère de l'Intérieur de Hambourg, 4 septembre 2008 à Hambourg: Vidéos

[32] Refund and Reparation - The Cleared Planet - A journey into Scientology

[33] Light In The Darkness: Scientology - The Forgotten Danger?

[34] Mission Interministérielle de VIgilance et de LUtte contre les DÉrives Sectaires [MIVILUDES]

[35] Jeff Jacobsen: We Are Legion: Anonymous and the War on Scientology

[36] Anonymous Québec

[37] Le Soleil - Scientologie: manif devant les locaux du mouvement

French version of Anonymous Québec's Press Release on its Letter to Cardinal Marc Ouellet

***

This is the original French text of the press release issued by Anonymous Québec on its letter to Cardinal Marc Ouellet.

It has been cross-posted from Light In The Darkness.

------------------

Communiqué de Presse concernant le Cardinal Marc Ouellet et Anonymous Québec

Anonymous Québec: xenuqc@gmail.com

ANONYMOUS QUÉBEC APPLAUDIT LA POSITION DU CARDINAL SUR LA SCIENTOLOGIE ET PROPOSE UN PROGRAMME DE 12 ÉTAPES D'ÉDUCATION ET D'ACTION

Anonymous Québec se réjouit que le Cardinal Ouellet reconnaisse la Scientologie comme n'étant pas une Église et lui propose un programme provoquant en douze points pour l'éducation et l'action.

POUR PUBLICATION IMMÉDIATE

Anonymous Québec - Lundi, le 9 Février 2009 – Ville de Québec, Québec – Le Cardinal Canadien Marc Ouellet du Québec a envoyé une onde de choc la semaine dernière dans le monde des critiques de la scientologie, quand il a affirmé dans une entrevue avec le journal Le Soleil de Québec que la Scientologie ' n'est pas une Église'' et a soulevé des questions sur les critères utilisés par le Gouvernement du Québec pour accorder le statut d'organisation religieuse à des groupes comme la Scientologie.

Son communiqué aurait disparu dans le sable des cycles de nouvelles si le groupe critique de la Scientologie Anonymous Québec (AnonQC), n'avait décidé de s'adresser par écrit au Cardinal pour lui prodiguer quelques éloges, énumérer des abus allégués jusqu'à présent largement dissimulés à la population, et proposer à l'Église un programme d'action en douze points.

La large publication de la lettre parmi le clergé de l'Église, des responsables laïcs ainsi que des médias religieux et séculaires, va certainement soulever de grandes discussions, spécialement depuis que la Scientologie est tombée au centre de la controverse après la mort tragique de Jeff Travolta le 2 Janvier 2009.

Plus important encore, le Cardinal Ouellet est l'officiel le plus haut gradé dans le Catholicisme à avoir parlé publiquement contre la Scientologie de mémoire récente. Il est le Primat du Canada et chef pasteur de 12.8 million de Catholiques au Canada. Largement loué pour sa combinaison d'acuité intellectuelle, de sensibilité pastorale, ainsi que ses talents administratifs, il était considéré comme l'un des candidats pour la papauté au conclave qui a élu Benoît XVI en 2005.

Anonymous Québec soumet à l'attention du Cardinal et du public des allégations sur les abus des droits humains émit par des anciens employés de la Sea Org dont fait partie la hiérarchie supérieure de l'Église de scientologie, autrement dit ses hauts dirigeants et son soi-disant clergé.

Toutes ces questions nécessitent un urgent débat public, en particulier parmi les communautés religieuses authentiques, dont certaines, manipulées par le faux irénisme de groupes interreligieux que des scientologues ont infiltrés, prêtent un appui tacite à la Scientologie.

Parmi les abus, l'un des plus choquants est la politique d'avortements forcés imposés sur le personnel féminin. L'avortement forcé fait partie de ces pratiques, qui incluent également le trafic humain ainsi que des pratiques de travail illégal, mentionnés dans des poursuites récemment déposées par d'anciens employés, Claire Headley et son mari Marc Headley, à la cour Municipale de Los Angeles en Janvier.

Introduisant son programme de douze points d'éducation et d'action, AnonQC écrit :

Anonymous se met à votre disposition pour renseigner les Églises et le public sur la Scientologie, dont le vrai visage se cache loin derrière le masque des célèbres vedettes scientologues.

AnonQC recommande la création de programmes éducatifs et pastoraux dans les mêmes lignes que les Églises Luthériennes et Catholiques de l'Allemagne, où la sensibilisation sur la Scientologie est plus aiguë. Anonqc demande spécialement le financement de la production du sous-titrage en Français de la version Allemande du documentaire The Cleared Planet pour les écoles qui sont promu par l'Église Luthérienne.

Le programme recommande également des négociations d'exclusions de la Scientologie des associations inter relligieuses basées sur ce que le Cardinal Ouellet a déclare, à savoir, qu'elle n'est pas une Église. Le programme recommande aussi que l'Église forme des commissions d'avocats Catholiques et autres pour examiner la faisabilité d'apporter une plainte à la Commission des Droits Humains de l'ONU ainsi que la fesabilité d'apporter des plaintes légales comme celles des Headley dans la cour du Québec.

Finalement, Anonymous Québec recommande que l'Église requière au Gouvernement de la Province de Québec le déclenchement d'une enquête sur la nature et les pratiques de la Scientologie afin d'investiguer si les intentions de la Scientologie sont compatible avec la Constitution Canadienne. Une enquête similaire en Allemagne a eu pour résultat de placer sous surveillance la Scientologie par le Bureau Fédérale de la Protection de la Constitution (Verfassungschutz)

Anonymous Québec termine sa lettre:


Nous serions honorés si Votre Éminence nous accordait sa bénédiction dans nos efforts pour amener la Scientologie à assumer la responsabilité de ses actes et en rendre compte devant la société et ses institutions.


Anonymous Québec est une cellule du mouvement critique mondiale de la Scientologie pour la liberté d'expression et des droits humains, qui a déclaré la guerre contre la Scientologie sur YouTube en Janvier 2008 et continue a fortement augmenter la sensibilisation du public aux questions critiques de la Scientologie par le biais d'activisme sur Internet et de manifestations mondiales mensuelles, telles que celles prévues pour le samedi, 14 Février 2009 en face des locaux de la Scientologie à Québec et Montréal.


Références:

Le Soleil, 05 février 2009: Scientologie: «Ce n'est pas une Église» - Mgr Ouellet

Site web d'Anonymous Québec : AnonQC

Site web d'Anonymous et forums: Why We Protest

Lettre en Français d'Anonymous Québec au Cardinal Ouellet:

- Light in the Darkness: Lettre d'Anonymous Québec au Cardinal Ouellet

Lettre en Anglais d'Anonymous Québec au Cardinal Ouellet:

- Light in the Darkness: Letter from Anonymous Québec to Cardinal Ouellet

Poursuites légales de Marc and Claire Headley: Scott Pilutik - Marc Headley v. Church of Scientology International et Claire Headley v. CSI, RTC

Sur Anonymous: We Are Legion: Anonymous and the War on Scientology par Jeff Jacobsen

French version of Anonymous Québec's Letter to Cardinal Ouellet and Press Release

***

This is the original text of Anonymous Québec's letter to Cardinal Marc Ouellet regarding Scientology. It has been cross-posted from Light In The Darkness

9 février 2009


Monsieur le Cardinal Marc Ouellet
Archevêque métropolitain de Québec
Primat du Canada

Éminence,

Anonymous Québec et les participants d'Anonymous de par le monde, qu'ils soient religieux ou non, vous félicitent pour vos propos concernant la Scientologie, publiés dans le journal Le Soleil le jeudi 5 février 2009.[1]

Nous sommes tout à fait d'accord avec vous que la Scientologie n'est pas une religion. Comme l'ancien délégué apostolique de Hongrie, Mgr Karl-Joseph Rauber, nous affirmons que la Scientologie est une entreprise multinationale dirigée selon des méthodes totalitaires.[2]

Nous applaudissons votre recommandation au gouvernement du Québec d'enquêter sur la nature et les activités de la Scientologie, à l'instar des gouvernements de la France, de la Belgique et, surtout, de l'Allemagne. Merci d'avoir lancé cette discussion parmi les Églises chrétiennes et les communautés religieuses authentiques. Nous appuyons votre volonté d'éveiller la conscience de nos concitoyens de toutes confessions, en particulier chez les jeunes, la cible préférée de la Scientologie.

Nous souhaitons attirer l'attention de Votre Éminence sur les atteintes à la liberté d'expression et sur quelques-unes des nombreuses violations des droits humains dont la Scientologie est responsable:

• La Scientologie applique une politique de fair game (loi du gibier de potence) qui bâillonne tant les individus que les grandes institutions de la société, y compris les gouvernements, les médias et les Églises.[3]

• La Scientologie attaque sans cesse la liberté d'expression sur internet.[4]

• L'avortement est obligatoire quand une femme membre de la Sea Org (Organisation maritime) est enceinte, faute de quoi la femme perd son emploi. La Sea Org englobe la hiérarchie supérieure de l'Église de scientologie et «l'élite» de son personnel, autrement dit ses hauts dirigeants et son soi-disant clergé.[5] [6]

• L'exorcisme des «mauvais esprits» est au coeur des niveaux avancés de la Scientologie (grades Operating Thetan III à VIII). En plus d'être dispendieuse, cette thérapie intensive est dangereuse aux plans psychologique et spirituel.[7]

• Les adeptes de la Scientologie sont systématiquement obligés de révéler leurs secrets les plus intimes, en particulier leur vie sexuelle, et ces informations sont consignées dans des dossiers. Certains ex-scientologues affirment que la Scientologie utilise ces renseignements comme moyen de chantage.[8]

• La Scientologie cherche ouvertement à se substituer à tous les soins de santé mentale. Son organisme de façade appelée «Commission des citoyens pour les droits de l'homme (CCDH)» préconise l'anéantissement mondial de la psychiatrie.[9]

• L'histoire de la Scientologie est parsemée de morts suspectes et de suicides liés à sa pratique illégale de la médecine et de la psychologie.[10]

• La Scientologie cache du public le fait qu'elle oblige ses adeptes qui aspirent à traverser «le pont vers la liberté totale» à renoncer à tout ce qui n'est pas Scientologie, y compris au plan religieux. Une ancienne religieuse catholique embrigadée en Scientologie a été punie pour avoir parlé de la Bible. Un autre scientologue a été puni pour avoir dit du bien au sujet de certains livres chrétiens. [11] [12]

• La Scientologie détruit les familles par sa cruelle politique de «déconnexion» et des milliers de parents et de familles n'osent pas parler, de peur que la Scientologie punisse leurs proches qui sont toujours en Scientologie.[13]

• Au fil des ans, la Scientologie a été condamnée de maintes offenses, y compris d'abus de confiance (R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto). Elle a de plus été reconnue coupable de diffamation sur la personne du procureur de la couronne en charge dudit procès (Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto). [14] [15] [16] [17]

• À l'heure actuelle, la Scientologie fait l'objet de poursuites judiciaires pour les abus que nous dénonçons. La France poursuit la Scientologie pour «escroquerie en bande organisée». Aux États-Unis, Marc et Claire Headley poursuivent la Scientologie pour esclavage, trafic humain, et avortement forcé.[18] [19] [20]

• La Scientologie maintient un programme de rééducation et de camps de travaux forcés connu sous le nom de RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force), que ses anciens prisonniers comparent à des goulags.[21]

• La Scientologie pratique délibérément le camouflage religieux (religious cloaking) de ses opérations commerciales et c'est par cette imposture qu'elle a convaincu le fisc américain (US Internal Revenue Service) de la reconnaître, à tort, comme organisation religieuse.[22]

• La Scientologie prêche ouvertement son objectif de rendre la planète «claire», c'est-à-dire d'assujettir l'ensemble de l'humanité à la Scientologie, tout en détruisant la psychiatrie et en remplaçant toutes les connaissances psychologiques, académiques et morales par les pratiques et «technologies» de L. Ron Hubbard.[23]

Toutes ces questions nécessitent un urgent débat public, en particulier parmi les communautés religieuses authentiques, dont certaines, manipulées par le faux irénisme de groupes interreligieux que des scientologues ont infiltrés, prêtent un appui tacite à la Scientologie.

Respectueusement, nous vous demandons d'envisager les mesures suivantes:

• Alerter les primats, les diocèses de rite latin, les éparchies de rite oriental, ainsi que les médias, à la nécessité d'une campagne d'information sur la Scientologie.

• Informer les institutions et associations catholiques oeuvrant dans le domaine des soins de santé, ainsi que toute organisation catholique préoccupée par la violence psychologique, la destruction des familles et les avortements forcés.

• Doter tous les diocèses de personnes ressources, tels les commissaires aux sectes des diocèses luthériens et catholiques d'Allemagne, qui pourraient conseiller les familles et amis aux prises avec la Scientologie. Les adeptes de la Scientologie ont souvent besoin de soutien moral quand ils quittent la secte car ils risquent de se trouver dans le dénuement complet.

• Encourager la publication des récits des rescapés de la Scientologie et exiger qu'ils soient lus par les personnes qui occupent des postes de responsabilité dans la primauté. Quelques exemples: The Complex par John Duignan; The Psychiatrist Who Cured The Scientologist par Aaron David Gottfried; Counterfeit Dreams par Jeff Hawkins; Devoted to the Cult - Book 1: An Orphan With Parents par Bea Kiddo, excellent livre électronique «bilingue» (jargon scientologue-anglais); La scientologie, facile d'y entrer, difficile d'en sortir ainsi que Les coulisses de la scientologie par Jean-Paul Debreuil. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

• Militer pour l'exclusion de la Scientologie des associations interreligieuses.

• Établir une commission de juristes catholiques pour analyser les allégations de Marc et Claire Headley au sujet d'esclavagisme, de traffic humain et d'avortements forcés et évaluer s'il y aurait lieu de porter des accusations semblables au Canada.

• Établir une commission d'étude sur l'opportunité de déposer une plainte à la Commission des droits de l'homme des Nations Unies.

• Convier les Églises, les responsables des différents paliers de gouvernement et les acteurs d'organisations sociales à une conférence où des ex-scientologues bien renseignés et éloquents pourront exposer leurs connaissances, comme à la conférence du 4 septembre 2008 à Hambourg, organisée par le Groupe de travail sur la Scientologie du ministère de l'Intérieur de Hambourg.[30] [31]

• Désavouer les propos diffamatoires de la Scientologie envers les personnes qui la dénoncent et condamner le harcèlement moral et juridique perpétré contre ces personnes.

• Condamner la Scientologie pour sa persécution (fair gaming) des personnes qui critiquent ou protestent de façon légale et pacifique, en particulier les étudiants de niveau secondaire et post-secondaire qui sont membres d'Anonymous.

• Aider au financement d'une traduction en français du documentaire Der gesäuberte Planet (il en existe une traduction anglaise sous-titré intitulée The Cleared Planet) et encourager son visionnement dans les écoles, comme l'a fait l'Église luthérienne en Allemagne.[32] [33]

• Demander au gouvernement du Québec de déclencher une enquête sur la Scientologie en collaboration avec la Mission interministérielle sur la vigilance et la lutte contre les dérives sectaires de France (MIVILUDES) et demander au gouvernement fédéral de se prononcer sur la compatibilité des objectifs et des intentions de la Scientologie avec la Constitution du Canada.[34]

Depuis un an, Anonymous s'efforce de faire connaître la vérité sur l'Église de Scientologie en jetant la lumière sur ses activités. Les moyens que nous utilisons sont strictement pacifiques et nous estimons que c'est la façon la plus efficace d'enrayer l'influence néfaste de la Scientologie.[35] [36]

Anonymous se met à votre disposition pour renseigner les Églises et le public sur la Scientologie, dont le vrai visage se cache loin derrière le masque des célèbres vedettes scientologues.

Nous vous invitons, de même que tous les catholiques concernés et le public, religieux ou non, à se joindre à nous lors des manifestations internationales qui auront lieu samedi prochain, 14 février 2009.Pour de plus amples détails, voir les sites internet des cellules d'Anonymous au Québec. [37]

Nous serions honorés si Votre Éminence nous accordait sa bénédiction dans nos efforts pour amener la Scientologie à assumer la responsabilité de ses actes et en rendre compte devant la société et ses institutions.

Nous vous prions d'agréer, Éminence, les assurances de notre très respectueuse considération.


Anonymous Québec



Références :

[1] Scientologie: «Ce n'est pas une Église» - Mgr Ouellet

[2] Light In The Darkness: Scientology organization is a totalitarian business - Hungarian Papal Nuncio

[3] Scientology's "Fair Game" doctrine

[4] Scientology Launches New Censorship Attack on Internet

[5] Marc Headley: Formerly Fooled and Finally Free From The Deceptive Cult Called Scientology: Scientology is 'Clearing the Planet', One Unborn Child at a Time.

[6] Coerced Scientology Abortions

[7] NOTS Scholarship Page: Demonic Possession in Scientology

[8] Scientology's Auditing

[9] For Great Justice: Katharine Mieszkowski: Scientology's War on Psychiatry

[10] Scientology associated deaths

[11] Operation Clambake Message Board: Scientology Orgs: Interfering with religion?

[12] Scientology Critical Information Directory: Michael Pattinson's Experiences with Scientology - Part 11

[13] Scientology Disconnection - Personal stories, current practices, official policies, public relations

[14] Scientology Conviction In Court: The Globe and Mail Report

[15] R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[16] CanLII - 1996 CanLII 1650 (ON C.A.)

[17] Supreme Court of Canada - Decisions - Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto

[18] L'Eglise de Scientologie devant la justice pour escroquerie - Actualité France - Justice - Radio Europe1

[19] Scott Piliutik: Marc Headley v. Church of Scientology International

[20] Scott Piliutik: Claire Headley v. CSI, RTC

[21] Prof. Stephen A. Kent: Brainwashing in Scientology's RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force)

[22] Lawrence Brennan: The Brennan Affidavit

[23] Scientology expert on 'Taking over our government'

[24] John Duignan: The Complex

[25] Aaron David Gottfried: The Psychiatrist Who Cured The Scientologist

[26] Jeff Hawkins: Counterfeit Dreams

[27] Bea Kiddo, livre électronique «bilingue» (jargon scientologue-anglais):Devoted to the Cult - Book 1: An Orphan With Parents

[28] Jean Debreuil: La scientologie, facile d'y entrer, difficile d'en sortir

[29] Jean Debreuil: "Les coulisses de la scientologie

[30] Death By 1000 Papercuts Church of Scientology and Anonymous: Guess Which Group Didn't get Invite to German Seminar

[31] Conférence du ministère de l'Intérieur de Hambourg, 4 septembre 2008 à Hambourg: Vidéos

[32] Refund and Reparation - The Cleared Planet - A journey into Scientology

[33] Light In The Darkness: Scientology - The Forgotten Danger?

[34] Mission Interministérielle de VIgilance et de LUtte contre les DÉrives Sectaires [MIVILUDES]

[35] Jeff Jacobsen: We Are Legion: Anonymous and the War on Scientology

[36] Anonymous Québec

[37] Le Soleil - Scientologie: manif devant les locaux du mouvement

Canadian Cardinal on Scientology: It's not a church.

***

Out of the blue last week Québec's second largest newspaper Le Soleil reported that Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet stated that Scientology "is not a church" and questions what criteria, if any, the government of Québec uses to determine how organizations are granted religious status in the province.

This is surely to be a lively issue in the media, and particularly among Vatican watchers. We have zero information on what moved Cardinal Ouellet to speak so forthrightly. However, he is an impressive and respected figure who was a leading contender in the conclave in which Benedict XVI was named pope in 2005.

Anonymous Québec (AnonQC) along with the rest of Anonymous and the Scientology-critical movement have greeted the news with joy. Cardinal Ouellet is the highest-ranking Catholic cleric to have spoken critically about Scientology in public. In fact, it is only the second critical public statement we have found any where. (See: Light In The Darkness - Scientology is a totalitarian business - Hungarian Papal Nuncio)

AnonQC is preparing a letter of thanks and a press release. In its letter it places itself at the Cardinal's disposal in the task of educating the Church and the public. It brings to public attention Scientology's human rights abuses, such as human trafficking and coerced abortion mentioned in Claire Headley's recent legal complaint (See Scott Pilutik: Claire Headley vs CSI, RTC) AnonQC also proposes a twelve point program of action to the Cardinal, parts of which are surely to be controversial, like requesting the government of the province to investigate whether the aims and intents of organized Scientology are compatible with the Canadian Constitution.

We will post French and English texts of the letter and press release on our sister blog, Light In The Darkness, and continuing reports here.

Update:

Four days after the the Thetford Mines remarks Anonymous Québec hand-delivered a letter to the Cardinal commending him, reciting the most salient human rights abuses in Scientology, and suggesting a 12-point program of education and action. They followed up with a press release.

Three days later the Cardinal again criticized Scientology for its litigation against its critics, and defending Anonymous' right to free speech.

See:

Anonymous Québec letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology

Anonymous Québec Press Release on its letter to Cardinal Ouellet regarding Scientology

How old is Anonymous and where does it go to church?

Cardinal speaks a second time; defends Anonymous' right to free speech.


Here is a translation of the article with the Cardinal's remarks.

Le Soleil, Thursday, February 6, 2009. Ian Bussières - Scientologie: «Ce n'est pas une Église» - Mgr Ouellet

Scientology: It's not a church" - Cardinal Ouellet

(Thetford Mines) Cardinal Marc Ouellet was questioned Wednesday on the criteria of the Quebec government to recognize religious corporations in the wake of the announcement of the construction by the Church of Scientology of a place of worship at a cost of 4 million dollars in the Saint-Roch quarter.

"I know that in Europe, including Germany, Belgium and France, there are places which refuse to grant the Church of Scientology the status of a religion," Archbishop Ouellet noted at the outset , confessing that he would look into this matter which has been talked about in the media for several days.

Here, since December 1993, the Church of Scientology has enjoyed the status of a religious corporation from the Inspector General of Financial Institutions of Québec, a situation that the primate of the Catholic Church in Canada has difficulty understanding. "I do not know under what principle this status has been granted. But unfortunately, in Quebec, everything is permitted! It seems that here, anyone can invent a church, "he lamented about the movement launched in 1952 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

Freedom

The archbishop of Quebec emphasized his support for freedom of religion. On the other hand, Cardinal Ouellet does not put Scientology on a footing of equality with Islam or the Catholic religion."Scientology is something else. For me, this community is not a church, "he said.

"For example, the Muslim community in Quebec will build a new mosque.I have no problem with that! The Muslim religion is one of the great recognized religions."

He also feels that Quebec lacks a certain amount of thinking about criteria for recognition of religions. "The state has no criteria for recognizing religions, it's part of our shortcomings," he said.


"However, if some of the freedoms of the Catholic Church are taken away, all sorts of basement windows get opened!" he said, urging governments to learn more about the Church of Scientology.

"Our governments should inquire about what some European countries have made on this group here and the problems it can raise rather than jump in blindly the status of religious corporation to such a body "he concluded.


Ideal Org

The Church of Scientology numbers about 350 adherents in Quebec and the construction of the new church, called an "Ideal Org" should begin shortly, to be completed within four to six months in a building on Rue Saint - Joseph bought for nearly 2 million dollars in 2006.

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