Scientology in New Zealand

Scientology has been established in New Zealand since 1955[1] and the Auckland organisation was the second Church of Scientology established in the world.

The 2006 census recorded 357 people affiliated to The Church of Scientology[2][3] although the Church claims that it has 5000 followers.[4] By the 2013 census the number claiming to be affiliated had dropped to 315 people.[5]

The church is registered as a charity[6] and Inland Revenue Department has granted charitable status to the church for tax purposes.[7] Marion Moffat is the chairperson of Church of Scientology of New Zealand.

In 1969 the government instituted a Commission of Inquiry into Scientology which resulted in the Dumbleton-Powles Report.

On 21 January 2017, the new Ideal Church of Scientology of Auckland opened its doors in the heritage-listed Grafton building, formerly Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design. [8]

Censorship

In 2008 a protest against the church as part of Project Chanology was held in some parts of New Zealand by "Anonymous", a world-wide group that has concerns about internet censorship by Scientologists.[9]

See also

References
  1. The Dumbleton-Powles Report
  2. Statistics New Zealand: QuickStats About Culture and Identity, Table 28:Religious Affiliation
  3. 2006 New Zealand Religioud Affiliation Data (XLS file) Archived 2013-11-15 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Wall, Tony (10 February 2008). "The Faith Business". Sunday Star Times.
  5. "2013 Census totals by topic – tables". Statistics New Zealand. Statistics New Zealand. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013.
  6. charities.govt.nz
  7. http://www.scientologytoday.org/News/2002/021224.htm
  8. "An inside look at Auckland's new Church of Scientology". New Zealand Herald. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  9. Wall, Tony (16 March 2008). "Protesters bid to unmask Scientology". Sunday Star Times. Retrieved 17 December 2008.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.