All new
religions in their early years have had to endure trials of
acceptance. The same was true of Scientology. But with the Church’s
growing prominence and visibility came recognition and
understanding. Today the religiosity of
Scientology
has been fully acknowledged by courts and governments throughout
the world.
Courts in the United States have always held that Scientology is
a religion; indeed, in a September 1993 federal appeals court
ruling, the judges pronounced that there had not been a single
instance in which a United States court held otherwise.
The most significant official recognition of the Scientology
religion came in October 1993 when the United States Internal
Revenue Service granted full religious recognition to all churches
of Scientology and related social betterment organisations,
concluding after an exhaustive and thorough review that Scientology
churches are established and operated exclusively for religious and
charitable purposes. The IRS also determined that Scientology is a
bona fide religion and that the Church of Scientology met
the detailed criteria of the IRS to qualify as a “Church.”
The IRS examination was not limited to the United States, but
specifically included reviews of the financial affairs and
activities of Church organisations from Australia to Europe. Its
findings were uniform — churches of Scientology operate for the
benefit of the public interest.
European governments have since then rendered similar
recognitions of the religious and charitable status of churches of
Scientology. Often, they were preceded by rulings of the leading
courts.
As early as 1980, the Appeals Court in Paris ruled that
Scientology must be
granted full protection as a religion under the French Constitution
and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Appeals Court in
Lyon later supported this decision.
In 1997, the Church of Scientology in
Milan won a ruling that religious scholars regard as one of the
most important legal precedents concerning religion by any top
court in Europe. The Italian Supreme Court overruled a lower court
that had narrowly defined religion as Judeo-Christian, noting that
Taoism, Buddhism and many other great religions had thereby been
excluded. The Court described in considerable detail why
Scientology qualified to be regarded as a religion — a decision
followed by the Italian Ministry of Finance, which soon afterward
granted religious tax exemption to Scientology
churches in Italy.
Only a few weeks later, the Federal Administrative Court in
Germany announced that Scientology religious practices are
“spiritual counselling” aimed at “the attainment of a higher level
of being.” Germany’s administrative and appeals courts have
consistently held in more than 40 rulings that the Scientology
religion is to be afforded the protection of Article 4 of the
German Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of religious
belief and practice and ideological opinion.
In November 1999, the government of Sweden declared the
Church of
Scientology to be a charitable, nonprofit organisation with a
religious purpose. The following year, the Swedish government
further officially recognised the Church by formally granting its
ministers the authority to perform marriages.