Religious Freedom: Scientology Recognized in Three New Nations

Three new nations officially recognized the Church of Scientology as a religion in 2017: Mexico, Colombia and Macedonia.

The Church of Scientology recognized in 2017 in Mexico, Colombia and Macedonia

In this month’s special edition of Freedom Magazine, these milestones are described as “events that marked in each nation a history of religious commitment to the spiritual values of the Church, and to its mission to bring about a better society for all.”

The first Scientology Organizations in Mexico were established in 1975, and 35 years later, in 2010, Mexico City Scientologists opened the Ideal Church of Scientology Mexico on Juarez Boulevard in the historic center of the city. The Church also serves as national headquarters for many Church-sponsored humanitarian initiatives and social betterment programs that have now reached millions of individuals in Mexico.

Ministry of Interior of Mexico
Ministry of Interior of Mexico

Freedom goes on to state: “Working with the nation’s citizens, its police and local government leaders, Scientologists have brought powerful anti-drug and human rights programs to bear on social ills, and the Church’s Volunteer Ministers have provided disaster relief efforts throughout the nation. These humanitarian initiatives reflect the religion’s steadfast adherence to both the spiritual well-being and to the welfare of the people of Mexico.”

Among these is the partnership of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers with Los Topos, Mexico’s famous search and rescue team, which gained prominent notice this year when Los Topos designated the Church as disaster response headquarters for the Central Mexico Earthquake of 2017.

The Minister of Interior entered the Church of Scientology of Mexico into the federal registry of recognized religions on October 30, 2017, declaring the Church as an organization exclusively dedicated to religious aims with fully established scripture, practices, ceremonies and ecclesiastical structure.

Freedom describes the 2017 religious recognition in Colombia, in a time when the nation is experiencing a “remarkable transformation and healing. The end to a bloody civil war in 2016, and successes against narco-trafficking have allowed the country to shed a reputation as home to a humanitarian crisis.

The National Church of Scientology Mexico in the heart of Mexico City.
The National Church of Scientology Mexico in the heart of Mexico City.

“With the establishment of an Ideal Church in the nation’s capital of Bogotá in 2015, Scientologists have been hard at work to make a better Colombia for all posterity. Today, with Colombia at peace, tourism is up, drug trafficking down and human rights violations are no longer common practice. Violence is at its lowest ebb in decades. For many reasons, the country’s transformation is known as the ‘Colombian Miracle.’

“Working from the headquarters of its Ideal Church, Colombian Scientologists have been helping blaze a new trail by bringing to citizens the ethical and moral values contained in The Way to Happiness, and Church-sponsored human rights education programs, along with the spiritual services that Scientology affords communities there. The young religion has grown worldwide because of its tremendous impact.”

 The Church of Scientology Bogotá.
The Church of Scientology Bogotá.

An interactive map of the countries in which Scientology is officially recognized is available on this website. Click on the map of a given nation to be taken to a page describing the events leading up to that country’s recognition of Scientology, many of which have set legal precedents for religious freedom in that nation and beyond.

Colombia Macedonia Mexico religious recognition
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