In the five decades since the founding of the first Church of Scientology in 1954, Scientology has become an indelible part of the fabric of this culture. In Europe and throughout the rest of the world, Scientology has steadily expanded in these 50 years, from one church to 3,700 churches, missions and groups in 156 countries, serving millions of parishioners in 54 languages.

New Era Publications International, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a Church-affiliated publishing house which provides L. Ron Hubbard’s works on Dianetics and Scientology to Scientology churches in Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and throughout Asia.

The founder of the Scientology religion, L. Ron Hubbard, was at the vanguard of the first phase of that expansion, travelling and lecturing throughout the world for much of the 1950s. In 1959, he established the worldwide headquarters of Scientology at Saint Hill, near East Grinstead in West Sussex, England.

In its formative years, few of the materials of Scientology were translated from English, but this did not stop news about Scientology from spreading like wildfire. People’s lives were changed for the better by the effective help they gained and could offer others based on its principles and practices, and they began forming Scientology groups in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.

The first British Scientology organisation was established in London in 1952, followed by groups that were established in Ireland in 1956. French Scientologists founded the Church of Scientology of Paris in October 1959. In June 1968, the Church of Scientology of Denmark was established in Copenhagen — and in 1970 became the seat of the European mother Church of the Scientology religion. Churches of Scientology in Göteborg and Stockholm, Sweden, soon followed.

	The Church of Scientology of Amsterdam (above left) and Church of Scientology of Hamburg (above). Scientology in Italy experienced fast growth starting in the 1970s, with twelve churches and sixty missions in existence today. The Church of Scientology of Milan (left).

Scientologists opened the first groups in Germany and Greece in 1969 and in Belgium in 1972; a full-fledged Church of Scientology was established in Belgium in March 1980. They founded a church in Vienna in March 1971 and another in Amsterdam the following year. In 1978 and into the early 1980s, several more Scientology churches and organisations were established in Switzerland and Italy.

The Church of Scientology in Milan quickly became one of the largest in the world, its congregation today served by more than 250 ministers and staff. In November 2000, the Milan Church moved to vastly expanded quarters, with 3,000 citizens — religious and civic leaders, government officials, and the vice president of the Italian Parliament attending its grand opening.

One area where growth encountered particular challenges, was in the then-Soviet Union, as described in an interview with Mr. Hubbard in 1966. The reporter asked him how far Scientology had grown in its first years. “All through the civilized world,” Mr. Hubbard replied, “but not behind the Iron Curtain... [T]he one thing that a nation that is determined to make men into slaves does not want anything to do with is a science which makes man totally free.”

But with the iron curtain no longer in place, Scientology expanded at breathtaking speed. In addition to two large churches of Scientology in Moscow and St. Petersburg, there are today more than 100 missions providing Scientology religious services throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States.