Councillor Giulio Gandolfi thanked Say No to Drugs volunteers in Milano
Councillor Giulio Gandolfi thanked Say No to Drugs volunteers in Milano

The Drug-Free World volunteers from the Church of Scientology Milano reach out to youth with the Truth About Drugs campaign.

Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Milano teamed up with Milan Transportation Association (ATM) to promote the value of an active, drug-free lifestyle. 

Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Milano bring the truth about drugs to their city.
Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Milano bring the truth about drugs to their city.

ATM’s BikeMi, the city’s bike-sharing program, offered these Drug-Free World volunteers the use of bicycles free of charge to promote their Truth About Drugs initiative.

The day’s activities launched from the Church courtyard at Viale Fulvio Testi, 327. Councillor Giulio Gandolfi thanked the volunteers for bringing this important message to the community and signed their “Say No to Drugs” Honor Roll in support of the initiative.

Councilor signs pledge
In the courtyard of the Church of Scientology Milano, Councillor Giulio Gandolfi signed the “Say No to Drugs” Honor Roll.

Twenty volunteers took off from the Church by bicycle, wearing their signature teal Truth About Drugs T-shirts and caps. They rode through the city, handing out Truth About Drugs booklets in high-traffic areas in support of this year’s UN Office on Drugs and Crime theme for International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking: “Share Facts on Drugs: Save Lives.” 

Foundation for a Drug-Free World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free. The Foundation’s Truth About Drugs campaign consists of drug education materials and activities that popularize drug-free living.

at castle
The drug prevention bike tour ended at Castello Sforzesco, a popular destination for tourists and residents, where volunteers handed out Truth About Drugs booklets.

Scientology Churches provide drug education specialist training, sponsor chapters of Foundation for a Drug-Free World, and work with local educators, police, churches and nonprofits to reach youth on this vital subject. 

To make these materials available to anyone wishing to tackle the drug crisis, the Church of Scientology International Dissemination and Distribution Center in Los Angeles, California, produces and ships out Truth About Drugs booklets, DVDs and education packages free of charge to parents, educators, law enforcement, community groups and nonprofits for their drug prevention activities.

The Church of Scientology Milano is an Ideal Scientology Church, dedicated in 2015 by Mr. David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion. In addition to providing ideal facilities to service Scientologists on their ascent to higher states of spiritual awareness and freedom, the Church sponsors humanitarian programs and serves as a home for the community and a meeting place of cooperative effort to uplift people of all denominations.

The Scientology religion was founded by author and philosopher L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in Los Angeles in 1954 and the religion has expanded to more than 11,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 countries.

Source: https://www.scientologynews.org/press-releases/taking-to-the-streets-to-promote-active-and-drug-free-living.html

Volunteers help clean up after floods in Belgium
Volunteers help clean up after floods in Belgium

Belgian Scientologists respond to the needs of friends and neighbors after unprecedented flooding submerged parts of the country.

Brussels-based Churches of Scientology for Europe activated a team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers to help in the aftermath of what has been described as the worst flooding to hit Western Europe in more than two centuries.

Cleanup from flooding is always an arduous but vital process. The faster the response, the less that is lost to the incursion of mold and mildew. 

The team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers took on whatever tasks were needed to salvage valuables, clean up, and put order into flood-damaged property. “Many large cities were completely underwater,” said the Volunteer Ministers on Facebook “People lost so much property—some lost their entire homes. But the sun is finally back and our team is on the ground to help people clean up and recover their belongings as best we can.”  The volunteers lost no time in contributing to the cleanup and the work of salvaging property. 

chopping fallen branches
The volunteers lost no time in contributing to the cleanup and the work of salvaging property.

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

A Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.” Their creed: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”

To learn how the Scientology Volunteer Ministers responded to the COVID-19 pandemic internationally, visit the interactive timeline, 20/21—A Look Back & A Look Ahead on the Scientology website.

Source: https://www.scientologynews.org/press-releases/scientology-volunteer-ministers-help-dig-out-after-devastating-flood-damage.html

Religious cooperation: Catholic Church honours Church of Scientology in Mexico with a special Mass
Religious cooperation: Catholic Church honours Church of Scientology in Mexico with a special Mass

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Honored for Their Help at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO • JUN 23, 2021

Mexico Scientologists and their families were honored for their service to church officials and parishioners with a special Mass at the Iglesia Santa Maria de Guadalupe Capuchinas, part of the complex of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

A special Mass at the Iglesia Santa Maria de las Capuchinas in the complex of Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe honored the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Mexico. As the country began to open up, these volunteers took on the task of sanitizing and decontaminating places of worship so those wishing to practice their faith could do so in safety.The Scientology Volunteer Ministers were honored for their work making this and other churches safe for worshipers. 

Most years, some 20 million pilgrims visit the Basilica, most of them in December to celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadelupe, the patron saint of Mexico. The Basilica is one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. But in December 2020, with Mexico’s mounting cases of COVID-19 and one of the highest rates of coronavirus casualties internationally, the church took the unprecedented step of shutting the doors of the Basilica to prevent the spread of the virus.

To Mexico’s Scientology Volunteer Ministers, veterans of disaster response missions at home and abroad, the pandemic was a completely different kind of catastrophe to those they were used to dealing with—one requiring prevention. Nonetheless, because of the insight of Church leadership, they were well prepared to help. 

Even before the pandemic was declared, thanks to the foresight of ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige, and in keeping with the maxim of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that “an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure,” the Church researched the most effective prevention methods and distilled them into a series of illustrated booklets and public service announcements presented in simple, direct language anyone can understand. These were made available in 21 languages on the Scientology.org Stay Well Prevention Resource Center. The Church also researched the best methods of sanitization and made these available to Scientology Churches, Missions and Scientology Volunteer Ministers around the world. 

Catholic and evangelical religious leaders who have worked on interfaith programs with The Freewinds, the Scientology religious retreat in the Caribbean, reached out to the ship for help to make their churches safe. The Freewinds arranged for trained Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Mexico City to respond to their needs. The Volunteer Ministers took on sanitizing the Basilica and other Mexican churches to ensure that parishioners could worship in safety.

At the special Mass, a representative of the cardinal attended in appreciation of the Church of Scientology and the work of the Volunteer Ministers in sanitizing the Basilica and churches throughout the city and the State of Mexico. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers trained church representatives in how to sanitize the chapel, and after the Mass, they presented the priest with a full kit containing all the equipment and materials needed to continue the sanitizing of the church.

German church leads crowdfunding to buy vessel to aid stranded Mediterranean migrants
German church leads crowdfunding to buy vessel to aid stranded Mediterranean migrants

Germany’s main Protestant church led a crowdfunding effort that purchased the rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 that is ready for work in the Mediterranean Sea to help migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa.

According to Peter Kenny from Ecumenical News, “The Evangelical Church (EKD) initiated the effort by United4Rescue, a broad alliance to support civilian sea rescue.

“We connect all social organizations and groups that do not want to stand idly by the thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean,” says United4Rescue. “Through donation campaigns, we support rescue organizations that act in a humanitarian manner where politics fails.”

The crew of the “Sea-Watch 4” spent the past few weeks converting this old research vessel into a sea rescue vessel, as reported be the German news agency epd.

Aboard is a protection area with 24 beds for women and children along with a hospital ward.

When the crew has passed its mandatory quarantine it can start its work.

Due to the corona situation and the lockdown in Spain, the first mission was delayed almost four months.

Sea-Watch 4 is to set sail from the Spanish Burriana in the the coming days of August, less than a year after a petition was published by the 12th Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, the WCC reported.

The petition asked the church council to continue to campaign for sea rescue, communal reception, safe escape routes, fair asylum procedures and legal migration opportunities.

“We ask for God’s blessing on the crew of Sea-Watch 4 and on their important mission. May each of us, too, become a vessel of hope and instruments of peace for our neighbors,” said Rev. Ioan Sauca, interim general secretary of the World Council of Churches.

Work to convert the old research vessel into a sea rescue ship is almost complete and the crew is currently undergoing training and drills.

They will soon set out on their first mission.

Due to the COVID-19 situation and the lockdown in Spain, the mission was delayed almost four months.

Since the end of all state-sponsored rescue operations, only private ships have been sailing in the Mediterranean to rescue people who have fled from distress at sea.

It is estimated that around 400 people have drowned in the Mediterranean in 2020.

“One does not let any single human drown, end of discussion,” said Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chairperson of the Evangelical Church in Germany, during the ceremony that launched the mission in February, in the city of Kiel.

The fundraising efforts that enabled Sea-Watch 4 to prepare to operate started in December, with a campaign of the alliance called “United4Rescue” named #WirschickeneinSchiff (“We send a ship”).

The coalition initiated has more than 500 supporting organizations, ranging from congregations and student groups to diaconal agencies as well as secular partners.

In January, the alliance succeeded in auctioning the former research ship “Poseidon” at a cost of 1.3 million euros, including 1.1 million euros donated by United4Rescue.

FoRB Publications launches new book of Rosita Šorytė, on NRMs and the Pandemic
FoRB Publications launches new book of Rosita Šorytė, on NRMs and the Pandemic

“We Can Lift This World While Quarantined”: Scientology and the 2020 Pandemic, Soryte chose this quoted part from a Scientology song that was done specifically for the time of the pandemic as a positive hint towards recovering through the assistance of all.

New religious movements are rarely given credit for their humanitarian work. A case in point is the Church of Scientology during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Opponents used the epidemic as an opportunity to accuse Scientology of spreading conspiracy theories and not respecting anti-virus precautions. [The book can be ordered HERE]

In fact, while interpreting the epidemic through L. Ron Hubbard’s theory of “dangerous environments,” Scientologists rapidly adopted state-of-the-art precautions and distributed millions of booklets teaching how to effectively protect hygiene and use masks, gloves, and disinfectants. Scientology’s Volunteer Ministers organized massive humanitarian activities, which were praised by majors and other authorities in several countries. By doing this, they were persuaded that they were not only helping fellow human beings but moving decisively towards a better, “restored” planet.

Rosita Šorytė, who has a long experience on the problems of humanitarian aid delivered in time of crisis by both governments and international organizations, and NGOs, and has studied in particular how religion-based NGOs operate, explores Scientology’s response to COVID-19 through volunteer services, distribution of literature, disinfection, and the production of musical shows that reached millions, aimed at providing a commodity not less essential than masks or disinfectants, hope.

She criticizes the anti-cult interpretation of these efforts as propaganda or proselytization and shows how they are deeply rooted both in L. Ron Hubbard’s theology and the lifestyle adopted by Scientologists throughout the world.

Rosita Šorytė joined in 1992 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and worked for 25 years as a diplomat, inter alia at the UNESCO in Paris and the United Nations in New York. In 2011, she served as the representative of the Lithuanian Chairmanship of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (Warsaw). In 2012-2013, she chaired the European Union Working Group on Humanitarian Aid on behalf of the Lithuanian pro tempore presidency of the European Union.

She takes a special interest in religious liberty and on refugees escaping their countries due to religious persecution and is co-founder and President of ORLIR, the International Observatory of Religious Liberty of Refugees, as well as a member of the Scientific Committee of FOB, the European Federation for Freedom of Belief. She is also the author of several articles and book chapters on religious liberty and religion-based humanitarian initiatives.

A Catholic priest and Red Cross get help from Scientologists in Hungary during Covid19
A Catholic priest and Red Cross get help from Scientologists in Hungary during Covid19

Lending a hand to the community in need in the heart of Central Europe

In the middle of the after-pandemic-crisis when the lockdown and restrictions were released or lessened in most countries of Europe, volunteers have continued to help those in need in Hungary.

The current pandemic brought about a new kind of catastrophe which touched many lives all around the world. Apart from the virus itself and its risk of infection, many suffered  the economical effects of it. Large families, single parents, or elderly, got touched by the restrictions. Some even suddenly lost their job without being prepared.

This spring, Hungarian Scientology volunteer ministers responded super-fast to the scene of disarrangement caused by the spread of the Coronavirus. They quickly assessed what was needed and wanted.

According to Timea Vojtilla, who is currently leading the actions of the volunteer Scientologists in Hungary said to The Social News in EU that “Scientology Volunteer Ministers are well known to jump in and offer their help in all kind of catastrophic situations such as earthquakes, tsunami, forest fires, etc. bringing order and spiritual relief to those who were harmed and to help them to take up their lives again. Our motto is “SOMETHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.

First, they saw that hospital workers got suddenly burdened. They went into communication with the hospital that had been set up for the central handling of Covid-19 in Budapest to find out what their workers would need most. Answering the request, Hungarian Scientology Volunteer Ministers then provided the hospital with 300 kilos of fresh fruits, refreshments, and snacks to distribute to the nurses, doctors, and other hospital workers.

The following week they called the Hungarian Red Cross, which is one of the oldest and best-known charity organizations in Hungary, to learn what help would be most needed. As a result, they collected and donated non-perishable food to two offices of Hungarian Red Cross which then distributed these to families and elderly in need.

As in many other European countries, it became more and more visible, that for those who lost their jobs because of Covid-19, even if only through temporary unemployment, the future became harder and harder to predict. More and more people turned to charity organizations asking for help, especially those who had no or very small savings.

Scientologists gathered more donations and provided an average of 1 to 1.5 tons each time of durable food to different charity organizations, and as the word of mouth was running, they received more requests for help from all parts of Hungary and different parts of society.

Vojtilla said “We are going out every week, sometimes more than once, trying to fulfill the requested help as much as we can, helping with the most basic vital factor of living: food!”

Donations have included not only basic food for cooking such as flower, sugar, salt, pasta, canned food, oil, etc., but also fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, milk, sausages, and, thinking about children, also cacao, pudding, chocolates and different snacks.

The VMs, as they call themselves, or the yellow t-shirts as they are more and more known contributed to support different other religions knowing that churches were always anchors of spiritual support in troubled times.

As a catholic priest stated, after receiving a ton of food donations from the volunteer ministers, his “little countryside chapel had always been a shelter in its 100’s of years of past existence, even in past pandemics” and that he “was glad to receive donations from Scientologists, and happily distributed the food to all who needed it in my town, regardless of their religion or conviction”. The priest reported that he saw “tears in some people’s eyes when they received this help in these difficult times. Churches joining forces to provide solace in times of need are a basic need”.

“I was glad to receive donations from Scientologists, and happily distributed the food to all who needed it in my town, regardless of their religion or conviction”

A Catholic priest

Timea Vojtilla, spokesperson of the Hungarian Scientologist community and the main organizer of all those actions said: “We love to help others! And probably the most precious part of it is the teamwork when we can join forces with others! We are so much stronger together! Giving a hand to those who are harmed is an honor. I am very happy to see how many people were joining forces in this Covid-19 confusion and did not let others down. The Covid19 has not discriminated against one religion or another, an ethnicity or another, so our VMs have also been helping in Bodvalenke at a gypsy village famous for its wall´s fresco, an orphanage in Transilvania, and a children’s home in Budapest spreading a smile to the children with balloons and chocolate”.

Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals
Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals

by Magdalena Rojo at Religion News Service

MORIA REFUGEE CAMP, Lesbos, Greece (RNS) — Like many restaurants around the world, Nikos Katsouris has seen his 16-year-old eatery here close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while he, too, has adapted to the local lockdown by starting a vibrant delivery service, Katsouris and his partner, Katerina Koveou, have been providing their former customers not their accustomed fish platters but toothpaste, diapers and imperishable groceries. 

Since the migration crisis began in Europe in 2014, Katsouris and Koveou have been offering hospitality to the thousands of refugees and migrants marooned on this island in the eastern Aegean Sea, the majority of them after fleeing war in Afghanistan and Syria — mostly by feeding them. The couple’s restaurant, Home for All, just a few kilometers outside of the Moria camp, has been serving fresh fish — like nearly everyone on Lesbos, Katsouris is a fisherman — and other delicacies, not on the ground in a tent but with dignity, at the table.

Free meals are prepared for Moria Camp refugees at the Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece. Photo courtesy of Home for All

With COVID-19 spreading in the camp, however, authorities ordered all restaurants to close in mid-March, abruptly ending Home for All’s daily production of up to 1,000 meals. Moria went into lockdown at about the same time. Most of the eight refugees who volunteered at Home for All had to be sent home.

“Only a few days ago, people were sharing food there,” said Katsouris in late March. “And all of a sudden, everybody was stuck in the camp, many of them hungry, in the need of help that I wanted to offer, but I could not, as I wanted to follow the rules.”

Since then, Greece has slowly started to reopen, and a few refugees have gone back to work in the olive groves the couple owns, processing and bottling olive oil.

The work, Katsouris said, is as much a lifeline as the food. “Many people have been in the camp for two, three years. Offering them clothes or food helps, but it’s not as important anymore,” Katsouris said. “We have a lot of olive trees, and if we provide employment for refugees and migrants, they can start a new life.” 

Volunteers have also continued delivering meals to families in the camp, a sort of pro-bono takeout while Home for All is closed. Safar Hakimi, a 21-year-old Afghani resident of Moria, said making deliveries fills a need but also relieves the boredom of the lockdown. “There is nothing to do, nothing to study,” Hakimi said.

The restaurant also gave the refugees more than just somewhere to be. “They were giving us exactly what we need. Freedom. When we were going to the restaurant, for a moment we felt like at home,” said Hakimi.

“People stay all day in the camp and they need to feel useful,” Katsouris explained. “It is simply human to have something to do,” webRNS REFUGEE RESTAURANT1 061220

Nikos Katsouris, left, and Katerina Koveou in Lesbos, Greece. Video screengrab

Founded as a profit-making concern, Home for All began feeding refugees for free in 2014. Three years later, the Greek government ordered them to choose whether they were a charitable organization or a business. Katsouris and Koveou have always put everything they have into supporting refugees and migrants, and everything they do is funded from their own pockets or from individual donors. Rather than give up feeding the refugees, they filed to be formally recognized as a nonprofit.

“It is our passion, and a calling. Working with refugees brought us closer to God because we try to help as God says,” said Katsouris, who also delivers food to the local Greek Orthodox church, where, though he rarely attends worship, he still counts himself a member. 

Instead, he said, he gives his heart to the people and in exchange, they make him a better person. In his eyes, a relationship with God is about love.webRNS REFUGEE RESTAURANT4 061220

Before the pandemic, males learn how to make pizza dough at the Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece. Photo courtesy of Home for All

Besides feeding both refugees and locals, the restaurant served to bring together the camp’s largely Muslim population and Katsouris’ fellow Christians. Zakira Hakimi, a 24-year-old university graduate from Afghanistan (no relation to Safar), arrived in Lesbos nearly two years ago with her mother. Katsouris and Koveou invited the two women to eat at Home for All and later offered them free housing. Soon Hakimi was volunteering as a translator for people from the camp while helping in the kitchen and making deliveries to the church.

“When the Greek people meet refugees, it changes their mind (about the refugees), because they see that they just came to find a better future,” Katsouris said.

The Moria Camp — designed to accommodate 3,000 people, but now holding some 20,000 — is still closed until June 21, even as Greece begins to open up. Few refugees and migrants are allowed to leave, and no visitors or members of international agencies can enter.webRNS REFUGEE RESTAURANT7 061220

Workers load food donations into a truck at the Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece, to be distributed at the nearby Moria refugee camp. Photo courtesy of Home for All

“The hardest was that we did not have enough water to even wash our faces,” said Safar Hakimi. “There is never enough water, but during this time it is tougher because we cannot take care of ourselves, we cannot wash our hands,” 

According to Doctors Without Borders, there is one water station for 1,300 people in some parts of Moria. The idea of social distancing also sounds like one from a utopic movie, as people are sharing tents built one next to another. An outbreak of COVID-19 in such conditions would be a catastrophe that nobody wants to witness.

The camp is still a place of unprecedented risk. “The situation is very fragile,” Katsouris said, as is the country itself: Greece has just recently recovered from an extended economic crisis, and is almost sure to enter another one due to the pandemic.

The pandemic, Katsouris believes, should not divide Greeks and their refugee population but bring them together. “Coronavirus is a common problem,” he said. “It is not of refugees or of the locals only.”webRNS REFUGEE RESTAURANT5 061220

Katerina Koveou prepares pasta at her Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece. Photo courtesy of Home for All

(This was produced with the support of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.)

OSCE helps Albania’s anti-trafficking officials develop first simulation training
OSCE helps Albania’s anti-trafficking officials develop first simulation training

by OSCE

Preparations for the first ever Albanian anti-trafficking simulation-based training started at an online meeting on 29 May 2020. The OSCE Presence in Albania and the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking presented Albania’s group of experts that will design the specific training for Albania with the methodology of this flagship OSCE approach to capacity-building in this field.

The training will consist of realistic, practical and cross-dimensional simulation exercises that will enhance anti-trafficking officials’ ability to identify victims, investigate suspected trafficking cases and prosecute exploiters and perpetrators.

“Albania continues to confront numerous challenges in addressing human trafficking, in particular in regard to victims’ identification, the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators. Through this training, Albania is the first country in the region that will be able to undertake a pioneering and groundbreaking approach towards capacity-building in tackling trafficking in human beings,” said Bernd Borchardt, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania.

Rovena Voda, Albania’s Deputy Minister of Interior and National Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinator, said that during the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship, Albania has committed that it will strengthen the fight against trafficking in human beings, a challenge felt throughout the OSCE are. “Building upon existing instruments, such as this simulation training developed by the OSCE Office of the Special Anti-Trafficking Coordinator’s Office, the Albanian Chairmanship will support the development practices to prevent and combat human trafficking,” said Voda.

The group of experts,  comprising a wide range of professionals, from law enforcement agencies, the State Labour Inspectorate, the State Agency for Child Protection, Tirana University and civil society organizations, will work together over the next months to develop a training in which Albania’s anti-trafficking practitioners will work in teams to investigate simulated cases of labour and sexual exploitation among migrants, including child victims of trafficking.

“Simulation-based trainings provide a unique opportunity to participants to practice and master their skills in a safe learning environment and to receive immediate feedback from other professionals,” said Val Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. Over the course of eight simulation-based courses held since 2016, his Office has trained 529 practitioners from over 54 participating States, seven Partners for Co-operation and six countries from Central and Western Africa.

The training is part of the OSCE Presence’s project ‘Action against Human Trafficking in Albania’, which is funded by UNICEF with the support of the United Kingdom.

United Nations recognizes Scientology Foundation with Special Consultative to the ECOSOC
United Nations recognizes Scientology Foundation with Special Consultative to the ECOSOC

New NGO status empowers MEJORA, the Foundation for the Improvement of Life, Culture and Society, to add to accomplishing the objectives of the UN Economic and Social Council and the helpful points of the Scientology religion.

Mejora signifies “improvement” in Spanish, and Fundacion MEJORA is an adept name for the association that has quite recently accomplished Special Consultative Status to the United Nations. Its complete name is Fundacion MEJORA: Foundation for the Improvement of Life, Culture and Society, and MEJORA’s new NGO status furnishes the Church of Scientology with more prominent chance to contribute legitimately to the achievement of the objectives of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, one of the six head organs of the United Nations.

The Foundation MEJORA was established in 2015 by the Church of Scientology of Spain. It is enlisted in that nation’s National Registry of Foundations.

In its application to the UN, the establishment asserted its duty to:

“human improvement through regard for and perception of Universal Human Rights just as the utilization of fundamental beliefs, for example, human rights, balance, resilience, regard for human life, harmony, vote based system, and individual opportunity.”

The Foundation’s strategic to “protect, advance, educate and disperse Human Rights as remembered for the Spanish Constitution just as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other global agreements; to advance logical Scientology esteems and practices created by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard focused on progress of the individual and society, and to advance resistance in all parts of common society.”

At the European level, the Foundation is enlisted in the Transparency Register of the European Union. MEJORA has effectively taken an interest in the Faith and Freedom Summit NGO alliance, whose last occasion was held at the European Parliament in Brussels. MEJORA likewise takes an interest in various different activities, occasions, and gatherings in encouraging its strategic.

“to advance sober minded Scientology esteems and practices created by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard focused on progress of the individual and society, and to advance resilience in all parts of common society”

This year points MEJORA’s sixth yearly Religious Freedom Awards introduction, booked for September 6. Awardees remember researchers and unmistakable authorities dynamic for advancing and securing the opportunity of religion or conviction.

The UN Economic and Social Council is one of the six head organs of the United Nations. Built up in 1945 by the UN Charter, the ECOSOC is liable for the bearing and coordination of the financial, social, philanthropic, and social exercises did by the UN.

With this acknowledgment, the Foundation currently has official portrayal at the UN in Geneva, Vienna and New York, with the capacity to introduce composed and oral articulations to different organs, for example, the UN Human Rights Council, and to arrange meetings of its own inside the United Nations.