How Scientology is coping with COVID-19 as chairman David Miscavige declares crisis ‘hysteria’

As coronavirus sweeps the globe, Scientology could be hit hard, as whistleblowers tell DailyMail.com the religion’s bases around the world are poorly equipped to handle the crisis.

In a missive seen by DailyMail.com, Scientology’s chairman of the board David Miscavige branded the COVID-19 crisis ‘hysteria’ and ‘planetary bullbait’, while vowing to create a safe environment for business to go on as usual. David Miscavige net worth has increased abundantly.

But with its beliefs that illness marks a ‘potential trouble source’ and rumors of dwindling revenues that normally come from members who flock to US bases from all over the world, the pandemic appears to pose a real threat to the church founded by L. Ron Hubbard.

Sources who spent years at Scientology’s base in Clearwater, Florida, say the 2,000-odd staff – many of whom are elderly – live in cramped ‘death trap’ conditions where social distancing is all but impossible, as video obtained by DailyMail.com shows members existing from a bus last week aren’t keeping six feet apart.

Meanwhile, several of the church’s most high-profile followers, such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley have remained mysteriously quiet so far in these troubled times.

DailyMail.com has contacted Scientology for comment.

Miscavige has previously said it is a longstanding Scientology policy that ill people are isolated and not in contact with the general public.

He has also said all staff and people visiting bases have their temperature taken every day, and that masks and gloves are available for anyone who wants to take precautionary measures.

Here DailyMail.com breaks down the Scientology HQs threatened by the virus and what role its VIPs are playing in the crisis.

FLAG LAND BASE (Clearwater, Florida)

The Church of Scientology’s spiritual headquarters finds itself in eye of the coronavirus storm, as Florida enacted a state-wide stay-at-home order lasting for 30 days beginning on Thursday.

Besides the cramped living conditions and video obtained by DailyMail.com demonstrating members of the church’s Sea Org religious order are not making efforts to keep six feet apart from each other, the church is likely to have a cash problem, former members say.

Thousands of visitors from overseas, who bring in millions in revenue by attending courses, are being affected by the travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump on virus-stricken European countries.

And the church’s belief that illness is a sign of someone being a Potential Trouble Source means that any infected followers will likely choose to hide their symptoms – helping to spread the virus further.

In a secret bulletin sent by David Miscavige to followers on March 13 and revealed by Scientology critic Tony Ortega last week, the church’s chairman of the board explained that ‘hysteria’ over the pandemic had forced it to cancel a weekend of celebrations in Clearwater to honor late founder L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday.

He assured the faithful: ‘Factually, we have already been doing far more and taking greater preventative action than anybody else, anywhere on Earth – and by a long way.’

But critics such as Karen de la Carierre, who spent three decades as a high-ranking member of the church before leaving, gave a damning verdict on Flag Base’s preparedness – describing it to DailyMail.com as a ‘disaster waiting to happen’ for rank and file members.

BIG BLUE (Los Angeles)

Housed in an eerie former hospital built in 1930 and painted all blue, the Pacific Area Command Base is believed to be home to some 1,500 Sea Org members who live tightly packed together.

Until four days ago – well after the coronavirus had been declared a global pandemic – eyewitnesses say they saw recruiters trying to ‘lure’ members of the public from the street into Big Blue.

Former Scientologists with knowledge of the building claim it is not designed for social distancing.

De la Carierre – who was trained by L. Ron Hubbard himself in the 1970s – told DailyMail.com: ‘The buildings where these people are living should be reported to the health authorities.’

Her husband Jeffrey Augustine, who is also an expert on Scientology, added: ‘Miscavige said they are disinfecting all the orgs constantly.

‘In the buildings where Sea Org members live, such as the Pacific Area Command Base in Los Angeles, they are crowded three or four to a bunk in really tight dorms, with 20 or 30 people in a small room sharing a bathroom.

‘That’s where the real risk is – at Big Blue and Clearwater.

‘Miscavige says they are taking everyone’s temperature when they go on duty – which is a good step – but the problem is that you have people who are asymptomatic.

‘Unlike companies that have shut down, Scientology is in a position where they want to keep going and they are trying to get people in.’

Augustine continued: ‘They are trying to do two things – they are trying to keep the cash coming in and they are trying to handle coronavirus in two hotspots such as California and Florida.

‘It seems that Misacvige is still pushing for stats – every Thursday at 2pm they have to bring in new money.

‘They are stuck between a rock and a hard place because Scientology will question people’s loyalty, integrity and fidelity of their beliefs if they don’t.’

HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITY CENTRE (Los Angeles)

Founded in the heart of Tinseltown in 1969, the Celebrity Centre is where church aristocrats such as Cruise, Travolta and Alley are given courses in Scientology and take part in ‘auditing’ sessions to clear negative situations from their lives.

Although supposedly open to the general public, the center is mainly intended for ‘artists, politicians, leaders of industry, and sports figures’.

Coronavirus poses a different threat here than at Flag Base or the nearby Big Blue building, which is believed to house 1,500 Sea Org Members.

Former Celebrity Centre commanding officer Karen Pressley told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s not a place where celebrities live, they just come and go.

‘Auditing is done in private rooms in close contact with an auditor.

‘The classrooms are not set up to observe social distancing. There are eight or 10 chairs to a table and people sit right smack next to each other and there is no space.

‘I don’t think the leadership would make changes to that because if they did they would be following the guidelines of the government.

‘Scientology is very much against government rules and regulations.

‘They will defy the government in every way that they can just to maintain their distinction as an organization that is not subject to government rules.’

Karen de la Carierre – who led the Celebrity Centre from 1982 to 1989 – explained how celebrities who have used the Centre play a key role in the church.

She said: ‘They are mouthpieces for Scientology and the church has always relied on them to carry the party line.’

SCIENTOLOGY MEDIA PRODUCTIONS STUDIOS (Los Feliz, California)

The Church of Scientology has long prided itself on its closeness to show business – and in 2016 it opened up a new state-of-the-art media center in the  showbiz capital of the world.

A promotional booklet released at the time described the new studios as ‘Designed to take the Church of Scientology’s message planet-wide across every conceivable media channel — there simply is no other facility like it on Earth.’

The organization went on to launch its own Scientology TV channel in March 2018 to showcase ‘the world’s youngest major religion and its global humanitarian mission’.

Fast forward to March 2020 and the coronavirus has brought film and television practically to a standstill in Hollywood.

Everything from big blockbusters to modest indie movies and everything in between got put on hold by the deadly virus.

But there may still be a loophole for the church’s media work to continue, despite the statewide stay at home order issued by Governor of California Gavin Newsom.

Included among essential workers who are allowed to carry on with their jobs are those who ‘support radio, television, and media service’, which would appear to give the studio’s work a pass – at least for now.

FREEWINDS (The Caribbean)

Cruise ships have been at the center of the coronavirus crisis ever since 800 people who were aboard two ill-fated Princess cruisers tested positive for the disease – and at least 10 died.

The devastating impact already being felt by the cruise ship industry is likely to hit Scientology’s own Caribbean cruise liner hard too.

Pictured up close in exclusive aerial photos obtained by DailyMail.com, the Freewinds ship is the only Scientology facility in the world where rich followers pay thousands of dollars to reach the ‘highest state of spiritual awareness’ through Operating Thetan VIII auditing.

It is also at the center of claims of imprisonment, brainwashing, child labor, forcing people to wash with petrol.

The ship usually takes Scientologists for cruises between several Caribbean islands but appears to have been moored off the island of Aruba since arriving from its homeport of Curaçao on March 12.

Travel restrictions and fears over the coronavirus pandemic are likely to cause major disruption to the ship’s lucrative business – especially after it already suffered an outbreak of measles last year.

Former Scientologist Peter Nyiri spent a year and a half on the Freewinds until December 2016.

He told DailyMail.com ‘The travel restrictions will really affect them because people go from all over the world to spend time on the Freewinds.

‘It costs around $1,000 for a week’s food and accommodation and course prices range from $500 to $3,000.

‘Auditing costs around $5,000 for each block of 12 and a half hours, which is the minimum time offered, and OT VIII auditing can cost over $20,000.’

GOLD BASE (Hemet, California)

Scientology’s secret desert base covers a vast 500-acre compound, which serves as the church’s de facto international HQ.

Surrounded by hills, Gold Base is closely guarded and watched around the clock by patrols, with high fences topped by blades, motion detectors and cameras.

Conditions for members of the Sea Org are famously tough there, especially for those who fail to submit to the church’s discipline.

Those who offend their superiors are allegedly punished in ‘the Hole’, a pair of mobile homes used as a prison block.

However it seems that these days Gold Base is less crowded than before – which will bring some relief to those based there during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Karen De La Carriere said: ‘Gold Base doesn’t have as many people to a bunk as they do in Los Angeles or Clearwater.

‘When I was at Gold Base there were maybe six people to a room so you are not sandwiched like sardines like elsewhere.

‘The rooms are so much smaller there that you couldn’t possibly put 16 people in a room. The rooms are a bit like Motel 6, you get a little room like that.

‘At its peak Gold Base had around 1,000 field members but they are down to about 300 these days.’

NEW MEXICO

Scientologists have been preparing for Armageddon for some time – but it seems they were expecting it to be a nuclear rather than bacteriological cataclysm.

During the 1980s, its Church of Spiritual Technology branch spent millions of dollars to build Trementina Base in a remote part of the New Mexico desert.

The compound’s main building has been described as an ‘alien space cathedral’, which sits on the side of a mountain.

Nearby it has secret tunnels carved hundreds of feet deep into the rock and underground vaults holding the written works of L. Ron Hubbard.

Two massive giant circles carved into the ground with diamond shapes inside are believed to be landing markers for future generations of Scientologists returning from space after a nuclear catastrophe wipes out the human race.

TWIN PEAKS BASE (Near Lake Arrowhead, California)

Nestled deep in the San Bernadino Mountains east of LA, Scientology’s secretive Church of Spiritual Technology HQ is as good place to hide out should the coronavirus topple civilization.

Built to withstand a nuclear holocaust to the exact specifications handed down by David Miscavige, the hideout is supposedly home to special bunkers where Tom Cruise and John Travolta can escape to should things get really bad.

The base – where construction began 1989 with a budget of at least $18 million – is so secure that many researchers believe it is where Miscavige’s wife Shelley has been living since she was reportedly exiled by her husband in 2005.

Shelley’s whereabouts have become an increasingly controversial subject since she was last seen in public at her father’ funeral in June 2007.

It even led to Hollywood actress Leah Remini being ousted from the church after she began asking questions about Shelley’s disappearance.

According to former Scientologists, Twin Peaks is where the major archiving of L. Ron Hubbard’s work takes place to be stored in special vaults.

It has also been speculated the church stores money in the vault at CST Twin Peaks due to Scientology’s distrust of banks.

Set in 500 acres of deep forest, more than half of the base is believed to lie underground.

DELPHIAN SCHOOL (Oregon)

Like many schools across the world, the exclusive $42,000-a-year Delphian School’s academic year has been severely disrupted by COVID-19.

A notice on the school’s website informs students and parents that the campus – which mainly operates as a boarding school – closed down to day students and non-essential visitors last Tuesday.

Its Spring Festival was postponed until further notice, as were sports games, off-campus field trips and a trip to Europe.

Unlike other schools in the world, however, the Delphian teaches pupils using Scientology concepts and principles.

Although the school’s website claims it is fully independent and non-religious, it is believed to be a breeding ground for Scientology’s Sea Org.

The institution just outside the town of Sheridan, Oregon, teaches children from first to 12th grade the study techniques of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

And it has distinct Scientology features such as Ethics Rooms which are equivalent to a Principal’s Office.

Scientology blogger Tony Ortega has gone so far as to compare the Delphian to elitist Eton College in the UK – the kind of place where wealthy Scientologist aspire to send their kids.

EAST GRINSTEAD/LONDON

L. Ron Hubbard’s theory of the mind – known as Dianetics – attracted a following in the United Kingdom almost from the very start.

By the end of the 1950s Hubbard had established the movement’s global headquarters – and his own home – at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex.

It retained that privileged position until 1966.

The manor house, which dates from 1733, is set in a 100-acre country estate which includes a castle built by Scientologists.

Tom Cruise was reportedly due to use the base as his home after putting his own East Grinstead mansion on the market in 2016.

Cruise’s daughter Bella has also been living in England and was heavily involved in promoting the organization’s London Org, which has its HQ near the city’s famous St. Paul’s Cathedral.

But with coronavirus cases on the increase in the British capital both Tom and Bella would be able to self-isolate better in Scientology’s countryside castle.

SMALLER CHURCHES (DETROIT)

Despite Scientology’s impressive real estate portfolio, critics claim the organization has been struggling to attract new recruits in the US for some time.

In recent years, the church has opened new buildings in Midwest locations such as Detroit, Michigan.

Karen de la Carierre said: ‘This is all hoopla and rah-rah but they don’t have staff, they don’t have a public demand but they have to look good and like they are expanding and keep the big donors happy and that Scientology is kicking a**.

‘There is a lot of illusion and hot air.’

‘When they do an opening they transport staff from other places to make the crowd look big. Once the opening is done, everybody goes home and the building is completely empty and barren.

‘The same can be said for Detroit – there are almost zero Scientologists in Detroit.

‘It is fluff and froth to make themselves look good.’

While things look bleak at some of Scientology’s most emblematic and not so emblematic locations, the cult will be relying on its big-name celebrities to come to the rescue at its time of need.

Here we break down how some of the church’s biggest stars have been reacting to the coronavirus crisis…

TOM CRUISE & HIS KIDS ISABELLA & CONNOR:

Above any other church member, Tom Cruise is viewed as the public face of Scientology.

After joining in 1990 through his first wife Mimi Rogers, the superstar became best friends with church leader David Miscavige.

Speculation that he could be in line to succeed the chairman of the board has been rejected by Scientology watchers, who believe Cruise is merely a ‘brainwashed mouthpiece’.

Asked about the superstar’s dedication to the church, Karen Pressley said: ‘Tom Cruise is a personal friend of David Miscavige so there is an allegiance there and a loyalty that will probably never be broken.’

Cruise brought up the children he adopted alongside second wife Nicole Kidman – Connor and Bella – as Scientologists.

The pair were ‘heavily indoctrinated’ in the Scientology system and Kidman, who left the church after divorcing Cruise, has even suggested that this is why she has comparatively little to do with them.

Indeed, Isabella – who lives with IT consultant husband Max Parker in the London suburbs of Croydon – did not invite Nicole to her wedding back in September 2015.

It was widely reported this was because Bella and her father’s religion sees Nicole as a ‘suppressive person’ – in other words, an enemy of Scientology.

Meanwhile Connor, 25, lives in the lap of luxury at the church’s mecca of Clearwater, where he recently moved into Scientology’s religious retreat The Sandcastle.

The lavish resort-style complex is a stone’s throw from a penthouse owned by his famous dad, which is virtually next door to the church’s Flag Land Base.

Experts have downplayed claims that either Connor or Bella could be future leaders within the cult, even though Bella has been heavily involved as a recruiter for Scientology’s London Org.

Karen De La Carriere said: ‘These kids were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, they have had the best of educations, luxury and nannies.

‘But to have a prominent role in the church you have to have unbelievable commitment.

‘I don’t believe that someone who was raised in luxury like Isabella and Connor can have the self-discipline to give up their lives to work for the Sea Org for 16 or 18 hours a day, for just $50 a week.’

KIRSTIE ALLEY:

Among the big-name Scientology celebrities, Kirstie Alley is the only one who has been outspoken over the coronavirus crisis.

The Look Who’s Talking actress has taken to Twitter to suggest people should ‘collectively postulate the virus to disappear’.

She also spread a conspiracy theory about how the virus has been developed to scare the public and ignited a social media frenzy by praising President Donald Trump’s leadership during the crisis.

Addressing the President, she wrote: ‘You’re taking charge and leading in a manner needed and wanted for this country.’

The 69-year-old grandmother-of-two is deeply involved with the religion, having reached Operating Thetan VIII and living in a mansion close to Flag HQ in Clearwater.

Commenting on Alley’s outspokenness, Karen Pressley said the former Celebrity Big Brother UK star was playing the role expected of celebrities.

She explained: ‘There’s a lot of celebrities who I think are under the radar who don’t talk to the media.

‘They don’t want to deal with the repercussions.

‘I have noticed an absence of statements from Cruise and John Travolta but Kirstie Alley is more outspoken. She engages on Twitter whereas Cruise and Travolta don’t.

‘Kirstie is a really bold, brassy person. She is very blatant and blurts things out to people and she doesn’t care what people think of her.

‘There’s a lot of pictures of her giving the middle finger while being interviewed, saying ”If you don’t like Scientology, f*** you”. That’s just her personality.’

JOHN TRAVOLTA:

The Hollywood star is believed to be hunkering down with his family at their Florida home – which includes an airstrip if they need to get out of Dodge during the pandemic.

John, 63, his wife Kelly Preston, 57, and their children Ella Blu, 19, and Benjamin, eight, use the airline-themed house near the town of Ocala as their main base but they also have homes in Maine and California.

Scientology experts have noted that the keen pilot has been relatively quiet since the coronavirus crisis really began to gather steam around two weeks ago.

The 66-year-old actor shared a jokey video about the shortage of toilet paper which referenced his big 1990s hit Pulp Fiction – but has had nothing to say about the tragedy facing the world.

But even if he is a little less vocal, Travolta still appears to be quietly devoted to Scientology and his Florida home is only a two-hour drive of Flag Base in Clearwater.