Translation of a French article posted on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 on bxlbondyblog.be:
Quand la scientologie établit son église dans des bureaux de Bruxelles
When Scientology established its church in offices in Brussels
by Djabril Bennafla
November 4, 2015
bxlbondyblog.be
If, in the collective imagination, Scientologists represent a dangerous cult, then how to explain that they've been able to practice their faith and organize their activities on Belgian soil for the past 40 years?
L. Ron Hubbard's followers occupy a building located at 103 boulevard de Waterloo in Brussels. This address houses the headquarters of the Churches of Scientology for Europe, which was inaugurated in January 2010 in the presence of more than a thousand Scientologists and visitors from across Europe. But according to one person who was there (whom we were able to identify as a spokesman for Scientology in Paris), none of the participants who attended the opening still work at that location. Thus there remains no one else to ask about the ceremony or about Scientology's ownership of the building. And this person refuses to answer any questions.
According to the deputy burgomaster for urban planning in the City of Brussels, the building's owner, a company called Belgian Buildings Acquisitions Inc. (BBAI), bought the building in December 2005. However, the urban planning office has no information about BBAI, and there's not much on the web, except that its creation date matches the purchase date of the property. Éric Roux, spokesman for Scientology, explains that "for the church located on boulevard de Waterloo, this is a building that was purchased by an American entity which is certainly funded by Scientologists from around the world, and this entity is the owner, and it makes the building available to us. But I don't know if they rent it, or how it works, and I don't want to talk through my hat."
It is also very difficult to associate names with BBAI. The only contactable person we were able to find is Alain Tizioli, who represented BBAI in 2006 in a matter concerning squatting occupancy after BBAI had freshly acquired the building. Without mentioning Scientology, we asked him for details about the company. "Ah, if this is about the church, it's out of the question," he replied, "for the simple reason that I permanently left the church 5 years ago, for personal reasons. I don't want to have anything to do with that time of my life. The same for BBAI [...] I signed a mutual non-disclosure/non-disparagement clause with the church."
A church reported as an office
The fact remains that the mysterious company bought the property "without asking for a change in the building's use." The premises were previously used as offices by the Brussels French Community Commission (COCOF). The location is still considered as an office building today. However, Éric Roux confirms that the activities inside the establishment are of a religious nature: welcoming the faithful, E-meter auditing, therapies ...
Plainly, all is not clear. Is it normal for Brussels to have offices that welcome people who come for solace, to "heal themselves," and to seek advice from "auditors" (Scientology priests)?
The City is not aware
The urban planning office says that, if religious activities take place in these so-called offices, then the City is not aware. Neither did the City know at the time of sale that the building would be home to a Church of Scientology. In any case, the planning monitoring service, whose responsibility is to ensure that theory and practice concur, insists that a change in a building's use – in this case, offices turned into a religious facility – requires a planning permit and that it "takes note of our remark." The inspector nevertheless admits that there remains a lack of communication between the different entities. Moreover, a complaint has been filed regarding the address in question, but under the pretext of confidentiality, all persons contacted have refused to provide any information about it.
Not officially a cult
"The churches are constituted as non-profit associations," explains Éric Roux. "And a non-profit association can be a religious organization; this is not a problem." It should be noted that a non-profit association also might well be a cult. In Belgium, Scientology is a non-profit association, often viewed as dangerous by the public. It is now being tried as a legal entity for various frauds, even though, officially, the question of whether or not it was a risky organization was never asked by the courts.
More generally, the question to ask is this: seeing a potential cult, would it have been possible to simply prevent the organization from opening its church in Brussels six years ago? "There is freedom of establishment and, as long as there is no conviction, there aren't any reasons it can't establish itself anywhere," says Pierre Bourgeois, a criminal lawyer with the Brussels Bar. "And having a bad reputation does nothing, from a legal standpoint, to prevent someone from establishing anything […] but if crimes are committed, there are obviously grounds for a trial to determine whether the association can continue its activities."
However, if the accusations of illegal practice of medicine, fraud, and violations of privacy are proven, the 12 officials on trial today will be convicted as individuals and imprisoned or fined. But what about the legal entities, the Belgian Church of Scientology and the Churches of Scientology for Europe? "If the Church is convicted and sentenced at the conclusion of the trial, then, obviously, it would be possible to order that the association be dissolved and never again be present in Belgium," says Bourgeois. If the trial turns sour for the Scientologists, the occupants of the church-office would just have to pack their boxes and move away.
When Scientology established its church in offices in Brussels
Quand la scientologie établit son église dans des bureaux de Bruxelles
Quote:
When Scientology established its church in offices in Brussels
by Djabril Bennafla
November 4, 2015
bxlbondyblog.be
If, in the collective imagination, Scientologists represent a dangerous cult, then how to explain that they've been able to practice their faith and organize their activities on Belgian soil for the past 40 years?
L. Ron Hubbard's followers occupy a building located at 103 boulevard de Waterloo in Brussels. This address houses the headquarters of the Churches of Scientology for Europe, which was inaugurated in January 2010 in the presence of more than a thousand Scientologists and visitors from across Europe. But according to one person who was there (whom we were able to identify as a spokesman for Scientology in Paris), none of the participants who attended the opening still work at that location. Thus there remains no one else to ask about the ceremony or about Scientology's ownership of the building. And this person refuses to answer any questions.
According to the deputy burgomaster for urban planning in the City of Brussels, the building's owner, a company called Belgian Buildings Acquisitions Inc. (BBAI), bought the building in December 2005. However, the urban planning office has no information about BBAI, and there's not much on the web, except that its creation date matches the purchase date of the property. Éric Roux, spokesman for Scientology, explains that "for the church located on boulevard de Waterloo, this is a building that was purchased by an American entity which is certainly funded by Scientologists from around the world, and this entity is the owner, and it makes the building available to us. But I don't know if they rent it, or how it works, and I don't want to talk through my hat."
It is also very difficult to associate names with BBAI. The only contactable person we were able to find is Alain Tizioli, who represented BBAI in 2006 in a matter concerning squatting occupancy after BBAI had freshly acquired the building. Without mentioning Scientology, we asked him for details about the company. "Ah, if this is about the church, it's out of the question," he replied, "for the simple reason that I permanently left the church 5 years ago, for personal reasons. I don't want to have anything to do with that time of my life. The same for BBAI [...] I signed a mutual non-disclosure/non-disparagement clause with the church."
A church reported as an office
The fact remains that the mysterious company bought the property "without asking for a change in the building's use." The premises were previously used as offices by the Brussels French Community Commission (COCOF). The location is still considered as an office building today. However, Éric Roux confirms that the activities inside the establishment are of a religious nature: welcoming the faithful, E-meter auditing, therapies ...
Plainly, all is not clear. Is it normal for Brussels to have offices that welcome people who come for solace, to "heal themselves," and to seek advice from "auditors" (Scientology priests)?
The City is not aware
The urban planning office says that, if religious activities take place in these so-called offices, then the City is not aware. Neither did the City know at the time of sale that the building would be home to a Church of Scientology. In any case, the planning monitoring service, whose responsibility is to ensure that theory and practice concur, insists that a change in a building's use – in this case, offices turned into a religious facility – requires a planning permit and that it "takes note of our remark." The inspector nevertheless admits that there remains a lack of communication between the different entities. Moreover, a complaint has been filed regarding the address in question, but under the pretext of confidentiality, all persons contacted have refused to provide any information about it.
Not officially a cult
"The churches are constituted as non-profit associations," explains Éric Roux. "And a non-profit association can be a religious organization; this is not a problem." It should be noted that a non-profit association also might well be a cult. In Belgium, Scientology is a non-profit association, often viewed as dangerous by the public. It is now being tried as a legal entity for various frauds, even though, officially, the question of whether or not it was a risky organization was never asked by the courts.
More generally, the question to ask is this: seeing a potential cult, would it have been possible to simply prevent the organization from opening its church in Brussels six years ago? "There is freedom of establishment and, as long as there is no conviction, there aren't any reasons it can't establish itself anywhere," says Pierre Bourgeois, a criminal lawyer with the Brussels Bar. "And having a bad reputation does nothing, from a legal standpoint, to prevent someone from establishing anything […] but if crimes are committed, there are obviously grounds for a trial to determine whether the association can continue its activities."
However, if the accusations of illegal practice of medicine, fraud, and violations of privacy are proven, the 12 officials on trial today will be convicted as individuals and imprisoned or fined. But what about the legal entities, the Belgian Church of Scientology and the Churches of Scientology for Europe? "If the Church is convicted and sentenced at the conclusion of the trial, then, obviously, it would be possible to order that the association be dissolved and never again be present in Belgium," says Bourgeois. If the trial turns sour for the Scientologists, the occupants of the church-office would just have to pack their boxes and move away.
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