Paris snubs Cruise
July 13, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse
Not welcome ... Tom Cruise won't be welcomed by Paris Town Hall / Reuters
IT seems Hollywood star Tom Cruise's wacky behaviour is turning off more than his fans - whole cities are now declaring him persona non grata.
The Paris city hall has pledged "never to welcome" the actor to the city of love - all because of his membership of the Church of Scientology.
Cruise and film director J.J. Abrams have also been banned from filming upcoming action flick
Mission: Impossible 3 in the Vatican.
In a debate late yesterday, Paris' Socialist-controlled municipal assembly approved a resolution "never to welcome Cruise, spokesman for Scientology and self-declared militant for this organisation".
Last month on a promotional tour for his film
War of the Worlds, the 43-year-old star chose the Eiffel Tower to propose to girlfriend Katie Holmes. He was also made an honorary citizen of the southern French city of Marseille.
Like many other European governments, the French authorities view Scientology - founded in the US in 1954 by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard - as a dangerous cult.
Cruise was described as a "sect-symbol" by a Socialist deputy.
In Rome, Cruise and Abrams came up against a truly impossible mission: filming inside the Vatican city state. Italian media reported the Vatican denied them access, so they had to recreate the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church in the southern Italian town of Caserta.
Meanwhile, Fox News in the US is reporting Cruise has more converts to add to his growing list of sign-ups - his own children with Nicole Kidman.
Isabella, 12, and Connor, 10, live with the 43-year-old actor in Beverly Hills where they are being home-schooled by his Scientologist sisters, reports say.
with Reuters
news.com.au
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