Freewinds Maiden Voyage Anniversary 2016 Photo Gallery

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Advanced Scientologists from around the world attended the Freewinds Maiden Voyage Anniversary, June 11-18 in the Caribbean. The convocation is held each year aboard the Church’s religious retreat—Scientology Motor Vessel Freewinds. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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The Barbadian community turned out as the Freewinds set sail from the port of Bridgetown. In honor of the 28th Maiden Voyage Anniversary Cruise, Barbados’ Minister of Culture, the Hon. Stephan Lashley declared, “It has been our pleasure to have this wonderful ship here in Barbados over so many years. Through our exchanges we will succeed in our ongoing journey toward a more unified Caribbean.” © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Each June, the Church of Scientology celebrates the anniversary of the Freewinds Maiden Voyage. The annual weeklong convocation, attended by Scientologists who have attained the highest spiritual levels in the Church, presents a midyear review of recent successes and charts a future course for expansion. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center, commenced a week of celebration that included an array of events covering Scientology advances, expansion, good news and much more. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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“Indeed, you are about to witness a panoramic view of our movement,” said David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, at the inauguration of the Maiden Voyage Anniversary. “A movement that now spans across both hemispheres in the name of Ideal Organizations: from South America and Central America, to the borderlands of the United Kingdom and the heartland of Europe, and onto Africa and across to Australasia. Because, and after all, with an Ideal Organization we can bring all we have to bear in the name of help, to every neighborhood, every community, everywhere—and thereby all together we can realize a better world.” © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Mr. David Miscavige, led an opening night celebration of the Maiden Voyage that presented a midyear report of monumental Scientology growth. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Along with its religious mission, the Freewinds has a humanitarian imperative to bring about a safe environment at every port to which it travels. Consequently, the Freewinds partners with national police and military organizations to deliver programs to nations across the Caribbean as well as Central and South America. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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The Church of Scientology has experienced 12 months of expansion that out-powers many previous years combined. And, led by Mr. Miscavige, every element of it was on show at the opening night of the Maiden Voyage on June 11. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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In addition to the Freewinds Maiden Voyage Anniversary evening events, attendees participated in seminars and planning meetings to detail out the establishment of new Ideal Churches in their geographic zones. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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“First and foremost, LRH was an author. As such, tonight is about what he once described as ‘life’s necessity to realize that, whatever you do, you must do well.’ Then again, it’s all about becoming what critics described as ‘an all-time giant in an age of prodigious storytelling and an author whose influence can only be measured in centuries.’” © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Dan Sherman, Biographer of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, gave a narrative about LRH’s exploits and accomplishments as one of the leading writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction in the 1930s and ‘40s—before he authored Dianetics and established Scientology. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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The evening’s chronological overview led right up to the very book Mr. Hubbard wrote to celebrate his golden anniversary as a professional writer—Battlefield Earth, a New York Times bestselling novel, now released in a 21st century edition. The novel’s 47-hour audiobook edition is described as a “Movie of the Mind.” © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Placing an exclamation point on an evening celebrating L. Ron Hubbard as an author, 22-time Grammy Award Winner Chick Corea performed songs from his albums entitled To the Stars and The Ultimate Adventure both of which are based on seminal LRH fiction works. Mr. Corea further thrilled the crowd with keyboard improvisations inspired by LRH’s epic novel, Battlefield Earth. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Yet another evening of the Maiden Voyage celebration was exclusively dedicated to the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) and its role as a movement for humanitarian uplift and social betterment. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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PROTECTING FOSTER KIDS IN CALIFORNIA: The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) Sacramento worked with California officials to secure legislation against systemic drugging in the state’s foster child network. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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INVESTIGATING PSYCHIATRIC INJUSTICE IN KAZAKHSTAN: In Kazakhstan, CCHR gained national accreditation to investigate involuntary commitment in the nation’s mental health facilities. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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STOPPING ECT IN PERU CCHR: Peru tapped into the root of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) abuse resulting in multiple hospitals banning its use. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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DELIVERING HUMAN RIGHTS TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA: A Human Rights education movement sprung to life across Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands with greater than 58,000 reached with the message that “these are your rights.” © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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YOUTH FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN NIKOLAEV, UKRAINE: Youth for Human Rights in Nikolaev, Ukraine, galvanized a network of volunteers that subsequently brought rights education to every school in the city. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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RAISING RIGHTS AWARENESS ACROSS AMERICA: In partnership with an education network out of Washington, D.C., Youth for Human Rights reached more than 240,000 American kids with a human rights mandate. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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CURBING DRUG ABUSE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: In the Caribbean’s Dominican Republic, Drug-Free World partnered with national drug counselors to instill better than 170,000 with The Truth About Drugs. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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SATURATING SOUTH AFRICA WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS: Drug-Free World South Africa fought a synthetic drug epidemic in the townships, ultimately bringing The Truth About Drugs to more than 2.5 million people. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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DRUG-FREE WORLD BLITZ AT SUPER BOWL 50: At San Francisco's Super Bowl 50, Drug-Free World carried out a weeklong anti-drug blitz to rack up over 300,000 people reached with Truth About Drugs booklets in just nine days. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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FORGING HAPPINESS IN LATVIA: In Latvia, volunteers set about and reached ten percent of their population with the common sense guide to living embodied in The Way to Happiness. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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BRINGING CALM IN DURANGO: Gomez Palacio, in Mexico’s Durango state was site of a The Way to Happiness education movement that saw a 12 percent drop in crime. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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A WAY TO HAPPINESS MESSAGE IN AMSTERDAM: Volunteers spread a message of common sense morality across Amsterdam, distributing thousands of copies and reaching every household in the city. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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CROWNING THE EVENING in honor of the IAS was the announcement of a landmark legal decision. It was a victory over a blatant act of bigotry, a 670-page Belgium Parliamentary Commission report published in 1997 that stigmatized 189 religions and religious organizations. Driven by sectarian fervor, false charges followed against the Church and its members in what the court described as a deliberate attempt to put a religion, its doctrine or beliefs on trial. Yet, after 18 years, and a 7-week hearing, a 173-page decision dismissed all charges, vindicated all defendants and declared the entire case to be a “serious and irremediable breach of the right to a fair trial”—total triumph for the Church and for religious freedom in Europe. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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At the end of the weeklong celebration, the Freewinds cast off for another year of passage in her native Caribbean waters, and the next 12 months of ever-advancing growth for the Scientology religion. © 2025 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.

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Freewinds Maiden Voyage Anniversary 2016 Photo Gallery

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