Heber C. Jentzsch

President, Church of Scientology
International

The Rev. Heber C. Jentzsch, President of the Church of Scientology International since 1982, has been active as an ordained minister of the Church for more than 20 years.

In his capacity as the President of the Church, Rev. Jentzsch has been interviewed on major television and radio shows including Larry King Live, 60 Minutes, 20-20, Phil Donahue, Geraldo, BBC television, CNN and Associated Press Radio, as well as by leading newspapers and magazines. Rev. Jentzsch is the leading spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International.

He has lectured on Scientology at universities around the world, including Notre Dame and Oxford and has spoken at international religious conferences in Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and the United States.

His extensive religious training includes not only an in-depth study and understanding of the Scientology religion, but of other faiths as well. He studied philosophy at Weber State College in Utah, religious studies at the University of Utah and is schooled in various eastern faiths.

Rev. Jentzsch is also a member of the Executive Board of the American Conference on Religious Movements (ACRM), a multi-denominational association of major and expanding religious organizations dedicated to the advancement of religious liberty and dialogue. In 1992, as a board member of ACRM, he joined with two other groups to sponsor the historic international "Consultation on Religious Liberty, Religious Rights and Ethnic Identity in the New Europe" in Budapest, Hungary. Religious leaders from all parts of the world attended, including for the first time those from Eastern block countries.

In 1986, he received an honorary doctorate from St. Martin’s College and Seminary in recognition of his work to end drug abuse among young people and for his ongoing fight to expose psychiatric abuses against minorities.

The President and his staff were instrumental as part of a coalition of religious groups in passage by the U.S. Congress of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In Los Angeles, he has worked closely with members of other religions, including The Gathering, a coalition of 350 ministers committed to civil and human rights issues, as well as to the resolution of drug abuse and illiteracy.