Tom Cruise’s Scientology video was “good for the faith”

A widely-mocked propaganda video featuring Tom Cruise talking about his Scientology religion was good for the faith, church officials have claimed.

They say the clip has prompted people to seek out information on the so-called cult.

A spokesman told the New York Post: "Having presented these selective and out-of-context excerpts with the intent of creating both controversy and ridicule resulted in people searching for Church of Scientology Web sites."

Scientology turned up on the "most searched for" lists of various search engines.

But officials are still said to be searching for whoever posted the video on the web.

An insider said: "The clip on the Internet was nine minutes long - but the original was way longer. It was edited to make Tom look really crazy."

Cruise, 45, was reportedly furious when the video of him making several absurd claims about the sci-fi cult was leaked onto the Internet.

By Owen Williams, Jan 28 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy