Religious Technology Center

Religious Technology Center
Formation1982
TypeReligious / commercial
Legal statusCalifornia non-profit corporation
Headquarters1710 Ivar Avenue, Suite 1100, Los Angeles CA 90028
Locations
Chairman
David Miscavige
Websitertc.org

The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is an American non-profit corporation that was founded in 1982 by the Church of Scientology to control and oversee the use of all of the trademarks, symbols and texts of Scientology and Dianetics. Although RTC controls their use, those works are owned by another corporation, the Church of Spiritual Technology.:53–4,Bates 150130–1

Since 1987, David Miscavige has been the head of RTC with the title "Chairman of the Board".

While exercising authority over the use of all Dianetics and Scientology materials, RTC claims that it is not involved in the day-to-day management of the Church of Scientology; that role is assigned to a separate corporation, the Church of Scientology International (CSI). According to the RTC website, "RTC stands apart as an external body which protects the Scientology religion and acts as the final arbiter of orthodoxy" and its stated purpose is "to protect the public from misapplication of the technology and to see that the religious technologies of Dianetics and Scientology remain in proper hands and are properly ministered".

In a 1993 memorandum by the Church of Scientology International (CSI) to the Internal Revenue Service, CSI wrote about RTC's personnel and its income: "RTC ... owns the Scientology religious marks and advanced technology. It licenses the marks to CSI for sublicense to subordinate churches and directly licenses the advanced technology to appropriate churches. Through this structure RTC assures that practice of the Scientology religion within the ecclesiastical hierarchy under CSI's authority as Mother Church remains strictly orthodox, in accordance with the Scientology Scriptures. This church has a staff of approximately 50 individuals and an annual budget of approximately $6.6 million, based on its annual disbursements for the most recent year for which financial statements are available."