Katie Holmes: Cult Won’t Get My Girl

Katie, 33, is fighting for sole custody of Suri, six, so SHE — and not Cruise, a follower of the cult faith — controls the child’s religion and education.

A pal said she was “terrified” Suri would soon have to begin Scientology schooling.

Katie reached breaking point with hubby Cruise because she felt “suffocated” living with his mum and sister.

The constant presence of the Hollywood superstar’s family triggered rows between the celebrity couple.

And it is one of the main reasons behind Katie’s decision to divorce Top Gun idol Cruise.

The actress, who will look to friend Victoria Beckham for support, is also desperate to save Suri from the Scientology religion followed by her three times-wed husband.

Katie, raised as a Catholic, is said to have been secretly plotting the split for weeks.

While Cruise was away filming, she whisked Suri to New York from their Beverly Hills home and rented an apartment in the Big Apple for her and the little girl to move into.

Citing “irreconcilable differences,” she hired a hot-shot lawyer to end the five-year marriage — and is seeking sole custody of her daughter.

She is thought to have a better chance in New York as Scientologists are rife in powerful positions in Los Angeles and Californian courts are more inclined to favour joint custody deals.

But last night reports claimed Cruise, who turns 50 on Tuesday, is set to fight back by launching rival divorce proceedings and demanding they be heard in LA.

His lawyers will insist Katie does not meet residency requirements to file in New York because although the couple have a plush property in the city, their “full-time” home is in California.

A source told a US celebrity website: “At the same time, Tom will file for divorce in California and will request joint custody of Suri.

“There is absolutely no way he is going to let Katie have sole custody.

“The lines are being drawn and this is going to shape up as a very contentious custody battle.”

The three issues of the in-law war, Suri’s future and Scientology are intertwined.

Cruise’s mum Mary Lee, sister Cass and adopted children Isabella, 19, and Connor, 17, all live in the couple’s Beverly Hills mansion.

They are Scientologists and Cass helped to home-school Isabella and Connor.

A source close to Cruise and Katie said: “Katie has found the set-up extremely suffocating at times. One of the main things she and Tom fought over was his family.

“His mum was always around everywhere they went and so were his sister and kids. They all lived in the same mansion. But even though the house is huge it just became too much for Katie.”

Another source said Katie was “terrified” at how Suri would turn out if she was inducted into Scientology.

Cruise — said to have been “completely shocked” by Katie’s announcement of her divorce action on Friday — went to ground in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik yesterday.

The Mission: Impossible hero is in the country filming scenes for his new movie Oblivion. He is flying between Reykjavik and the set by helicopter — and looked haunted when spotted.

Isabella and Connor are with him. And the lad has been happily tweeting about his adventures there, which have included whitewater rafting, cliff jumping and grilling hot dog sausages in a volcanic crater.

But his tweets stopped as soon as Katie, who played tomboy Joey Potter in TV series Dawson’s Creek, went public on her divorce plans.

Friends believe this proved Cruise, along with Connor, was taken totally by surprise. The source said: “It will take time for Tom to get his head around it all.”

A former pal of Cruise told last night how Katie made her move because Suri was about to begin learning and practising Scientology — a movement founded in 1952 by sci-fi writer L Ron Hubbard and also followed by Grease star John Travolta.

Marc Headley, 39, was a confidant of the star at the controversial religion’s Gold Base HQ in Gilman Hot Springs, California, before he quit the cult.

He described the religion’s “security checks” in which ethics officers probe followers using a device called an e-meter, which claims to use electrical energy to measure emotional shifts. Marc said: “Suri has just turned six and that is when Scientology children first endure child security checks. They are rigorous interrogations that are terrifying, especially to children. She would also be tested by the e-meter.

“I wouldn’t want my children or anyone’s children to go through this ordeal. They would bark at Suri, ‘Did you steal?’ or “Did you lie?’ She is only six. This is why Katie is choosing to escape now.

“The fact that Katie has gone aggressively for sole custody is to save Suri from Scientology. She knows if Tom has his way, the girl will be home-schooled by the cult.

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