Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are divorcing, marking the end to their five-year marriage, the BBC reported. The office of celebrity divorce lawyer Jonathan Wolfe has confirmed the divorce.
They have a six-year-old daughter, Suri, and Cruise, 49, has two children from his previous marriage to Nicole Kidman. Cruise married Holmes, 33, his third wife, in an Italian castle in November 2006.
It's reported that Holmes filed for divorce in New York last Thursday, citing irreconcilable differences, and that she is seeking sole custody of their daughter.
Experts said on Monday that actress Katie Holmes faces two strong adversaries in her legal fight for sole custody of 6-year-old daughter, Suri, Reuters reported. Holmes will come up against husband Tom Cruise and his scientology religion in her custody battle.
While Holmes, Cruise and representatives for both have remained quiet about the reasons for the divorce, speculation in the media is that Suri, now at the age when she begins formal education, and the Church of Scientology, of which Cruise is a key member, are central to the breakup.
Divorce lawyer Lubov Stark said: "The daughter is in the middle of this whole divorce. She seems to have been raised in Scientology up to this age, so if the judge comes in and gives custody to Katie Holmes, she can change (Suri's) religion."
Rick Ross, an expert on cults, added: "Scientology is a potentially unsafe, if not dangerous, organization."
(China.org.cn July 4, 2012)
