Will John Travolta end 45-year devotion to Scientology as they opposed chemotherapy for wife Kelly Preston?
John Travolta is reportedly facing a "make-or-break" moment in his 45-year association with Scientology after having defied the Church's opposition to cancer treatments in a bid to save his wife Kelly Preston.
A heartbroken Travolta announced the death of his wife of nearly 30 years on Sunday, July 12 from breast cancer, writing that the 57-year-old had "fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many."
The 'Pulp Fiction' star also praised Kelly's medical team, saying his family will "forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped."
Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center is currently ranked as the top hospital for cancer care in the United States.
That said, some former Scientology members and friends of Travolta have now applauded his actions and suggested "he is drifting away from the Church", noting that founder L. Ron Hubbard was "really opposed to chemotherapy and radiation."
"The statement was unequivocal in the support of medical staff... It shows they've backed away from Scientology," Former Scientologist Jeffrey Augustine told the Daily Mail. "It'll hurt to lose your wife of 30 years... there will be grief, it's human. There's no acknowledgment in that statement of Scientology, David Miscavige, or auditing, there's nothing - that's critical, he took care of it in his own hands, this is a personal matter, like 'I don't need the Church.'"
In a November 1959 lecture, Founder Hubbard declared that "cancer is not caused... it always requires a second-dynamic or sexual upset, such as the loss of children or some other mechanism to bring about a condition known as cancer."
"Hubbard was really opposed to chemotherapy and radiation," Augustine said. "But people realize it [auditing] doesn't work when it comes to serious diseases."
"In the Church, they'd say you lost Jett, so that's why you got cancer, so we need to audit that out," he continued. "[But] they did it with medicine. This was handled professionally and elegantly, I really admire the way he did it, he made Scientology a non-part of Kelly's death."
Travolta, in his statement, said he would be "taking some time" to be with his children Ella Bleu and Benjamin. "So forgive me in advance if you don't hear from us for a while," he added.
Brendan Tighe, a former security guard for Travolta and Tom Cruise, told Daily Mail the situation was "as tragic as it gets to me."
"I honestly don't know what he will do. But I'd guess that he will go through the full gamut of emotion. They were definitely each other's rock," he said of his former boss. "I'd also guess that he will take some time off with his kids to travel the world and get some space. His Scientology handlers will of course try to be there at every step, but he may not want the 'help' right away."
This is the second tragedy to hit Travolta following the 2009 death of his son Jett at age 16.
