Last month, it was widely reported that Tom Cruise hasn’t seen his daughter, Suri, in nearly 1,000 days.
The news was baffling, as Cruise clearly has the means to visit his Suri whenever he pleases, and he’s reportedly been an attentive father to his other two kids, whom he adopted during his first marriage.
(Though it’s worth noting that Cruise was not invited to the wedding of his eldest daughter, Isabella Cruise, when she got married last year.)
So why is it that Cruise would so callously distance himself from his youngest child, who just turned 10 in April?
Well, according to Gary Morehead, the former head of Cruise’s personal security team at the main Scientology headquarters near Hemet, California, it’s the actor’s devotion to his faith that’s to blame for his negligent parenting.
Morehead, who has spoken out against the Church in the past, says Cruise is completely under the control of Scientologist leader David Miscavige, who advised the actor to cut ties with his daughter and her mother, Katie Holmes:
“Miscavige would have hammered home to Tom that Suri has been infiltrated by a bad Thetan,” says Gary Morehead.
“Therefore, it’s easy for Tom to disconnect from her.”
Morehead adds that Cruise has been taking instructions from Miscavige for so long that it likely never occurs to him to question his advice:
“Once you reach the mind-set where Tom is at, he doesn’t need much convincing. They believe the church is ultimately right, and abide by its demands.”
Another former Scientologist, Jon Atack, believes that Cruise would’ve been ordered to sever ties with Suri and Holmes once they left the religion, in order to prevent him from questioning his own beliefs.
“It’s likely Tom reported feeling upset, and that’s when I think he may have been told to drop any connection to his daughter,” says Atack.
Sources say Katie and Suri would’ve both been branded Suppressive Persons (“SPs” in Scientologist jargon) as well as Potential Trouble Sources (“PTSs”).
Cruise reportedly hopes that he’ll one day be able to redeem Suri in the eyes of the Church, and therefore welcome her back into his life:
“A PTS can be reformed by discipline and training, and become a good Scientologist,” says Atack.
This would reportedly involve sending Suri to a special school for Scientologist children, an idea that Holmes has reportedly resisted.
