Tom, 45, and Katie, 29, are risking their careers as well as what's left of their reputations in an astonishing plot hatched by the Church of Scientology.
The first stage of the global expansion plan is to attract more celebrities to the church. Tom and Katie's star power will be used to draw them in, and the specially built Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Hollywood
will convert them.
And probably the most shocking part is that some of Hollywood's most troubled young stars will be pawns in the elaborate game plan.
Lindsay Lohan is among those on the 'hit list' due to her continued and much-publicised struggle with drug and alcohol addictions.
Even after her spell in the Cirque Lodge treatment facility, Lindsay has suffered many relapses. So Tom thinks she
will be a prime candidate for Scientology's drug rehabilitation program Narconon.
Actress Kirstie Alley claims Narconon helped her win her battle with cocaine addiction, and she donated $5.5 million to help the Church of Scientology with its expansion.
But with Kirstie's fame fading, Lindsay is seen as the perfect replacement from the current generation of Hollywood stars.
'The church is always evolving and we are the only ones who can help people with these kind of problems,' a church insider boasts to New Idea. 'Our drug treatment program Narconon has the highest success rate in the world, and we should be thanked for our efforts to reach out to those in need.
'Look at Eva Mendes. She is making the same mistake Lindsay Lohan did, trusting her rehabilitation to psychiatrists and quack doctors. She would be much better off with us where she could find the true path to enlightenment. I hope she knows she's welcome at any time.'
Lindsay and Eva aren't the only stars being targeted, with Tom also wasting no time in trying to recruit troubled pop star Britney Spears. He sent a get well message to her saying that he knows she can get through her current difficulties and regain her status as one of the world's biggest stars.
Tom's intentions were far from good. According to Britney's manager, the message was followed by a series of calls from the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International encouraging her to come in for 'meetings' so she can find out how her psychiatrists are deceiving her and how therapy makes her problems worse.
Once inside the centre, former church members say Britney would be pressured into agreeing to be 'audited', a kind of pseudo-psychological evaluation. This involves an 'E-Meter', an invention of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard that has never been proven to have any scientific merit.
The real purpose of the 'audit', according to former members, is to coerce people like Britney into revealing all of their most intimate and personal secrets. These could then be used to force her into staying within the church, and even highlighted as reasons why she should take expensive ‘courses' at the centre or make financial donations.
It's a very elaborate campaign, and although Tom's doing a lot
of the legwork, it has all actually been masterminded by the most senior figure of Scientology, David Miscavige.
David is a lifelong member of the church and has risen to become its leader. He counts Tom as his closest friend. In fact, he was the best man at Tom and Katie's lavish wedding and was even reported to have joined them for part of their honeymoon.
For a long time David has been telling Tom and Katie to concentrate their efforts on recruiting the world's biggest A-listers, with the couple gently encouraging their close friends David and Victoria Beckham and Will Smith to find out more.
But they have had limited success. While Will has been saying positive things about Scientology recently, Victoria remains very sceptical.
That's why David decided to turn his attention to recruiting troubled young stars, making Tom and Katie the figureheads of his plan, while other leading Scientology celebrities such as Kirstie and John Travolta will also have roles to play.
But the grand campaign, and Tom and Katie's involvement in it, doesn't end at just recruiting Hollywood's hot list.
The Church of Scientology is also planning dramatic big-budget television advertisements, and has already sent out casting notices to some of Hollywood's leading agents looking for stars to appear in them.
Although the scripts are currently so top secret that only the church's elite inner circle has seen them, Tom and Katie could play leading roles, along with John, Kirstie and fellow Scientology devotee, American television actress Leah Remini.
Tom has also suggested the church make a glossy documentary that shows 'the truth about Scientology', which could then be entered into leading film festivals.
But a spokesperson for the Sundance Film Festival, one of the world's biggest and most prestigious, doubts it would make it into the event.
'Our selection policy is extremely tight and I very much doubt we would admit a piece of blatant religious propaganda,' the spokesperson says.
And it seems it wouldn't just be the documentary that would be criticised.
'Everyone I talk to in Hollywood sees this the same way - if Tom and Katie start making ads for Scientology or some hack documentary, then their careers are over,' says a leading film producer, who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted
by Scientology extremists.
'Those wacky internet videos were bad enough - this would be the final straw.'
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