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A video featuring Tom Cruise giving a speech on Scientology has been seized on by gossip websites, with bloggers ranking the appearance as even more extreme than the actor's infamous encounter with Oprah Winfrey's sofa.

The four-year-old video was picked up by other websites after a brief posting on YouTube earlier today.

During Cruise's eight-minute speech, the actor says that, as a Scientologist, he and his fellow believers are "the authorities of the mind".

They "can bring peace and unite cultures". They can "rehabilitate criminals". As members of the controversial church, it is also apparently their responsibility "to educate and create the new reality".

Speaking over a soundtrack featuring the Mission Impossible theme tune, Cruise declares his dedication to his faith.

"Beng a scientologist, you look as someone, and you know absolutely that you can help them. When you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else; as you drive past, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one that can really help."

The 45-year-old actor peppers his speech with Scientological terms such as "SP" (a suppressive person) and "PTSPs" (a potential trouble source, influenced by SPs) when delivering his message.

"[It's about] re-reading the KSW [the Keep Scientology Working policy, formed by it's founder L.Ron Hubbard]..., saying OK, I'm going to do it, or I'm not going to do it. Period."

At one point, the actor starts laughing, and clapping his hands, apparently amused by a religious in-joke. He recalls being asked whether he has ever met an "SP".

He says: "I looked at them and I thought, what a beautiful thing. Maybe one day it will be like that. Wow. SPs. Maybe they will just read about them in the history books. [But] it's not about how to run from an SP. It's PTSP - how do you shatter or confront that oppression."

The video's appearance comes as Andrew Morton, the author of a controversial biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, a publishes a book about the Hollywood star, alleging that the 45-year-old actor ranks second in command in the Church of Scientology.

"This is a fair, even-handed treatment of Tom Cruise's life," the British author said. "He's a man who deserves attention."

The church has responded with a 15-page statement, calling Morton's book, Tom Cruise An Unauthorised Biography, "a bigoted, defamatory assault replete with lies". A spokesman insisted Cruise "is a Scientology parishioner and holds no official or unofficial position in the Church hierarchy".

At the end of the video, Cruise says: "I have to tell you something. It really is, you know, it's rough and tumble. It's wild and woolly." His voice drops to a whisper. "It's a blast. A blast. It really is fun. Because dammit, there's nothing better than getting out and fighting the fight. And suddenly you see."

The film finishes with Cruise laughing, while a deep voiceover says: "Scientology can be defined by a single question: would you want others to develop the knowledge you have?

"In answering that question, Tom Cruise has introduced LRH [L. Ron Hubbard] technology to more than1 billion people on earth." The figure 1.037 billion flashes up on the screen.

"And that is only the first wave he has unleashed. That is why the story of Tom Cruise, Scientologist, has only just begun."

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