Hollywood heavyweights MEL GIBSON and TOM CRUISE are arguing over Cruise's religion, THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY.

According to American showbiz columnists the hunky actors are at war over comments Gibson made about the Church.

Sources report that the LETHAL WEAPON star doesn't like unconventional religions because he was born and raised under a Catholic splinter group called the ALLIANCE FOR CATHOLIC TRADITIONS. The source says, "It's an extremist group that opposes almost all modernization of the Catholic Church. I wouldn't call it a cult, but it certainly is a controversial sect within the Catholic church. "It's my understanding that Gibson himself isn't a member, but he's very smart and cynical when it comes to this sort of thing." (MB/WNWC/CPT)

Source: WENN