Tom Cruise and Katie Holms reach divorce settlement

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and his actress wife Katie Holmes settled their divorce on Monday in what her lawyer called a "speedy resolution" to a case that prompted questions over the raising of their daughter and the Church of Scientology.

"The case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life," Holmes attorney Jonathan Wolfe of New Jersey-based firm Skoloff & Wolfe said in a statement to Reuters.

A representative for Cruise, who rose to stardom in 1983's "Risky Business" and became a top draw with 1986's "Top Gun", also confirmed the settlement.

Holmes, 33, filed for divorce from the "Mission: Impossible" star Cruise, 50, on June 28, ahead of the long Independence Day holiday week in the United States.

Cruise was filming in Iceland, and a source near the A-list movie actor said the divorce filing in New York took him by surprise.

Celebrity media outlets have speculated that Holmes had whisked 6-year-old daughter Suri away from the couple's Beverly Hills home to New York City because she did not want the girl raised in the Church of Scientology, of which Cruise is a key member.

But representatives and lawyers for the pair have declined to comment on Holmes' intent, and the only public words from either star about the divorce case came in a statement Monday in which they said they were trying to settle issues privately.

"We are committed to working together as parents to accomplishing what is in our daughter Suri's best interests," the pair said in a joint statement. "We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents."

In the end, the statement from Holmes' attorney seemed to indicate that attorneys and the couple had worked all last week to reach an agreement. Wolfe thanked Cruise's attorneys for "their professionalism and diligence that helped bring about this speedy resolution."

(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio)