Louisa Hodkin and Alessandro Calcioli,both 25 years of age,become the first couple in Britain to tie the knot in a Church of Scientology chapel on Sunday Feb 23,2014
Louisa Hodkin took legal action after the registrar general of births, deaths and marriages refused to register the London Church Chapel for the solemnisation of marriages under the 1855 Places of Worship Registration Act – because it was not a place for “religious worship”.
Five Supreme Court justices upheld Miss Hodkin’s challenge following a hearing in London last July.
In their ruling they said the Church of Scientology held religious services, therefore its church was a “place of meeting for religious worship”.
A Church of Scientology spokesman said: “They have paved the way for other Scientologist couples.”
The Church of Scientology, set up by L Ron Hubbard in 1953, remains one of the most controversial new religious movements and has been called a cult. Critics claim its practices include brainwashing and harassing perceived enemies.
Scientologists believe souls (known as thetans) come from outer space to be reincarnated on Earth. Movie star Tom Cruise famously married Katie Holmes in a Scientology ceremony in 2006.
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