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Couple to marry in UK's first Scientology wedding after winning Supreme Court case Couple get married in Britain's first Scientology wedding
(about 4 hours later)
A couple who won a human rights case in the Supreme Court are to marry in a Church of Scientology chapel in London today. A Scientology couple who won a landmark Supreme Court case to allow their wedding to be held in one of the controversial group’s chapels got married on Sunday.
Scientologists Louisa Hodkin and Alessandro Calcioli, both 25, will make history when they tie the knot this afternoon in a ceremony which will be streamed live over the internet. Louisa Hodkin and Alessandro Calcioli, both 25, declared that their “happy day” was the culmination of a “long, five-year battle to achieve a simple freedom - the right to marry in our own church”. It was the first wedding in a Scientology chapel in England.
The couple, from East Grinstead, West Sussex, will become the first people in the UK to wed in a Church of Scientology. The judges’ ruling in December said that the chapel should be registered as a place where marriages could take place because “Scientology comes within the meaning of a religion” – a decision that could have significant ramifications as religions can seek charitable status and tax exemptions.
Miss Hodkin took legal action after the registrar general of births, deaths and marriages refused to register a central London Scientology chapel for the solemnisation of marriages under the 1855 Places of Worship Registration Act - because it was not a place for "religious worship". A government source said at the time that the ruling could “open the floodgates” to other groups claiming to be religions for tax purposes.
But the Supreme Court ruled that a Scientology church was a "place of meeting for religious worship". The Church, founded by American science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, said on Sunday that this would be “the first of many weddings” and that people living overseas were planning to come to London to get married.
In a statement released ahead of today's nuptials, the couple said their wedding was a "momentous" day and the culmination of a five-year battle to have their religious rights recognised. The couple said in a statement that “all weddings should be magical and momentous for the couple concerned”.
They said: "We are extremely happy to announce today our marriage at the Church of Scientology in Queen Victoria Street, Victoria. “But we are conscious that ours, as the first for our religion in England, has its own place in history,” they said.
"It has been a long, five-year battle to achieve a simple freedom - the right to marry in our own church with a service in accordance with the rites and customs of our religion and surrounded by our friends and family. “It has been a long, five-year battle to achieve a simple freedom - the right to marry in our own church with a service in accordance with the rites and customs of our religion and surrounded by our friends and family.
"We are pleased and proud that our victory brings to an end inequality and unfairness, not just for Scientologists, but for people of all faiths - because the Supreme Court have now provided a definitive description of what a religion is, which had not existed before in English law. “We are pleased and proud that our victory brings to an end inequality and unfairness, not just for Scientologists, but for people of all faiths - because the Supreme Court have now provided a definitive description of what a religion is, which had not existed before in English law.
"All weddings should be magical and momentous for the couple concerned, but we are conscious that ours, as the first for our religion in England, has its own place in history." “We would like to thank everyone who has sent us their good wishes. We are naturally extremely excited.”
The couple said they decided to share "this happy day" with the world on their website, adding: "We would like to thank everyone who has sent us their good wishes. Prior to the court case, the registrar general of births, deaths and marriages had 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” as Scientology does not believe in a supreme deity. The Supreme Court’s ruling said religions did not necessarily need to believe in a god-like figure.
"We are naturally extremely excited." The Church of Scientology – dismissed by some as a money-making cult – said it was “delighted” that the couple were able to marry in “their church in front of their family and fellow parishioners”.
Miss Hodkin’s challenge was upheld by five Supreme Court Justices, who analysed the issue at a hearing in London in July. “They have paved the way for other Scientologist couples,” it said in a statement. “We extend our congratulations to the happy couple and wish them well in their future life together. This is an historic day for religious equality and freedom for all in the UK.”
They said religion should not be confined to faiths involving a "supreme deity" and that the Church of Scientology was a "place of meeting for religious worship" because it held religious services. A spokesman declined to comment about the church’s intentions over its charitable status, saying Sunday was “all about celebrating a wedding and we’re not thinking beyond that right now”.
In 1970, the Church of Scientology launched a similar case. “However I have no doubt that this is the first of many weddings! I know of several queuing up already,” he said. “I’ve even heard of people overseas wanting to come back to London to be married in the London chapel.”
Then, the Court of Appeal ruled that Scientology did not involve religious worship because there was no "veneration of God or of a Supreme Being". David Hodkin, the bride’s brother, was married at the Church of Scientology in Edinburgh, after Scientology ministers were authorised to perform wedding ceremonies by the Scottish registrar general in 2007.
Miss Hodkin argued that the 1970 ruling should not be binding because Scientologist beliefs and services had evolved during the past four decades.
She said services were "ones of religious worship" and likened Scientology to Buddhism and Jainism.
A Church of Scientology spokesman said: "We are delighted that Louisa and Alessandro can now be married in their church in front of their family and fellow parishioners.
"They have paved the way for other Scientologist couples.
"We extend our congratulations to the happy couple and wish them well in their future life together.
"This is an historic day for religious equality and freedom for all in the UK."
The couple's website can be found at http://www.allowed.uk.com. The ceremony will be broadcast from 4pm.
Additional reporting by Press Association