Louisa Hodkin and her fiancee Alessandro Calcioli stand outside the Supreme Court in London, Wednesday Dec. 11, 2013, after winning their battle to marry in a Church of Scientology chapel. Louisa Hodkin had gone to the U.K. Supreme Court after a High Court judge ruled that Scientology services were not “acts of worship.” (AP Photo/PA, John Stillwell) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE
December 11, 2013 - 3:58 AM
LONDON - Britain's highest court has ruled in favour of a woman who wants to marry in a Church of Scientology chapel.
Louisa Hodkin had gone to the U.K. Supreme Court after a High Court judge ruled that Scientology services were not "acts of worship."
Five judges on Wednesday ruled in Hodkin's favour, saying that confining religion to faiths involving a "supreme deity" would be "unacceptable" religious discrimination and exclude faiths such as Buddhism and Jainism.
The ruling said since the Church of Scientology holds religious services, its churches are a "place of meeting for religious worship."
Hodkin said after the ruling came down that she is "really glad we are finally being treated equally." She said she and her fiance hope to marry in the next few months.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013