BRACCIANO, Italy, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Guests at the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in Bracciano, Italy, will see a fairly traditional ceremony, a Scientology clergyman says.
Scientology Minister Jeffrey Quiros told CBS TV's "The Early Show" Friday the marriage ceremony will not be that much different from a Christian wedding.
"Much of it is more traditional that you'd think," Quiros said. "The bride's family's on one side, the groom's on the other. There's a processional. The bride's father gives the bride away."
Theology professor Dr. Sarah Sumner said the main difference is that Scientololgists do not view God as a witness to the union.
"In a Christian wedding, the primary witness of the wedding is God himself and in a Scientology wedding, God is recognized as an abstraction," she said. There's not a personal God. So there is no presence of a deity. I think that's the biggest difference."
Hollywood stars have been sighted around Rome ahead of the Saturday nuptials at the 15th Century Castello Odescalchi. The couple, who have a 7-month-old daughter, will reportedly celebrate with a banquet in Rome later in the day.
