Unification Church
The Unification Church is an Abrahamic monotheistic new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies.
The Unification Church was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity ; in 1994, the organization changed its name to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. It has a presence in approximately 100 countries around the world. The organization's leader is Hak Ja Han, Moon's wife; Moon had previously co-led it until his death. The couple's followers honor them with the title "True Parents".
The book Divine Principle informs the beliefs of the Unification Church. Moon considered himself the Second Coming of Christ, appointed to complete the mission Jesus Christ was unable to because of his crucifixion: beginning a new ideal family, and a larger human lineage, free from sin. The Unification Church is well known for its mass weddings, known as Blessing ceremonies. Its members have founded, owned and supported related organizations in business, education, politics and more.
Its involvement in politics includes anti-communism and support for Korean reunification.
The Unification Church has been accused of excessive financial exploitation of its members. It has been criticized for its teachings and for its social and political influence, with critics calling it a dangerous cult, a political powerhouse and a business empire.
Popular terminologies
Moon did not originally intend to establish a separate church or denomination, and did not give his group of followers its official name, Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, until 1954. The informal name "Unification Church" has been commonly used by members, the public and the news media. By 2018, the term "Unification Movement" was also widely used.Moonie, the colloquial term for members, was first used in 1974 by some American media outlets. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Unification Church of the United States undertook an extensive public relations campaign against the use of the word by the news media.
Many Unification Church members consider the word "Moonie" derogatory, despite originally being received neutrally. In other contexts, it is not always considered pejorative, as Unification Church members have used the word – including the president of the Unification Theological Seminary David Kim, Bo Hi Pak, Moon's aide and president of Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea, and Moon himself.
Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, are regarded by Unificationists as "True Father" and "True Mother," respectively, and as "True Parents" collectively.
History
Background and origins
On February 25, 1920, Moon was born Mun Yong-myeong in Sangsa-ri, Deogun-myon, Jeongju-gun, North P'yŏng'an Province, at a time when Korea was under Japanese rule. His birthday was recorded as January 6 by the traditional lunar calendar. Around 1930, his family, who followed traditional Confucianist beliefs, converted to Christianity and joined a Presbyterian Church, where he later taught Sunday school.In 1945, Moon attended the Israel Monastery with his wife, Choi Sun-Kil, to learn the teachings of, including his book The Fundamental Principles of Christianity. After World War II and the Japanese rule ended in 1945, Moon began preaching. In 1946, Moon traveled alone to Pyongyang in Communist-ruled North Korea. He was arrested on allegations of spying for South Korea and given a five-year sentence to the Hŭngnam labor camp.
Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (1954–1994)
Moon founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in Seoul on May 1, 1954. It expanded rapidly in South Korea and, by the end of 1955, had 30 centers nationwide. The HSA-UWC expanded throughout the world, with most members living in South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and other nations in East Asia. In the 1970s, American HSA-UWC members were noted for raising money for Unification Church projects.In 1955 the HSA-UWC founded The Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles. According to CARP's website, its goal is to promote "intercultural, interracial, and international cooperation through the Unification world view". J. Isamu Yamamoto states in Unification Church: "At times, CARP has been very subtle about its association with the Unification Church; however, the link between the two has always been strong since the purpose of both is to spread Moon's teachings."
The HSA-UWC also sent missionaries to Europe. They entered Czechoslovakia in 1968 and remained underground until the 1990s. Unification movement activity in South America began in the 1970s with missionary work. Later, the HSA-UWC made large investments in civic organizations and business projects, including an international newspaper.
Starting in the 1990s, the HSA-UWC expanded in Russia and other former communist nations. Hak Ja Han, Moon's wife, made a radio broadcast to the nation from the State Kremlin Palace. As of 1994, the HSA-UWC had about 5,000 members in Russia. About 500 Russian students had been sent to the US to participate in 40-day workshops.
Moon moved to the United States in 1971, although he remained a citizen of the Republic of Korea. In the 1970s, he gave a series of public speeches in the United States, including one in Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1974; two in 1976 in Yankee Stadium in New York City; and one on the grounds of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., where he spoke on "God's Hope for America" to 300,000 people. In 1975, the HSA-UWC held one of the largest peaceful gatherings in history, with 1.2 million people in Yeouido, South Korea.
In the 1970s, the Unification Church, along with some other new religious movements, became a target of the anti-cult movement. Activists have accused the movement of having "brainwashed" its members. In 1976, American Unification Church president Neil Albert Salonen met with Senator Bob Dole to defend the HSA-UWC against charges made by its critics, including the parents of some members.
The Unification Church's involvement in the seafood industry began at the direction of Moon, who ordered an expansion into "the oceanic providence". In 1976 and 1977 the Church invested nearly a million dollars into the United States seafood industry. Moon delivered a speech in 1980 entitled "The Way of Tuna," in which he claimed that "After we build the boats, we catch the fish and process them for the market, and then have a distribution network. This is not just on the drawing board; I have already done it." and declared himself the "king of the ocean." He also suggested that they could get around the recently imposed 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone by marrying American and Japanese members, allowing the Japanese ones to become American citizens, because once married, "we are not foreigners; therefore Japanese brothers, particularly those matched to Americans, are becoming..... leaders for fishing and distribution." He also declared that "Gloucester is almost a Moonie town now!"
In 1976 UC members founded News World Communications, an international news media corporation. Its first two newspapers, The News World and the Spanish-language Noticias del Mundo, were published in New York from 1976 until the early 1990s. In 1982 The New York Times described News World as "the newspaper unit of the Unification Church". Moon's son, Hyun Jin Moon, is its chairman of the board. News World Communications owns United Press International, The World and I, Tiempos del Mundo, The Segye Ilbo, The Sekai Nippo, the Zambezi Times, The Middle East Times. Until 2008 it published the Washington, D.C.–based newsmagazine Insight on the News. Until 2010, it owned The Washington Times. On November 2, 2010, Sun Myung Moon and a group of former Times editors purchased the paper from News World.
Starting in the 1980s, Moon instructed HSA-UWC members to take part in a program called "Home Church" in which they reached out to neighbors and community members through public service.
In April 1990, Moon visited the Soviet Union and met with President Mikhail Gorbachev. Moon expressed support for the political and economic transformations underway in the Soviet Union. At the same time, the movement was expanding into formerly communist nations.
The Women's Federation for World Peace was founded in 1992 by Hak Ja Han. Its stated purpose is to encourage women to work more actively to promote peace in their communities and society. It has members in 143 countries.
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (1994–present)
On May 1, 1994, Moon declared that the era of the HSA-UWC had ended and inaugurated a new organization: the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification would include HSA-UWC members and members of other religious organizations working toward common goals, especially on issues of sexual morality and reconciliation between people of different religions, nations and races. The FFWPU co-sponsored Blessing ceremonies in which thousands of couples from other churches and religions were given the marriage blessing previously given only to HSA-UWC members.In the 1980s and 1990s, the Church's businesses expanded greatly and encountered significant success, leading to it becoming wealthy despite its declining number of members. In 1991 Moon announced that members should return to their hometowns, to undertake apostolic work there. Massimo Introvigne, who has studied the Unification Church and other new religious movements, said that this confirmed that full-time membership was no longer considered crucial to church members.
In 1994, The New York Times recognized the movement's political influence, saying it was "a theocratic powerhouse that is pouring foreign fortunes into conservative causes in the United States". In 1998, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram criticized Moon's "ultra-right leanings" and suggested a personal relationship with conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In 1995, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, spoke at an FFWPU event in the Tokyo Dome. Bush told the gathering: "If as president I could have done one thing to have helped the country more, it would have been to do a better job in finding a way, either through speaking out or through raising a moral standard, to strengthen the American family." Hak Ja Han, the main speaker, credited her husband with bringing about the Fall of Communism and declared that he must save America from "the destruction of the family and moral decay."
In 2000, Moon founded the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, which describes itself as "a global organization whose mission is to serve its member organizations, strengthen and encourage the non-governmental sector as a whole, increase public understanding of the non-governmental community, and provide the mechanism and support needed for NGOs to connect, partner and multiply their contributions to solve humanity's basic problems." It has been criticized for promoting conservatism in contrast to some of the ideals of the United Nations.
In 2003, Korean FFWPU members started a political party in South Korea, "The Party for God, Peace, Unification, and Home". An inauguration declaration stated the new party would focus on preparing for Korean reunification by educating the public about God and peace. An FFWPU official said that similar political parties would be started in Japan and the United States. Since 2003, the FFWPU-related Universal Peace Federation's Middle East Peace Initiative has been organizing group tours of Israel and Palestine to promote understanding, respect and reconciliation among Jews, Muslims and Christians.