Hints of Spring and New Beginnings

This week in history, February 26 – March 4:

• A Marriage Blessing Ceremony of 13 American couples is held (February 28, 1969)
• One World Crusade is established (February 28, 1972)
• The March 1st Korean Independence Movement emerges (March 1, 1919)
• The first 100-day training at the Belvedere Training is held (March 1, 1973)
• The first edition of The Washington Times is published (March 1, 1982)
• The second anniversary of Foundation Day is observed (March 3, 2015)
• The Universal Peace Academy opens (March 4, 2013)

FEBRUARY 28, 1969

Holy Marriage Blessing of 13 American Couples

On February 28, 1969, at the historic Upshur House in Washington, D.C., True Parents blessed 13 American couples, who according to some interpretations represented the original 13 colonies. This was the first Marriage Blessing Ceremony conducted outside Korea and the first of three that together came to be known as the 43 Couple Blessing. True Parents held a Marriage Blessing of 8 couples in Essen, Germany, on March 28, 1969, and a Marriage Blessing of 22 couples in Tokyo, Japan, on May 1, 1969. The 43 Couple Blessing was conducted on the foundation of the 430 Couple Holy Blessing conducted by True Parents in Korea the previous year and was intended to signify expansion to the worldwide level. True Parents celebrated the Blessing on the 20th day of their visit to the United States as part of their 1969 World Tour. Miss Young Oon Kim, who directed HSA-UWC America at that time, stated that the Blessing of 13 couples (26 people) “was probably the largest wedding ever celebrated in America.” Those numbers would be eclipsed many times over in subsequent years.

FEBRUARY 28, 1972

One World Crusade (OWC) Established

A One World Crusade tour bus.

In January 1972, True Father gathered 72 “pioneers” from Unification Church missionary groups in New York City to prepare for the inaugural 7-City Day of Hope speaking tour. In Los Angeles, the sixth city on the tour, True Father formed the One World Crusade (OWC). It would be the official name of the mobile units comprising the 72 trainees from New York. True Father said the new organization was formed to evangelize the United States and, further, the whole world. Mr. David S.C. Kim, who was present, wrote, “Two probable names were suggested – ‘World Unification Crusade’ and ‘One World Crusade.’ After heated discussion, finally ‘One World Crusade’ was born by our Master’s decision.”

After the first Day of Hope Tour, OWC bus teams continued to campaign across the United States assisting newly appointed state representatives (SRs). They expanded from two to three teams, then to ten. Following the arrival of international members as a “New Pilgrim Movement” and the first 100-Day Training programs, True Father created 40 International One World Crusade (IOWC) units so that there would be one for every state. The IOWC teams brought success to later 21-, 32-, and 8-city Day of Hope tours. In early 1975, a large IOWC contingent boarded a jumbo jet for Japan and eventually Korea, where they supported massive Day of Hope rallies modeled after what had been accomplished in the United States.

MARCH 1, 1919

The March 1st Korean Independence Movement

The March 1st (Samil) Movement came about as a result of Japan’s repressive colonial occupation of Korea starting in 1905.  On March 1, 1919, thirty-three activists who formed the core of the movement read the Korean Declaration of Independence which they had signed. This sparked nationwide demonstrations which were viciously put down by Japanese police. The March 1st Movement had a profound impact on True Father. In his autobiography, he stated that his great-uncle, Yoon Guk Moon, a graduate of Pyongyang Theological Seminary and a minister, “participated in the drafting of the 1919 Declaration of Independence.” He also “printed thousands of Korean flags and handed them out to the people who poured into the streets.” Yoon Guk Moon later was arrested and put under constant surveillance.  True Father wrote that his great-uncle’s “steadfast love for his country, even in the face of extreme adversity,” provided him with a “definite compass” for his life.  True Father was born 10 months after the March 1, 1919 demonstrations.

MARCH 1, 1973

First 100-Day Training at Belvedere Training Center

On March 1, 1973, the first International Training Session began at the Belvedere Training Center in Tarrytown, New York. Initiated as a 100-day program for future church leaders, the schedule included forty days of intense Divine Principle study, thirty days of the Victory over Communism (VOC) ideology and thirty days of Unification Thought, a recently published application of the Principle to philosophy. The six hours of daily lectures were interspersed with talks from True Father, fellowship, discussion, examinations, lecture practice, and participation in the ongoing New York City outreach campaign. In addition to solidifying the American Unification Church, Belvedere Training was the first international training program as it included recently arrived “New Pilgrims” from Europe. One U.S. participant wrote: “Europeans were not the only ones wearing smiles of eagerness and anticipation. Some American brothers were intoxicated in those early days, because we were so many fine people together and Belvedere is the most holy place in America.”

Belvedere Training also afforded intimate access to True Parents who spent much time there. Joseph Kinney wrote, “People who needed internal guidance, or who had spiritual problems, went directly to Father Moon. There was no security on the property; True Parents would just walk around the grounds and the garden, and members could just walk up to them. … The chain of commanders and links between Father Moon and us was extremely short. He spoke to us throughout the day, and he had personal give and take with everybody in the Training Center, even if it was just one or two sentences. If you were lucky, you’d give a testimony in front of him, or he’d bonk you gently on the head or ask you what country you were from. Even if he saw you in a crowd, there’d be some acknowledgment.”

MARCH 1, 1982

First Edition of The Washington Times

On January 1, 1982, True Father announced his intention of starting a new daily newspaper in Washington, D.C.  Specifically, according to the testimony of Dr. Bo Hi Pak, one of the first missionaries to the United States, True Father stated his intention of founding a conservative daily newspaper in the nation’s capital. The Washington Star, the capital’s only major competitor of the powerful but liberal-leaning The Washington Post, had folded the previous year, and many lamented the prospect of Washington, D.C., becoming a “one-newspaper town.” On January 1, True Father selected 200 newspaper trainees from among a full ballroom of Unificationist volunteers and directed that The Washington Times be published within three months, on March 1, to correspond with the anniversary of Korea’s Samil Independence Movement. True Father appointed Dr. Pak as president. In the 58 days from January 1 to March 1, Dr. Pak recruited an experienced editor and publisher as well as a first-rate staff, including a number of well-known journalists. He also found and obtained True Father’s approval to purchase a former paper factory located on New York Avenue NE, just a short distance from downtown Washington, as The Times’ headquarters. Still, articles for the first edition had to be transmitted to New York, where they were typeset in the offices of The News World. Dr. Pak himself went to New York and brought the newspaper negatives back to Washington overnight on a chartered light aircraft.

MARCH 3, 2015

Second Anniversary of Foundation Day and Cosmic Blessing Ceremony

True Mother led the observance of the second anniversary of Foundation Day and conducted an International Marriage Blessing at the Cheongshim Peace World Center, Gapyeong, Korea, on March 3, 2015 (January 13, H.C.). True Parents originally established Foundation Day on February 20, 2013, as the starting point for the substantial realization of Cheon Il Guk. Eight hundred new couples and 3,000 existing couples participated in the 2015 Cosmic Blessing Ceremony, which was attended by 20,000 in the Peace World Center. Approximately 20,000 couples from 194 nations participated in the ceremony via live Internet broadcast, bringing the total number of couples to 24,000. In her Foundation Day speech, True Mother told participants, “The Marriage Blessing will hold no meaning if you allow your Blessing to extend only to your family, while living in this age of True Parents. You must reveal to your neighbors, your tribe and your nation that True Parents are the true owners. That is the only way for you to go today if you want to receive the crown of glory.” In addition to the Blessing, FFWPU Publishing Committee President Young Hwi Kim and Vice President Jae Suk Lee dedicated the final volume of the Scriptures, the Cham Bumo Gyeong. This completed the Cheon Il Guk Scriptures composed of the Cheon Seong Gyeong, the Pyeong Hwa Gyeong and the Chambumo Gyeong.

MARCH 4, 2013

Universal Peace Academy Opens

On March 4, 2013, the first Entrance Ceremony for the Universal Peace Academy (UPA) was held in the Main Chapel of Cheongshim Graduate School of Theology at Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center in Korea. Forty-three students, mainly from Korea and Japan but also from eight additional nations, participated. They were chosen as entering “cadets” through a strict selection process for the master’s level course, which includes the graduate school and a one-year pre-graduate language school for those needing to raise their competence in Korean. After the Wonmo Peace Foundation was established according to True Father’s direction, UPA was the first project set up for the education of Unificationist-born future leaders. True Mother founded and named the academy. At the entrance ceremony, she said that under the motto of “Loving Heaven, Loving Nation and Loving People,” UPA “is a school to create leaders who will build a world with freedom, peace, unification and happiness in heaven and on this earth.” She called on the cadets to regard their educational experience “not only as the light of your life but the light for the seven billion people of the earth.”

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of February 26 to March 4.

Beyond Religion, Ethnicity, and Nationality

This week in history, February 19-25:

• The Wonmo Pyeongae Foundation is inaugurated (February 20, 2013)
• 74 couples participate in the Marriage Blessing Ceremony (February 21, 1977)
• True Father celebrates his 60th birthday (February 21, 1980)
• The Cheon Bok Gung opens (February 21, 2010)
• 70,000 in Nepal participate in International Peace Blessing (February 21, 2015)
• True Father is arrested for a second time in Korea (February 22, 1948)
• The Holy Marriage Blessing for 430 couples is held (February 22, 1968)
• Unification News begins publication (February 22, 1982)
• The Cross-Cultural Marriage Blessing Ceremony takes place (February 22, 2007)
• Foundation Day (February 22, 2013)
• Year One of the Kingdom of God begins (February 23, 1977)
• Ilhwa Ginseng products receive kosher certification (February 24, 2014)

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Wonmo Pyeongae Foundation Inaugurated

The Wonmo Pyeongae (Eternal Parent’s Love) Foundation was officially inaugurated as a non-profit foundation on February 20, 2013 (Korea time) at the Cheon Jeong Gung in Gapyeong, Korea, before an audience of approximately 1,000 people. True Father originally proposed the idea for the foundation in 2011. The Wonmo Pyeongae Foundation has five main functions: 1) scholarships for Unificationist undergraduate and high-school students; 2) educational support programs and contests; 3) the Sunhak Peace Prize to commemorate True Parents’ contributions to world peace; 4) social contribution awards to candidates or organizations that have served in areas such as counseling, serving multicultural families, and service for the handicapped; and 5) scientific research on peace theory and support of symposia. During her Founder’s Speech, True Mother said, “Dr. Sun Myung Moon devoted his lifetime to build a global family, and his desire is embodied through the Wonmo Pyeongae Foundation.” As its first project, the foundation during its inauguration ceremony awarded four billion won ($3.7 million) in scholarships to 745 selected individuals and organizations.
 

FEBRUARY 21, 1977

74 Couples Holy Blessing

On February 21, 1977, True Parents officiated at the largest Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony yet held outside Korea. Seventy-four couples from eleven nations took part in the ceremony, which was conducted in the Terrace Room of the World Mission Center (New Yorker Hotel) in New York. True Parents previously had conducted a Blessing for 43 couples (13 couples in the United States, 8 couples in Germany and 22 couples in Japan) during their Second World Tour in 1969. True Father explained that the Holy Blessing of 74 Couples was made possible on the foundation of the victory of 1976 in America, notably the Washington Monument Rally. He said that he especially wished to give the Blessing to “sorrowfully separated couples from the 777 and 1,800 families” and those who had not been able to participate in the 1975 Blessing due to mission responsibilities.

For the first time since the Holy Blessing of 36 Couples, True Parents posed for photos with each couple individually. They also held a banquet for participants after the ceremony which included a number of “games” such as couples competing to stare into one another’s eyes the longest without blinking or trying to make one another laugh, then trying to make True Father laugh, unsuccessfully. Even though True Mother and the children joined in, True Father “refused to budge” until “there was a glimmer and he broke his seriousness to please us all.” It was reported, “The room filled with joy.” Col. Bo Hi Pak announced that such a banquet had not happened before.

FEBRUARY 21, 1980

True Father’s 60th Birthday

True Father fishing on the Hudson River near the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) circa February, 1980.

In early 1980, elders of the Unification Church were eagerly preparing to celebrate True Father’s 60th birthday. This was because in East Asia, the 60th birthday has special significance, meaning that a person has completed five 12-year cycles of the Oriental zodiac. It signifies accomplishing one big cycle in one’s life and starting another and is considered the most significant birthday in an individual’s lifetime. Therefore, church leaders were immersed in a multitude of detailed preparations for that celebration. However, unexpectedly True Father summoned Col. Bo Hi Pak and asked him to abandon all plans for a celebration and immediately go to Latin America. He had intuited the need for a new initiative to support Latin American governments, which were increasingly under pressure because of the communist takeover of Nicaragua in 1979 and the growth of communist insurrection in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru. He gave Col. Pak instructions to establish contacts and offer resources in educating young people, the military, and civic leaders so as to avoid a fate similar to Nicaragua’s. This led to the founding of CAUSA International and a new chapter in Unificationists’ “victory over communism” activities.

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

Opening of the Cheon Bok Gung

True Father speaks at the opening of the Cheon Bok Gung.

True Parents dedicated the Cheon Bok Gung, or “Unification Peace Temple,” on February 21, 2010. In 2008, True Father had called for the establishment of a 20,000-member church in Seoul that would serve as a platform to influence the nation. He later increased the goal to a 210,000-person congregation that would influence Korea and eventually the world, not just socially and culturally but also spiritually. Efforts to construct a “growth-stage” Cheon Bok Gung began in earnest with the acquisition of a large public building in Seoul’s Yongsan district. The church’s worldwide membership, led by Japan and Korea, donated nearly $100 million for the purchase and subsequent renovation costs. This was completed in early 2010, and Unificationists undertook an hour-long march from the previous church headquarters to the new sanctuary, which also would serve as International and Korean church headquarters. In his dedication prayer, True Father prayed that the Cheon Bok Gung “become the candlelight in a garden around which all people who resemble heaven in heart can assemble. … Let it serve as an ecumenical foundation and become the temple embodying the original essence of Your exemplary love as it governs beyond all people and the universe.”

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

70,000 in Nepal Attend International Peace Blessing

Approximately 70,000 citizens of Nepal gathered to affirm marriage and family on February 21, 2015, as they filled the National Stadium in the capital, Kathmandu, to pledge to uphold premarital purity and marital fidelity. As many as 15,000 people were turned away. At the Multicultural Family Educational Peace Festival, which was organized by the Nepalese chapter of Universal Peace Federation (UPF), unmarried teenagers and young adults took a Pure Love Pledge in front of their peers and parents, promising to remain pure. Married couples reaffirmed their marriage vows of love and fidelity in front of their children, friends and neighbors, and the nation. Religious leaders from six faiths offered their prayers and blessings. Nepal Parliament Member and Family Party President Ek Nath Dhakal, who promoted the festival, stated, “This is the 18th time that the festival has been held in Nepal.” The two-hour program was broadcast live on 10 television stations in Nepal and internationally via satellite. Nepal’s Vice President Parmanand Jha told his compatriots, “Without first creating true love and peace at home, we cannot dream of building a peaceful and loving nation.” Concluding his remarks, he added, “This is the way to build a nation of peace.” Dr. Sun Jin Moon, international chair of UPF, spoke about the universal nature of the Interfaith Peace Blessing, saying, “Our hope is that, beginning with this Blessing, each couple and family will cultivate a higher awareness of our Creator’s deepest heart and purpose.”

FEBRUARY 22, 1948

True Father Arrested a Second Time in North Korea

True Father received a revelation in 1946 which said, “Go across the 38th Parallel! Find the people of God who are in the North.” He immediately responded and arrived in Pyongyang on June 6. He began evangelical work but was arrested by communist police on August 11 and accused of being a spy from the South. He was brutally tortured and finally released on November 21. After recovering, he resumed evangelical work, and within a year his congregation had become quite large. Some 80 ministers of established churches whose members had begun attending the new congregation’s services wrote letters of complaint, and True Father was arrested a second time by communist authorities on February 22, 1948. This time, in addition to accusations of espionage, he was charged with “disturbing public order.” True Father again was severely tortured, tried on April 7, convicted, sentenced to 5 years’ labor, and transported to Heungnam Prison on May 20, 1948.

FEBRUARY 22, 1968

Holy Blessing of 430 Couples

True Parents gave the Holy Marriage Blessing to 430 couples (436, technically) on February 22, 1968. True Father noted that 1967 marked 4,300 years of Korean history (the Dangun era). He stated that the 430 Couples corresponded to the 4,300 years of Korean history and that the Holy Marriage Blessing connected Korea to the Unification Church. True Father also noted that it took the Israelites 430 years to return to Canaan from Egypt and that “we too have set out to restore the world, which is our Canaan.” The following year, True Parents conducted their second world tour and blessed 43 couples worldwide, which connected to the 430 Couple Holy Blessing internationally. The 430 Couple Holy Blessing included the first non-Korean couple, Osami and Tetsuko Kuboki from Japan. Their Blessing connected Korea and Japan. True Father later stated, “The Blessing … is not just for Koreans. The fact that I connected the 430 Couples to the 43 Couples on the foundation of the family on the world level signifies the birth of a new race transcending ethnicity and nationality. That is how I see it.”

FEBRUARY 22, 1982

Unification News Begins Publication

Volume 1, Number 1 of Unification News was published on February 22, 1982. The lead story was “New Day for Civil Rights,” which covered True Father’s support for the Minority Alliance International (MAI) and its first awards banquet. For nearly 30 years, until December 2011, Unification News was the monthly voice of American Unificationism. For most of that time, “The Newspaper of the Unification Community” was edited by Richard Lewis. In a 2010 interview, he noted that it was established at the same time as The Washington Times. He recalled that True Father spent two hours on a cold Sunday morning at Belvedere in February talking “about the fall of communism and how important The Washington Times was going to be.” Then, right at the end, almost as an afterthought, he said, “Oh, Dr. Pak. I want you to create a second newspaper at the same time so that we’re never tempted to use The Washington Times as our church newspaper.” He then “held up two dummies, one of the Unification News and one of The Washington Times.” As the newspaper of record for the American Unification community, it covered True Parents’ momentous work over the course of three decades, regional and local Unification news, and commentary. Its mission is now carried on by the Family Federation for World Peace through its online website and newsletter.

FEBRUARY 22, 2007

Cross-Cultural Marriage Blessing Ceremony

On February 22, 2007, the “Cross-Cultural Marriage Blessing Ceremony in the Sacred Reign of Peace for the Realization of a Peaceful World” took place at the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center in Gapyeong, Korea, with True Parents as the officiators. Many children of UPF Ambassadors for Peace received the Blessing on this day, with 521 new couples formed in the midst of much love and blessings. The brides and grooms also participated in the “True Parents’ Birthday and Commemorative Celebration for True Father’s 88th Birthday,” held the next day.

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

Foundation Day

True Father proclaimed Cheonju Pyeonghwa Tongil Guk (“the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity”), abbreviated as Cheon Il Guk (CIG), on November 15, 2001. It is the Unification equivalent to the Kingdom of Heaven and represents an extension in the order of salvation from the individual and family to the creation of a heavenly nation. The Cheon Il Guk era refers to the time period during which the foundation of Cheon Il Guk was to be established. According to True Father, the movement was on a “tight schedule” of twelve years, extending until Foundation Day (the thirteenth day of the first month by the Heavenly Calendar), when the necessary conditions for the start of Cheon Il Guk would be fulfilled. The most important of these was the “marriage” of the “God of Night” (the eternal Godhead, transcendent of time and space, the creator God) and the “God of Day” (perfected Adam and Eve, the “Parents of Heaven Earth and Humankind”). “God’s Holy Wedding” was consummated on Foundation Day, and on that basis Unificationists worldwide renewed their Marriage Blessings. The Cheon Il GukCoronation Ceremony of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind, also conducted on Foundation Day, marked the first year of Cheon Il Guk and expressed the church’s commitment to “peace and harmony for humanity.”

FEBRUARY 23, 1977

Year One of the Kingdom of God

The year 1976 was decisive in True Parents’ global ministry. It was a year of extremes. On the one hand, it was remembered as the year in which opposition to the movement reached its peak. The kidnapping and deprogramming of members continued, negative parent groups in the U.S. coalesced and were able to gain a public hearing before a powerful senator and numerous federal officials, and by the end of the year mainstream Jewish, Protestant and Catholic institutions turned on the Unification movement. On the other hand, in spite of these obstacles, the movement carried out rallies on a huge scale at Yankee Stadium and the Washington Monument. On January 1, 1977, True Father stated that the church had laid an “invincible foundation” for “horizontal expansion throughout the world.” At True Parents’ Birthday, celebrated in the New Yorker hotel in New York City on February 23, 1977, True Father pointed out that according to the lunar calendar, 1976 ended on February 20. As he put it, “The year of victory is gone, now the year of joy has started.” He concluded his talk, “Today in the Light of Dispensational History,” by saying, “This is the new beginning of the history of God. Therefore, this is the original first year of the Kingdom of God. This is the Year One.”

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Ilhwa Ginseng Products Receive Kosher Certification

On February 24, 2014, Tongil Group’s subsidiary company Ilhwa received the kosher certification. The two products that received this certification were the hydrolysis concentrate and the ginseng concentrate. Kosher certification is the legal certification of foods that conform to Jewish law. Whether a food product is kosher or not depends mainly on its raw ingredients and the production process. If a product’s raw ingredients and production process coincide with kosher laws, then that product is eligible to receive kosher certification. The passion and dedication of Ilhwa are demonstrated through the company’s efforts to protect the health of customers around the world by creating reliable products that accommodate various religions and cultures.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of February 18–24.

In Pursuit of Cosmic Peace

This week in history, February 12-18:

• True Father arrives in America for the first time (February 12, 1965)
• The 2014 Cosmic Blessing Ceremony is held (February 12, 2014)
• 400 million couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (February 13, 2000)
• The Cheon Il Guk Constitution is proclaimed (February 13, 2014)
• True Parents’ 32-City Day of Hope speaking tour begins (February 15, 1974)
• True Father sends a letter and videotapes to 300,000 U.S. ministers (February 16, 1985)
• The third phase of the 400 Million Couples Holy Blessing is held (February 16, 2002)
• True Parents officiate the 1.4 Cosmic Blessing Ceremony (February 17, 2010)
• True Mother officiates the Cosmic Blessing Ceremony (February 17, 2013)
• Senator Robert Dole convenes anti-Unification movement investigation (February 18, 1976)

February 12, 1965

True Father Arrives in America for the First Time

True Father established the first Holy Ground in the United States on Twin Peaks overlooking San Francisco.

From its earliest days, the American Unification movement anticipated the imminent arrival of True Father. Miss Young Oon Kim, the first church missionary to the United States, expected True Father’s arrival with Mr. David Kim in September 1959 and out of her meager funds rented an apartment and purchased bedding and other items. The original Bay Area group anticipated his arrival in the spring of 1961 and purchased a camper. The same expectation was a focus of the American church in 1964. Members throughout the country began a “High Noon Prayer Vigil” in anticipation, and by November word came that “Time is growing short.” True Father departed from Korea for his first world tour in January 1965. After spending two weeks in Japan, he left for America. Miss Kim, who accompanied them to Japan, departed ahead of them to prepare Americans for his visit.

Three days later, True Father established the first Holy Ground in the United States on Twin Peaks overlooking San Francisco. In the next forty-four days, he traveled by car to all forty-eight contiguous states, setting up a total of fifty-five Holy Grounds. True Father’s first visit to the United States lasted nearly five months, until July 1, 1965, when he departed for Europe.

February 12, 2014

Cosmic Blessing Ceremony

On February 12, 2014, some 20,000 couples from 194 countries said, “I do” at a Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony that spanned the globe. True Mother officiated the 2014 Cosmic Blessing of 2,500 couples—including 50 couples from the United States—at the Cheongshim Peace World Center in South Korea. It was conducted on the first anniversary of the Cheon Il Guk Foundation Day Commemoration Ceremony. In the United States, couples took part via satellite in local ceremonies from Seattle to New York.

February 13, 2000

First International Blessing of 400 Million Couples

400 million couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing.

Many Unificationists expected that the Holy Marriage Blessing of 360 Million Couples of 1999, which focused largely on previously married couples, would be the final Marriage Blessing in the sequence of international wedding ceremonies conducted on a global and mass scale. Unificationists, therefore, were surprised when True Father announced a 400 Million Couple Blessing to be conducted in conjunction with his 80th birthday, on February 13, 2000. They were more surprised to learn that the 400 million were to be “matched couples only.” True Father envisioned that the 400 million “Youth Blessing,” in conjunction with the 360 Million Couple Blessing of 1999, “will influence the entire human race.” In America, Unificationists targeted school graduations, movie theaters, ball parks, beaches, fairs and other places where young people congregated, passing out “Pure Love Pledge Cards.” The “Pure Love Pledge” called on young people to refrain from all sexual relationships before marriage; to respect and honor the ideal of purity in themselves and others; to learn how to practice pure love as a child, friend, spouse and parent; to dedicate themselves to absolute fidelity within marriage; and to encourage others to do the same. Legions of female Unificationists from Japan helped in the work. True Parents conducted Blessing 2000, as they had in 1999, before a packed Seoul Olympic Stadium. Representatives from ten world faith traditions pronounced blessings, and the event, coordinated with the 2000 World Culture and Sports Festival, was a spectacular success. However, it was apparent that “matched couples” still made up a minority of the Blessing participants. True Father, therefore, designated it “Phase One” of the 400 Million Couple Blessing. Successive phases followed over the course of the next decade.

February 13, 2014

Proclamation of the Cheon Il Guk Constitution

Hyo Jin and Heung Jin Moon’s families dedicate the Cheon Il Guk Constitution.

The Constitution of Cheon Il Guk, which outlines the system and the standard of Cheon Il Guk, was dedicated and proclaimed on February 13, 2014. After Cheon Il Guk Foundation Day in 2013, True Mother directed that the Cheon Il Guk Constitution be established quickly and commissioned a Legislative Committee to complete the draft. The committee reviewed constitutions of eight nations and eleven religious denominations. Over the course of eight public hearings involving 1,035 persons from 21 nations, the Constitution was prepared for presentation on the first anniversary of Foundation Day. Consisting of nine major sections, the Constitution is intended to establish the laws, principles and guidelines that will serve all the people of Cheon II Guk to actualize God’s peaceful ideal world. In addition to proclaiming the Constitution, True Mother announced the 12 Supreme Council members who will comprise the legislative body under the Constitution of Cheon Il Guk.

February 15, 1974

True Parents’ 32-City Day of Hope Speaking Tour Begins

True Parents’ public speaking tour of 32 mid-sized cities of the United States began on February 15, 1974, in Portland, Maine, and concluded on April 21 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The speech that True Father gave throughout the United States, “The New Future of Christianity,” contained the statement “For the realization of God’s will, the returning Lord will not come on the clouds.” True Father also said that Jesus died when he did because John the Baptist failed to fulfill his responsibility. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

FEBRUARY 16, 1985

True Father Sends “Letter from Danbury” and Videotapes to 300,000 U.S. Ministers

Dr. Bo Hi Pak led Unificationists at Belvedere in a farewell gathering hours before True Father departed to Danbury Correctional Facility in 1984.

In August 1984, shortly after his incarceration in the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, True Father proposed that Unificationists produce and distribute sets of videotapes explaining the Unification Principle for Christian ministers throughout the United States. Originally the plan was to offer 30,000 videos to 30,000 ministers and to ask each of them to share their tapes with ten other ministers and with their congregations. By October, American Unificationists had distributed more than 30,000 tape sets. True Father felt that was not enough. So it was decided to distribute videotapes directly to 300,000 ministers. It required several months to produce, duplicate, label and package the videotapes, which was done entirely in-house. New Future Films worked with 25 staff members around the clock in areas set up on the sixth, eighth and tenth floors of the World Mission Center (New Yorker Hotel) with 800 video-copying machines in continuous use. The crew managed to turn out 900 tapes daily. Another 23 members worked in the shipping department. Packets included three 120-minute-long videotapes on the Unification Principle, a brochure and booklet about the Unification Church, an Outline of the Principle text, a book of True Father’s talks titled God’s Warning to the World, and True Father’s personal “Letter from Danbury.” Twenty-eight tractor-trailers were required to ship all 300,000 packages to the mailing location. The project was completed on February 16, 1985. True Father stated, “I feel very good because that is all done now; that was an incredible operation.”

February 16, 2002

400 Million Couples Holy Blessing, 3rd Phase

On February 16, 2002, True Parents blessed some 4,000 couples at the Olympic Fencing Gymnasium in Seoul. This was the main ceremony of the third phase of the International Holy Marriage Blessing of 400 Million Couples. Simultaneous ceremonies were held in locations around the world. The Blessing culminated the eighth World Culture and Sports Festival (WCSF) which was convened under the theme “Toward a World Culture of Peace of a New Dimension.”

February 17, 2010

True Parents Officiate the 1.4 Cosmic Blessing Ceremony

True Parents officiated the “1.4 Cosmic Blessing Ceremony” at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX), located in Ilsan, South Korea, on February 17, 2010, or the fourth day of the first month of the Heavenly Calendar. Referred to publicly as the Interreligious Cross-Cultural Holy Wedding Ceremony, it was broadcast via the Internet to 192 nations. Including the 7,000 couples present at the event in Korea, a total of 43,000 brides and bridegrooms participated worldwide. Special congratulatory prayers were given by leaders representing the world’s major religions, including Catholicism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Islam, Shintoism and Hinduism.

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

Cosmic Blessing Ceremony

True Parents initiated cosmic-level Blessings in 2009 following the 50th anniversary of their Holy Wedding (Korean count). Couples previously had received the Holy Marriage Blessing on the church and worldwide levels. True Father explained that this was the third and final cosmic-level Blessing in which previously blessed and newly blessed couples would participate. True Parents conducted subsequent cosmic-level Blessings in 2010 and 2012. The Cosmic Blessing Ceremony officiated by True Mother on February 17, 2013, five days prior to Foundation Day, was significant as it was the first such ceremony conducted since the ascension of True Father. At least 3,500 couples gathered for the Marriage Blessing at the Cheongshim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, Korea, and 12,000 altogether by video link to dozens of countries. In her prayer for the couples, True Mother said, “You have lit a beacon of hope for fallen humanity through the great Blessing ceremonies, which first commenced with the Blessing of 36 couples in 1960 and has now been held 53 times until today.”

February 18, 1976

Senator Robert Dole Convenes Anti-Unification Movement Investigation

On February 18, 1976, anti-Unification Movement organizations sponsored “A Day of Affirmation and Protest” in Washington, D.C., which included a two-hour presentation of grievances against the movement to U.S. Senator Robert Dole (R-Kansas) and representatives of seven U.S. government agencies. The “Dole hearing” provided critics of the Unification Movement with a well-publicized, credible forum in which to air their grievances before important national-level figures. More troubling was the fact that Unification Movement representatives were excluded from the proceedings. Senator Dole refused to meet with HSA-UWC President Neil Salonen, and Unificationists could only maintain a vigil of protest at the back of the meeting room. Whereas the Day of Hope tours of the early to mid-1970s were conducted within a climate of receptivity, the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument rallies of 1976 unfolded within a climate of increasing negativity and even persecution.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of February 12–18.

A United Mind and Spirit

This week in history, February 5-11:

• The Cheongshim International Hospital’s dedication ceremony takes place (February 5, 2003)
• The Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth Opening the Gate of Cheon Il Guk is held (February 6, 2003)
• 1800 couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (February 8, 1975)
• The Central Training Center is founded (February 10, 1970)
• The first Victory over Communism Rally is held (February 10, 1978)
• Toru Goto is freed from captivity (February 10, 2008)
• Ceremony marks publication of The Sermons of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon (February 11, 2000)

February 5, 2003

Dedication of Cheongshim International Hospital

True Mother speaking at the hospital dedication ceremony

A ceremony was held to offer Cheongshim International Hospital to Heaven on February 5, 2003. The construction began in September 2000 and was finished after two years and five months. True Parents bestowed on the hospital the motto “Perfection of unification with heavenly character is possible through united mind and spirit.” Through her congratulatory remarks, True Mother said, “The Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center and the Cheongshim International Hospital are the homeland for the hearts of Unification families around the world.” Located in a beautiful mountain landscape, Cheongshim International Hospital serves its patients with both Western and Oriental medicine and the most up-to-date equipment. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

February 6, 2003

Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth Opening the Gate of Cheon Il Guk

The Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth Opening the Gate of Cheon Il Guk

True Father proclaimed Cheon Il Guk (“the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity”) on November 15, 2001. This was the Unificationist equivalent of the Kingdom of Heaven and the culmination of his ministry. In 1993, he had announced the transition to the Completed Testament Era, which was understood to mark a shift in the order of salvation from the individual to the family. Cheon Il Guk advanced beyond the family to the creation of a heavenly nation. For the next twelve years, True Parents set numerous conditions for the establishment of Cheon Il Guk. One of the most important of these was the Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth Opening the Gate of Cheon Il Guk on February 6, 2003. Its centerpiece was the marriage of True Parents on the foundation of Cheon Il Guk. Their Blessing was to supersede church-level and national-level Blessings. It was followed by the “Coronation of the King of the Blessed Families” to substantiate the original Heavenly Kingship. Both ceremonies were conducted at Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center before more than 10,000 guests including 200 dignitaries from the World Summit on Leadership and Governance. Brazilian soccer legend Pele presented True Parents with a specially engraved plaque.

February 8, 1975

1,800 Couple Holy Marriage Blessing

True Parents bless 1800 couples in marriage.

True Parents blessed 1,800 couples (technically, 1801) in what the Guinness Book of World Records then recorded as the largest mass wedding in history on February 8, 1975. The ceremony, conducted in Seoul’s Jangchung Gymnasium, brought together couples from 25 nations, including 891 couples from Korea, 797 from Japan, 76 from the United States, 35 from European countries and two from the Republic of China. Over 10,000 guests witnessed the event, after which couples boarded ninety-four sightseeing buses for a parade through the streets of Seoul. True Parents blessed the 1,800 Couples 14 years after their Holy Marriage Blessing in 1960. It closed out the second 7-year or national-level course and opened the way to the Unification Church’s international work. Some 300 members from the 1,800 Couples went out to 123 nations as foreign missionaries, pioneering the worldwide providence. True Father noted that 1,800 represents three times six, equaling eighteen or “the complete subjugation of the satanic number 6.” The 1,800 Couples, he said, “represent all humankind.” Upon their Blessing, he declared, “we enter the age to embrace the world.” This year marks the 40th anniversary of the 1,800 Couple Blessing.

February 10, 1970

Founding of the Central Training Center

The Central Training Center was founded in Sutaek-ri, Guri city, Gyeonggi Province, on February 10, 1970. The “A” building was completed twenty-eight days after construction began. True Parents named the facility the HSA-UWC Central Training Center. Countless Unification Movement members and non-member leaders have been educated at this site, and it is still serving as one of the Family Federation’s most important educational facilities. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

February 10, 1978

The First Victory over Communism Rally

The first Victory over Communism (VOC) rally was held in Suwun Hall in Seoul on February 10, 1978. With 134 foreign participants and over a thousand citizen-guests, the rally was successful. Dr. Sang Hun Lee, author of the VOC text, explained the significance of the rally, which was held to make a resolution to protect the Republic of Korea, one of the most ardently anti-communist countries in the world. Korean President Park Chung-hee and U.S. President Jimmy Carter sent congratulatory messages. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

February 10, 2008

Toru Goto Freed from Captivity

Mr. Toru Goto, the world’s best-known survivor of coercive conversion in Japan, was freed from incarceration in a Tokyo apartment on February 10, 2008, after twelve years of confinement by family members. After three hunger strikes and “slow starvation” imposed on him for failing to acknowledge “issues” of the Unification Movement, his family ordered him out of the apartment due to fear that he would carry out another hunger strike and starve to death. Mr. Goto had no money and was physically debilitated. Barely able to walk and wearing a light sweater, he feared he would freeze to death before morning. Fortunately, after being refused help at a police station, he encountered a Unificationist who helped him get to church headquarters. Around midnight he was taken to Isshin Hospital, where he was diagnosed as suffering from severe malnutrition as well as generalized muscular weakness, muscular atrophy, and anemia. He finally was discharged from the hospital on March 31. He later noted, “I was continuously confined in a small room from the time I was 31 years old until I was 44 years old [12 years and 5 months]. They deprived me of not only my freedom of religion, freedom of marriage, freedom of choice in employment, freedom of movement and freedom of vote, but they denied and violated my human dignity. They spoiled my precious life. I continued to endure criticism, smear and defamation which degraded my humanity, and also physical violence in the confinement room. I endured forced starvation, while I was continuously pressured to withdraw from the church.”

February 11, 2000

Ceremony Commemorating the Publication of The Sermons of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon

Mr. Toru Goto, the world’s best-known survivor of coercive conversion in Japan, was freed from incarceration in a Tokyo apartment on February 10, 2008, after twelve years of confinement by family members. After three hunger strikes and “slow starvation” imposed on him for failing to acknowledge “issues” of the Unification Movement, his family ordered him out of the apartment due to fear that he would carry out another hunger strike and starve to death. Mr. Goto had no money and was physically debilitated. Barely able to walk and wearing a light sweater, he feared he would freeze to death before morning. Fortunately, after being refused help at a police station, he encountered a Unificationist who helped him get to church headquarters. Around midnight he was taken to Isshin Hospital, where he was diagnosed as suffering from severe malnutrition as well as generalized muscular weakness, muscular atrophy, and anemia. He finally was discharged from the hospital on March 31. He later noted, “I was continuously confined in a small room from the time I was 31 years old until I was 44 years old [12 years and 5 months]. They deprived me of not only my freedom of religion, freedom of marriage, freedom of choice in employment, freedom of movement and freedom of vote, but they denied and violated my human dignity. They spoiled my precious life. I continued to endure criticism, smear and defamation which degraded my humanity, and also physical violence in the confinement room. I endured forced starvation, while I was continuously pressured to withdraw from the church.”

February 11, 2000

Ceremony Commemorating the Publication of The Sermons of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon

The publication of The Sermons of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon was marked by a ceremony    on February 11, 2000, in the Little Angels Performance Hall that was attended by 1,500 people. The ceremony occurred on the occasion of the publication of the 300th volume of True Parents’ sermons. Hangeul Foundation Chair Han Gab-su and Korean Publishers Association President Na Chun-ho gave congratulatory remarks. True Parents donated the books to the National Assembly Library, the Gangnam Library and the University Library. To date, more than 600 volumes have been published. Other collections of their messages, such as Cheon Seong Gyeong, Pyeong Hwa Gyeong and Cham Bumo Gyeong, have been published based on this collection of sermons. (Courtesy of History Compilation Committee)

Forgive, Love and Unite

This week in history, January 29 to February 4:

• The Sunhwa Academy is founded (January 30, 1976)
• The first UPF Asian Summit is held (January 30, 2015)
• True Father is invited to the Presidential Prayer Breakfast (January 31, 1974)
• True Father celebrates his 90th birthday (January 31, 2009)
• True Father is released from his first imprisonment (February 1, 1945)
• True Father meets with President Nixon (February 1, 1974)
• Segye Times publishes its first edition (February 1, 1989)
• True Father celebrates his 70th birthday (February 1, 1990)
• 150,000 receive the Interfaith Peace Blessing in the Philippines (February 1, 2015)
• True Parents begin the Second World Tour (February 2, 1969)
• True Father receives Lifetime Achievement Award (February 2, 2000)
• Day of Hope Speaking Tour Begins at New York’s Lincoln Center (February 3, 1972)

January 30, 1976

The Founding of Sunhwa Academy

Sunhwa Academy was founded at 25-Beonji Neung-dong, Seongdong Borough, Seoul, on January 30, 1976. Thanks to the establishment of the school corporation, Sunhwa Academy, the Little Angels Arts School was able to gain a stable foundation for management. On February 8 of the next year, the first class of the Little Angels Arts School graduated, and its name was changed to Sunhwa Arts School on the 16th of the same month. Sunhwa Arts High School was established the following March 4, and forty years later is a mecca of arts education. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

January 30, 2015

First UPF Asian Summit Is Held in the Philippines

Four hundred participants from 28 nations took part in the first ever Asian Summit organized by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF). The summit, titled “Toward Peace, Security and Human Development in the Asia Pacific Region,” was held in the Manila Hotel in Manila, Philippines, from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, 2015.

The 400 participants included 121 foreign delegates. Philippine dignitaries included His Excellency Joseph Ejercito Estrada, the former president of the Philippines, currently the Manila City mayor. His Excellency Madhav K. Nepal, former prime minister of Nepal, gave the Keynote Address and was awarded the prestigious Leadership and Good Governance Award by UPF. Another highlight of the summit was the first-ever PEACE Awards for the media in the Philippines. The concept of the PEACE (People’s Empowerment for the Advancement of Communities and Environment) Awards is to recognize media practitioners who have made exemplary contributions for the advancement of peace, community development and environmental protection. Awards were given to 16 winners in the four media categories of print, TV, radio and social media.

January 31, 1974

True Father Invited to Presidential Prayer Breakfast

Rev. Moon and members of the Unification Church in America hold a national prayer and fast during the Watergate Crisis at the Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. July 23, 1974.

On January 31, 1974, True Father was invited to the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. A post-breakfast rally at Lafayette Park brought out Edward and Tricia Nixon Cox, the son-in-law and daughter of 37th U.S. President Richard Nixon, who greeted well-wishers who rallied to “Forgive, Love and Unite” as an answer to the Watergate Crisis. On February 1, 1974, Rev. Moon had a twenty-minute audience with President Nixon, reportedly telling him, “Don’t knuckle under to pressure. Stand up for your convictions.”

January 31, 2009

True Father’s 90th Birthday

True Father celebrates his 90th birthday.

True Father demonstrated extraordinary dedication and endurance on the occasion of his 90th birthday (and True Mother’s 67th) on January 31, 2009, by conducting special Coronations for the Authority and Liberation of God, the King of Kings, both in Korea and the United States. Due to the time difference, True Father was able to deliver a birthday address, officiate at the Coronation ceremony, and be honored at a congratulatory banquet in Korea; then board a plane to New York to address world leaders at the 2009 World Summit on Peace, conduct the Coronation ceremony, and officiate at the Interreligious Cross Cultural Marriage Blessing Ceremony in New York, all on January 31. Congratulatory letters to True Father on his 90th birthday were sent by numerous former national leaders, including former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, and former U.S. President George H.W. Bush.

February 1, 1945

True Father Released from His First Imprisonment

True Father had been a student leader in Korean independence activities while studying in Japan from 1941 to 1943. He was interrogated numerous times and placed on a watch list. On returning to Korea, True Father took employment at the Kyeongsung branch of the Kashima Gumi Construction Company in Seoul’s Yongsan District while continuing his religious and independence activities. In October 1944, Japanese police stormed into True Father’s lodgings because one of his friends who had been arrested for being a communist had mentioned his name to interrogators. Once arrested and incarcerated at the Gyeonggi Province Police Station, True Father was subjected to brutal torture in an unsuccessful effort to have him reveal names of people who had worked with him while in Japan. In A Peace-Loving Global Citizen, True Father details the several types of torture. Police broke all four legs of a table against his body, stomped on him “mercilessly with their spiked boots,” beat him while he was being hung from the ceiling, and forced water down his esophagus. With the war winding down and unable to obtain information, the police released True Father on February 1, 1945. True Father noted, “My body did not recover easily from the torture.”

February 1, 1974

True Father’s Meeting with President Nixon

The “Watergate Crisis” gripped the United States following exposure of White House involvement with a break-in at the Democratic Party’s campaign headquarters during the 1972 presidential election. True Father was concerned that the crisis was weakening America in the face of communist aggression and issued an “Answer to Watergate” statement on November 30, 1973, which called upon Americans to “Forgive, Love and Unite.” True Father then launched a forty-day National Prayer and Fast for the Watergate Crisis (NPFWC). Unificationists conducted vigils, rallies, letter-writing and leafleting in all fifty states. At the National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C., in 1973, 1,200 pennant-waving, banner-carrying Unificationists from all over the country demonstrated in support of the president and garnered national attention. President Richard Nixon emerged from the White House later that evening to personally thank the Unificationists who were holding a candlelight vigil across the street at Lafayette Square. True Father subsequently was invited to the annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton Hotel on January 31, 1974. The next day, February 1, 1974, True Father had a twenty-minute meeting with President Nixon in the Oval Office of the White House. He reportedly told the president, “Don’t knuckle under to pressure. Stand up for your convictions.”

February 1, 1989

Segye Times Publishes Its First Edition

True Father founded the Segye (“universal”) Times to be the “window on the world” for the Korean people.

In 1988, following South Korean President Roh Tae-woo’s declaration of greater freedom and the Seoul Olympics, the number of newspapers in Korea doubled. True Father founded the Segye (“universal”) Times. He intended it to be the “window on the world” for the Korean people. According to True Father:

The last part of the 20th century is an age when the world is governed by the media. The power and responsibility of the media are becoming stronger than those of an atomic warhead or any military might. Accordingly, when the media put forward sound arguments based on a consistently true viewpoint about values, the media will become the standard-bearers of world peace. When they blind people with irresponsibility, wrong guidance and exhortations, the media will become a tool for the destruction of world peace.

Most of the established newspapers in South Korea increased their page numbers to make things difficult for the newly established papers. Due to the efforts of Unificationists, many from overseas, in newspaper distribution and the commitment of True Father, the Segye Times flourished. ROK President Kim Dae-jung participated in the paper’s 10th anniversary celebration in 1999, saying, “I set a high value on theSegye Times’ decade of efforts of capable journalism, and I hope it becomes prosperous as a worldwide newspaper, as its name implies.” It has since become one of Korea’s leading newspapers.

February 1, 1990

True Father’s 70th Birthday Celebration

True Father gives a speech about his 70 years of life.

True Father’s 70th birthday celebration was auspicious as it occurred when communism was crumbling. Ten years previously, in 1980, True Father refused to celebrate his 60th birthday as communism was on the march, especially in Latin America. Instead, he founded CAUSA International and engaged in an all-out campaign during the 1980s to halt its spread. By 1990, the Berlin Wall was open and the Soviet Empire was collapsing. True Father commented:

I am well known around the world as a leader in the anticommunist and victory-over-communism movements. The purpose for which I conduct a movement for victory over communism is not to kill communists but to liberate them with truth and true love so that they may live. This is the reason I am working to help the communist world today and rescue it from its current distress. For that reason, I have been welcomed even in the Soviet Union and China. Even Kim Il Sung in North Korea cannot be my enemy.

True Father celebrated his 70th birthday in the context of the Second Summit Council for World Peace and the Eighth International Conference of AULA (Association for the Unity of Latin America) held in Seoul. Twelve former heads of state and prime ministers, and 56 dignitaries including ambassadors, legislators, royalty and nobility from 20 nations, took part in a congratulatory banquet attended by 2,000 VIPs in all. In his banquet speech True Father said, “Never during my life did I even dream that someday when I lived to be seventy, there would be such a large banquet and so many distinguished guests would gather to congratulate me.” Two months later, the 3rd Summit Council and the 9th AULA International Conference would convene in Moscow simultaneously with the 11th World Media Conference. There True Parents met Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. This paved the way for expanded activities of the Unification Church there and, as some contended, the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union (later the Commonwealth of Independent States) and the Republic of Korea.

February 1, 2015

150,000 Receive Interfaith Peace Blessing in Philippines

The Interfaith Peace Blessing took place in the Philippines

On Feb. 1, 2015, the largest Interfaith Peace Blessing in the Philippines was held at the Marikina Sports Complex in Marikina City in the eastern part of Manila. An estimated 150,000 people, garbed in white, came from all over Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. From as early as 9 in the morning, participants started to arrive for the Blessing and continued until around 3 in the afternoon. Sun Jin Moon, who delivered the Blessing Address on behalf of her parents, UPF Founders Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, said: “All the couples in their white clothes! You look so noble and angelic. It feels as if we are in the true Garden of Eden: the garden of pure love and boundless joy!” Distinguished leaders from the Philippines and other nations, in particular the delegates from the Asian Summit in Manila City that had just finished, took part in the historic event which had the theme “Strengthening the Families, Rebuilding the Nations, Creating a World of Lasting Peace.” Former Prime Minister of Nepal His Excellency Madhav K. Nepal delivered a congratulatory message. Five-time Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives Honorable Jose De Venecia Jr. also delivered a very dynamic congratulatory message. He then encouraged Prime Minister Nepal to organize a large-scale Interfaith Peace Blessing event in Nepal, the nation where the highest peak of the world is located. Vice Mayor of Marikina City Honorable Jose Fabian Cadiz, representing Mayor Del De Guzman, welcomed all the participants. He expressed the full support of the Marikina City government for the noble activities being carried out by UPF around the world, especially in regard to the strengthening of marriages and families.

February 2, 1969

True Parents Begin the Second World Tour

True Parents began the Second World Tour on February 2, 1969. It would take them to 21 nations over a three-month period until May 2. The First World Tour in 1965 had the purpose of blessing Holy Grounds worldwide. The Second World Tour had as its major purpose giving the Holy Marriage Blessing to overseas members. This included 13 American couples, 8 couples in Germany and 22 couples in Japan, 43 couples in all. Their Blessing was connected with the 430 Couple Blessing in Korea the previous year. In addition to the Blessing, American Unificationists learned of “Victory over Communism” and CARP activities in Korea and Japan as well as economic enterprises. This had the effect of broadening the scope of activity in the United States. The tour also broadened the mindset of Unificationists in Korea. On March 15, just before departing the United States, True Father sent a widely circulated letter to members in Korea, conveying “something of what I have felt in America during the tour.” After detailing “many complicated problems” over which “America is in agony,” he wrote:

Contrasting American and Korean members, both have relative merits and demerits. I feel that Oriental customs are conservative, but that they do not break new ground, whereas the West is open, realistic and sociable.

From this, it is possible to say that the former is internal and passive, the latter, external and positive. There is no racial discrimination among Unification Church members. They are noticeably different from other groups. I think the intimate relationship that exists among members is unprecedented in history. It truly shows we are all brothers and sisters with one heart.

When we compare the American membership, comprising several different races, with the Korean membership consisting of one race, the former seem to have very promising prospects.

In saying that, I do not mean that only the West is good. I just think the reason is that America offers its citizens an environment through which they encounter many nations and cultures, and experience much more. Therefore, I hope that the Oriental members will go abroad and keep in frequent contact with other nations in the future.

True Mother was pregnant during the tour and gave birth to Hyun Jin Moon on May 10, 1969, eight days after returning.

February 2, 2000

American Century Awards

Under the auspices of The Washington Times, numerous dignitaries, including U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Congressmen Henry Hyde, Danny Davis and A.C. Watts, joined 200 civic and political leaders to present True Father with a Lifetime Achievement Award for “Freedom, Faith and Family” on February 2, 2000. This followed the “America Honors Rev. Sun Myung Moon on his 80th Birthday” celebration on January 22, which was attended by numerous religious leaders. Unificationists understood that the two events “restored” the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus 2,000 years earlier by religious and secular leaders. In his speech “The Cosmos Is Our Hometown and Our Fatherland,” True Father said, “Our fatherland is wherever God can be found.” He further stated: “We no longer live in an age dominated by nationalism, or even in an age of globalism. These have already passed. National purpose and global concerns still exist, of course, but we now live in an age when the universe is to be united with one God.” Heaven and earth, he said, “should become a ‘house’ of true love.” Planet Earth, he concluded, “is the hometown of all humankind, and the spirit world is the eternal fatherland where all humanity will eventually arrive.”

February 3, 1972

Day of Hope Speaking Tour Begins at New York’s Lincoln Center

True Parents began their Third World Tour on December 5, 1971, visiting 15 countries in 156 days, returning to Korea on May 8, 1972. The main purpose of the Third World Tour was to initiate the public declaration of True Parents’ teachings. During a training program for American Unificationists from December 31, 1971, to January 3, 1972, True Father made known his intention of holding “revival meetings” in seven major cities: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley. Both East and West Coast centers were to select members, 72 in all, who were to come to New York for a two-week training session. From there, they would travel from city to city to hold the revival meetings.

True Father rented the Alice Tully Hall in New York City’s Lincoln Center for three nights (February 3, 4 and 6, 1972) and charged the local center with making plans for the first of the seven revival meetings. By January 8, the New York center had chosen its theme, “The Day of Hope: The Day of the True Family,” and designed what would be the tour’s official poster. On January 14, the 72 pioneers arrived. For nearly three weeks, they hit the mid-winter streets of New York, selling revival tickets at $6.00 each ($18.00 for three nights) to hear an unknown evangelist. True Father’s topics were “One God, One World Religion,” “Ideal World for God and Man” and “The New Messiah and the Formula of God in History.”

The tour was a constant battle against anonymity and, in the Eastern cities, against the elements. In New York City bitter weather limited attendance to between 350 and 450 people for the three nights, even though many more tickets had been sold. In Washington, a blizzard not only hindered the turnout but stranded pioneers in Frederick, Maryland. Nonetheless, by Berkeley, each night was a full house. The initial 7-city Day of Hope Tour was followed by 21-, 32- and 8-city tours, culminating in True Father’s New York speech in 1974 when as many as thirty-five thousand ticket-holders were turned away from the already filled-to-capacity Madison Square Garden. Barely thirty-two months after his initial Lincoln Center speeches, True Father had become a household name in America.

A Vision for Education and Victory

This week in history, January 15-21:

• The Day of Hope banquet is held (January 17, 1974)
• UTS is granted its absolute charter (January 17, 1990)
• The Global Expansion of True Families speaking tour is held (January 17, 1999)
• “The Saddest Day” (January 18, 1951)
• Reiner Vincenz ascends to the spirit world (January 18, 2015)
• The Cheongpyeong Providence begins (January 19, 1995)
• The first Victory over Communism Asian Rally is held (January 21, 1970)
• The Barrytown property is purchased (January 21, 1974)

JANUARY 17, 1974

Day of Hope Banquet in San Francisco, Proclamation of “Hope and Unification Week” in Oakland

Perry Cordill, International One World Crusade (IOWC) team leader in 1973, leads one of the rallies for the Day of Hope Tours, 1973.

On January 17, 1974, the San Francisco Day of Hope banquet attracted more than 500 guests to Benjamin Swig’s Fairmont Hotel. In Berkeley, where True Father spoke at Zellerbach Auditorium on the University of California campus, The Daily Californian reported, “Rev. Moon’s followers have waged one of the neatest and best-run publicity campaigns seen here in years.” In San Jose, January 17-24, 1974, was proclaimed “Hope and Unification Week,” while in Oakland, Mayor John H. Reading proclaimed the period from January 21-24, 1974, as “Day of Hope Days.” Single days of “Hope and Unification” were proclaimed in Berkeley and Hayward, and on January 21, 1974, Rev. Moon was awarded the key to the city of Berkeley by Mayor Warren Widener.

JANUARY 17, 1990

UTS Obtains Absolute Charter

David S.C. Kim with Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Unification Theological Seminary.

Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) was granted its absolute charter by the New York State Board of Regents on January 17, 1990. This was the culmination of a fifteen-year struggle with the State of New York since the seminary’s first application. Because of the controversy surrounding the church, the application process was prolonged and UTS was denied in 1978. UTS took the matter to court, claiming discrimination and unfair treatment, narrowly losing a 4-3 decision of the New York State Court of Appeals in 1981. Reapplication for the charter was made in April 1984. On November 21, 1986, the New York State Board of Regents approved by a 12-2 vote the seminary’s provisional charter. UTS petitioned for its absolute charter in May 1989, and this was granted eight months later by a 14-0 vote. Since 1986, UTS was able to grant degrees to its graduates so long as the state approved. From 1990, UTS was able to grant degrees unconditionally.

JANUARY 17, 1999

Global Expansion of True Families Speaking Tour

The Global Expansion of True Families speaking tour was held on January 17, 1999, in the Olympic Park Weight Lifting Stadium in Seoul. In his speech True Father emphasized, “True love is the beginning point of creation, and we must fulfill true families centered around true love.” The speaking tour, which covered eight cities around Korea, continued until January 25, and the tour was completed successfully with 80,000 participants in total. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

JANUARY 18, 1951

“The Saddest Day”

Refugees from North Korea.

There have been many “saddest days” in God’s providence. During morning devotions in 2012, True Father referred to one of his early sermons, “Hometown We Miss,” in which he spoke about his life in Heung Nam labor camp in North Korea and his journey to the South. He said then, “January 18 … is the saddest day for me.” He explained that he had offered great devotion to his followers in North Korea “in front of Heaven … but all of them betrayed me.” True Father recalled that he “wrote a long letter expressing heavenly love and tried to get in contact with them three times” following his release, “but they returned my third letter to me.” True Father left North Korea carrying that letter with him. He carried it until he crossed a bridge in Yeongcheon City in Gyeongsang Province in the southeast part of the Korean Peninsula. There he tore up the letter after having read it again and proceeded to Pusan where he restarted his mission in the South.

JANUARY 18, 2015

Rev. Reiner Vincenz’s Ascension

Rev. Reiner Vincenz, one of the Unification movement’s most respected and beloved elders, ascended to the spirit world on Sunday, January 18, 2015. Born in East Germany, Rev. Vincenz escaped to West Germany at age 17. He was the first person to join the Unification Church in Europe, joining under Peter Koch in 1963. He became the first missionary to France and served as its national leader until 1972, when True Father called him to the United States. Rev. Vincenz led European and international members of the International One World Crusade (IOWC), which supported True Father’s Day of Hope campaigns in the United States, Japan and Korea. True Father selected Rev. Vincenz to lead the Yeouido rally campaign, which brought more than one million attendees to the rally at Seoul’s Yeouido Island Plaza in 1975. After returning to the United States, he was put in charge of the New Yorker hotel’s restoration and was made one of the leaders responsible for the Washington Monument rally. Rev. Vincenz returned to Germany as national leader in 1978, helped lead Home Church activities in the United Kingdom, and served as True Parents’ ambassador to ten South American countries in 1988. In the latter years of his life he worked in business and fundraising efforts to support world missions. His personal motto, “Marching On,” well described his public life. Rev. Vincenz was blessed to Barbara Koch as part of the 43 Couple Blessing in 1969. Their daughter, Leena, was blessed to Jario Gavin in 2007. Jario and Leena now share the surname “Vincenz-Gavin” to honor Rev. Vincenz’s appreciation for the value of lineage. True Mother directed that the movement conduct a National- and World-Level Seonghwa Ceremony after his passing.

JANUARY 19, 1995

Cheongpyeong Providence Begins

True Parents purchased the land which became the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center in the late 1960s. On July 12, 1971, Unificationists completed construction of the original service hall under True Father’s direction. True Father mapped out his plan for expansion to the West on mountainsides and other locales surrounding Cheongpyeong Lake. The land also served as a holy ground and workshop site. What is termed the “Cheongpyeong Providence” or “Cheongpyeong Works” commenced on January 19, 1995, centered on the Spirit World Ministry of Soon Ae Hong (known as Dae Mo Nim or “Great Mother”), True Mother’s mother, who ascended in 1989, and Mrs. Hyo Nam Kim, who served as her earthly embodiment. On that day, Dae Mo Nim through Mrs. Hyo Nam Kim removed evil spirits from three Japanese members, marking the first of what would be hundreds of workshops that included not just “separation of spirits” but healing and the “liberation” of ancestors. Cheongpyeong today is the spiritual center of the Unification movement, residence of True Parents and capital of what Unificationists envision as Cheon Il Guk or the “Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity.”

JANUARY 21, 1970

First Victory over Communism (VOC) Asian Rally

The first Victory over Communism Asian Rally was held in the afternoon of January 21, 1970, at the Seoul Citizens Hall. Hosted by the International Federation for Victory over Communism, this rally was held with success through the participation of more than six thousand anti-communist leaders from five nations. The main address was delivered by Vietnam War veterans Shin Jo Kim and Ik Poong Kim. True Father emphasized the importance of gaining victory over communism, saying that this Asian rally was a ceremony to usher in the 1970s. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

JANUARY 21, 1974

Barrytown Property Purchased

The Unification Church purchased the former St. Joseph’s Normal Institute, a novitiate and high school in Barrytown, New York, run by the Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic lay order, on January 21, 1974. The purchase included 250 wooded acres bordering the Hudson River 90 miles north of New York City and the historic Massena House, a Hudson River mansion originally constructed in 1796, where 10-year-old Theodore Roosevelt spent the summer in 1868. True Father had been searching locations up and down the Hudson River suitable for educational purposes. The Barrytown site met one of his criteria with mountains, water and woods all visible. True Father reportedly visited the site seventeen times before deciding on the purchase. The “Founder’s Rock” marks the place where he decided. The property initially served as a site for 3-, 7- and 21-day workshops. It later hosted 40-day and 120-day workshops for overseas missionaries and “Barrytown Pioneers.” The Unification Theological Seminary, which now offers fully accredited master’s and doctoral degree programs, opened its doors on September 20, 1975, and has graduated some 1,500 students. In recent years the Barrytown facility has hosted matching convocations, Blessing education workshops, and sports festivals.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of January 15 – 21.

To Liberate God’s Heart

This week in history, January 8-14:

• True Father begins Cosmic Assemblies for the Settlement of the True Parents (January 8, 2012)
• Kazakhstan imprisons a Unificationist missionary (January 9, 2009)
• The first National Missionary Training Workshop is held (January 10, 1959)
• CARP is established (January 10, 1966)
• True Father proclaims the Completed Testament Age (January 10, 1993)
• 72 couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (January 11, 1989)
• 1,275 couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (January 12, 1989)
• The International Federation for Victory over Communism is founded (January 13, 1968)
• The Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God is held (January 13, 2001)
• Pioneers are trained for the Third World Tour (January 14, 1972)
• The Global IOWC team departs for Japan (January 14, 1975)

JANUARY 8, 2012

True Father Begins Cosmic Assemblies for the Settlement of the True Parents

From January 8 to 15, 2012, True Father conducted rallies in eight Korean cities in which he proclaimed the conclusion and fulfillment of the providence of restoration during True Parents’ lifetime. He stated, “The path taken by the True Parents shall serve as a tradition and historic example” and asked that all “model your life course on this path, become families that pledge to inherit and fulfill the will of God that True Parents have already accomplished, and be true to this pledge.” His speech included the topics the Three Stages of Life, the Seonghwa Ascension Ceremony, One Family under God, the Mission of the Korean People, the Path Humankind Should Take, his Final Words for Humankind, the Proclamation of the Era of the Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind, and the Advent of the Era of the New Substantial Image.

JANUARY 9, 2009

Kazakhstan Imprisons Unificationist Missionary

Elizaveta Drenicheva (28) was jailed in Almaty, the second capitol of Kazakhstan, on January 9, 2009. She was sentenced to no less than two years behind bars in a district prison.

Elizaveta, a Russian citizen, joined the Unification Church in 1995 and started her missionary work in Kazakhstan in 2006. On July 2, 2008 at 6 a.m., KGB officers broke into the building of the Unification Peace Embassy to conduct a random search. They took away literature and computers. Elizaveta was also arrested. Other Unificationists at the embassy were asked not to leave the country. After two days Elizaveta was released and made to sign a written pledge not to leave the country as well.

On October 24, legal proceedings began. Elizaveta was accused under article 164, part 2 of the Criminal Code for “having violated the peace and security of humanity”; the basis of Elizaveta’s offense: that she had gathered four people for a seminar and, over the course of four days, had taught others about Unification Principles. It was an agent of the KGB under authorization of the office of the prosecutor who had infiltrated the seminar and reported Elizaveta. His report stated, “The materials presented contain a) propaganda demeaning persons for signs of their ethnic affinity; and b) propaganda demeaning persons for signs of their class affinity. Moreover it shows signs of harmful effects on individual, family, society, and likewise the moral integrity of the state.” Kazakhstan was heavily rebuked by various human rights defenders and NGOs for its restrictive measures on religious communities, as demonstrated in this episode. Due to international pressure, Elizaveta was finally freed on March 10, 2009.

JANUARY 10, 1959

First National Missionary Training Workshop

The First National Missionary Training Workshop, a 40-day Divine Principle workshop to raise up and prepare missionaries, was held January 10–February 20, 1959. The workshop occurred in the former headquarters church in the Cheongpa-dong district of Seoul. The training program to obtain skills needed to become missionaries attracted 207 persons. True Father offered a prayer to heaven, saying, “Please allow the participants here to feel God’s heart during this time.” Missionary Training Workshops continued until the 18th workshop. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

JANUARY 10, 1966

Establishment of the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles

The Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP) was established inside the main hall of the church headquarters in Cheongpa-dong, Seoul, on January 10, 1966. CARP members from 26 universities in various countries participated in this event. Here, True Father said, “Our mission is to unify the democratic side and communistic side,” and determined that one member of CARP with a college degree or higher should be placed in each of the 2,400 villages in Korea. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

JANUARY 10, 1993

True Father Proclaims the Completed Testament Age

After proclaiming the Completed Testament Age on January 10, True Parents toured the nation and spoke on this theme.

On August 24, 1992, at the first World Culture and Sports Festival (WCSF) and on the foundation of the Cold War’s end, True Father declared that he and True Mother “are the True Parents of all humanity … the Savior, the Lord of the Second Advent, the Messiah.” It was hard to imagine how True Father could proclaim anything more dramatic than that. However, he may have succeeded in doing so by proclaiming the beginning of a completely new historical epoch. In a speech, “The Reappearance of the Second Coming and the Completed Testament Era,” delivered at the Belvedere International Training Center, Tarrytown, New York, on January 10, 1993, True Father announced “the transition today to the Completed Testament Era.” Details as to the precise nature of the new epoch were as yet sketchy, but it was understood to involve a fundamental shift in the order of salvation. As one church leader explained, “Previously, religious organizations have always been centered upon the salvation of the individual, but we have now progressed to the salvation of the family.”

The implications of this were momentous. Essentially it signaled a radical new beginning for Unificationism and rendered all previous religious expressions, including that of the Unification Church, obsolete. Within a few years, the church began to reconfigure itself as a “Family Federation,” developed theological concepts and terminology reflective of the shift, and launched efforts to realize a restored and purified Garden of Eden. The gateway to the Completed Testament Age (CTA) was the Marriage Blessing Ceremony, which extended far beyond the Unificationist community during the 1990s. The immediate concern was to proclaim the message of the new age. On April 10, 1993, the statement “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age” was published in the newspapers of 160 nations. Then, in May 1993, True Parents began a tour of 33 U.S. cities under the same theme. True Mother spoke on Capitol Hill and in the United Nations, which served as a springboard to proclaiming the CTA message worldwide.

JANUARY 11, 1989

72-Couple Holy Blessing of Second-Generation Unificationists

Seventy-two couples made up of Unificationist-born young adults received the Marriage Blessing in January 1989. Together with the Blessing of the 36 Unificationist-born couples three years earlier, the victory of this Blessing, according to True Father, could be likened to the complete restoration of the 12 apostles and 72 disciples at the time of Jesus.

JANUARY 12, 1989

1,275 Couple Holy Blessing

1,275 couples received the Marriage Blessing.

True Parents blessed 1,275 couples from 87 nations on January 12, 1989. The ceremony was conducted at 2 p.m. in the Il Hwa Company compound in Yongin, Korea. The ceremony followed by one day True Parents’ Holy Marriage Blessing of 72 Unificationist-born couples at the Little Angels Performing Arts Center in Seoul. After the ceremony, representatives of the couples were mobilized into 43 groups of 10 each and spread out across Korea to support witnessing activities and, later, the distribution of the Segye Ilbo newspaper.

JANUARY 13, 1968

Founding of the International Federation for Victory over Communism

The International Federation for Victory over Communism was founded in the former headquarters church in the Yongsan district of Seoul on January 13, 1968. The Victory over Communism movement started in 1965, and many small anti-communist enlightenment groups were formed in Korea’s eight provinces. The International Federation for Victory over Communism registered with the Ministry of Culture and Public Information (number 164). Mr. Kim In-cheol was the first chairman. True Father said at the time, “We need an ideological organization based on the results that we can show to the world,” when explaining the significance of founding the International Federation for Victory over Communism. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee)

JANUARY 13, 2001

Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God

True Parents held the Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God.

There is nothing more fundamental to Unification tradition and central to True Parents’ core motivation than the desire to liberate the suffering heart of God. According to True Father, the Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God, conducted on January 13, 2001, “liberated God’s heart for the first time.” He described it as “the greatest day of celebration in all human history.” As a result, God “could start His new history based on the might and power of true love.” The Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God was a crucial building block for True Parents’ declaration of Cheon Il Guk (“the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity”) on November 15, 2001, and subsequent church activities.

Some 6,000 Unificationists witnessed the ceremony in the main hall of the Cheonseong Wanglim (literally, “Palace of Heavenly Presence”) at the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center in Korea. At the top of a tiered stage area, two white thrones were prepared for the “Royal Parents of Heaven and Earth.” At 7:00 a.m. True Parents entered, flanked by 120 attendant couples. The procession stopped twice, at which time True Father offered prayers. True Parents then placed silver crowns, royal gowns and a scepter on the chairs reserved for God. True Parents lit holy candles and offered bows. A lengthy succession of representatives approached and offered bows. True Father then offered a third prayer. This was followed by congratulatory telegrams, plaques and gifts; a flower presentation; cutting of a celebration cake; cheers of Mansei (“ten thousand years”); and sharing of food from the offering table.

True Father’s Coronation Ceremony Address concluded the three-hour event. In it, he outlined the three “immutable laws” or “articles” of the “constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven”: first, not to “stain the blood lineage,” that is, to maintain sexual purity; second, “not to violate human rights” through discrimination and not to change subordinates’ positions (hiring, firing or transferring them) according to one’s own desire; and third, “not to steal public money” or utilize public property for oneself.

JANUARY 14, 1972

Training the Pioneers for the Third World Tour

The first step taken in preparation for the Third World Tour was the selection of pioneers for the two-week training session scheduled to begin in New York City on January 14, 1972. The 72 pioneers who were chosen housed in the three-story, stone and stucco Bronx center, traveled with other staff members daily to St. Steven’s Methodist Episcopal Church, where they were accommodated more comfortably for meals and lectures in the basement social hall. The training sessions focused on building solidarity—a difficult task—given the factions which had developed in the American church by that time. One pioneer described the challenges of the early days:

“There are about eighty of us. We come from different centers throughout the United States. We didn’t know each other when we first started. Each of us had different songs, different ways of praying, and different ways of applying the Principle. It was hard to unify at first. But we knew it was necessary.”

JANUARY 14, 1975

Global IOWC Team Departs for Japan

True Parents long considered the United States to be the gateway to the world. In early 1975, the Church launched activities worldwide based upon its successes in America. The initial step was the creation of a global International One World Crusade (IOWC) team. On January 14, the first global team, which included some 340 American and European members, boarded a chartered jumbo jet in Los Angeles for Tokyo. There they joined forces with an even larger contingent of Japanese members to evangelize and hold Day of Hope rallies in Tokyo, Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. After spending nearly 80 days in Japan, a global team of more than 500 members traveled by ferry to Pusan, South Korea, on March 27. There, from April 1 until May 17, they supported the massively attended Day of Hope festivals in Pusan, Taegu, Seoul, Incheon, Jeonju, Kwangju, Taejon, Cheongju and Chuncheon. These rallies culminated in the World Rally for Korean Freedom held at Yoido Island plaza in Seoul before an estimated crowd of more than a million on June 7, 1975.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of January 8-14.

The Victory of Love

This week in history, December 31 – January 6:

• The Holy Ground providence begins (December 31, 1964)
• The News World begins publication (December 31, 1976)
• God’s Day is established (January 1, 1968)
• Sekai Nippo is established (January 1, 1975)
• The Day of the Victory of Love is observed (January 2, 1984)
• Dr. Young Oon Kim begins her American mission (January 4, 1959)
• True Father plans his inaugural speaking tour (January 4, 1972)
• The Internal Revenue Service begins audit of the Unification Church (January 6, 1976)

DECEMBER 31, 1964

Holy Ground Providence Begins

True Father pursued the Holy Ground providence between December 31, 1964, and January 4, 1966. He said that the establishment of the Holy Grounds had to involve three different years and that the re-creation of the substance of the word and the beginning of the standard of heart could be achieved centering on them. Another purpose was to connect Korea to the world through the exchange of earth and stones. True Father took earth and stones from seven Holy Grounds in Korea on December 31, 1964, and January 1, 1965, and prepared to travel overseas. He proceeded to establish 120 Holy Grounds in 40 nations, including 55 in the United States.

DECEMBER 31, 1976

The News World Begins Publication

Creation of a media network was not originally part of True Father’s thinking or planning for the American mission. However, the print and electronic media increasingly vilified his work. This created a climate of extreme hostility and frustrated the Unification Church’s witnessing efforts. True Father, in turn, recognized the “awesome power” of the media “to create or to destroy.”

Therefore, in October 1976, he assembled a dozen or so Unificationists with journalism degrees and “set the deadline” for producing the first issue of a new daily newspaper in New York City on December 31, the last day of the United States’ bicentennial year. The vision of ushering in the United States’ third century “with a new era of modern journalism” was compelling. Nevertheless, according to one account, “It seemed impossible to start a daily newspaper literally from scratch, using inexperienced people, in dilapidated offices, in less than three months.” Still, “second-hand desks and typewriters were purchased,” and in November “the few who had journalism degrees … gave the first staff of about sixty a crash course in journalism.” On December 31, the presses rolled early in the morning and the first issue of The News World hit the streets of New York.

Replete with a color photograph featured each morning on the front page and a motto that described it as “New York’s oldest daily color newspaper,” The News World was a twenty-four-page general-interest daily with a staff of 200, the bulk of whom were Unificationists. It was eventually housed in the former Tiffany Building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which Unificationists purchased. The News World was the only paper to publish during the New York City power blackout of 1977 and during a later three-month newspaper strike, when its circulation soared to 400,000 daily. The paper’s boldest move was to predict a “[Ronald] Reagan Landslide” in a banner headline on Election Day, November 4, 1980, followed by an equally large banner headline the following day which read, “Thank God! We Were Right!” The News World gave birth to several other New York papers, including Noticias Del Mundo, a Korean-language daily, a Harlem weekly, and a press service, Free Press International. It later changed its name to New York City Tribune and eventually gave way to the media network’s flagship newspaper, The Washington Times.

JANUARY 1, 1968

God’s Day Established

God’s Day was the last of the Unification Church’s original four Holy Days to be established after Parents Day (3.1.60 lunar), Children’s Day (10.1.60 lunar) and Day of All Things (5.1.63 lunar). It also was the only one of the original four Holy Days celebrated according to the Gregorian (solar) calendar, beginning January 1, 1968. True Father observed that if humankind’s original parents had not fallen and had achieved perfection, they would have received God’s blessing and that day would have been God’s Day. As it was, True Parents had to restore and install each of the original Holy Days, representative of God’s three blessings, over seven years following their Holy Wedding in 1960. In 1996, True Father added the word “True” to God’s Day and the other original Holy Days. In 2010, True Father established the “Heavenly Calendar,” which displaced the Gregorian calendar in Unificationist observances and corresponded in most respects with the lunar calendar. As a result, from 2011, True God’s Day was no longer observed on January 1 but on the first day of the first month of the Heavenly Calendar (February 3 of that year). On January 7, 2013, True Mother announced that Unificationists should address God as “Heavenly Parent.” Thereafter, True God’s Day became “True Heavenly Parent Day.”

JANUARY 1, 1975

Sekai Nippo Established

Sekai Nippo, a Tokyo-based daily newspaper, began publication on January 1, 1975. Its name translates as “The World Daily,” and one of its main foci has been foreign news sent by overseas correspondents, many of whom also served as Unification movement missionaries. In 2004, Sekai Nippo, in cooperation with NewsStand Inc. of Austin, Texas, announced its availability as the first Japanese newspaper offered in a digital format that maintained the exact layout of the print edition. It continues as one of the Unification movement’s constellations of news outlets.

JANUARY 2, 1984

The Day of Victory of Love

The Day of Victory of Love, observed on January 2, commemorates the passing of Heung Jin Moon, True Parents’ second son. He was critically injured in a car accident north of Poughkeepsie, New York, on December 22, 1983, while returning with two companions to East Garden in Tarrytown, New York from the Unification Theological Seminary in Redhook, New York. Though seriously injured, his two friends survived because, according to their testimony, Heung Jin Moon swerved the car at the last moment to take the brunt of the impact himself and save them. He suffered massive head injuries and lingered in a coma for ten days before ascending at 1:15 a.m. on January 2, 1984. He was seventeen. By all accounts, he was an exemplary son. True Father described him as “the most exemplary, obedient son, with the greatest piety … the most comforting son to Mother and me.”

True Parents were out of the country at the time of the accident, conducting a series of Victory over Communism rallies in Korea. A number of spiritualists had communicated to them that December 1983 was a “very dangerous time” and that True Father “must absolutely be careful.” True Father later testified that at the last rally in Kwangju, a left-leaning city with a reputation for rebelliousness, 36 terrorists were prepared to attack but were prevented from doing so because “the auditorium was already completely packed by the time they arrived.” During True Father’s speech in Kwangju, Heung Jin Moon’s accident occurred. According to True Father, “Satan lost his condition to attack me and then turned his attention to the next best, my second son.”

Having laid down his life for his friends and standing as a substitute for his father, Heung Jin Moon occupied what True Father described as “the position of the living Jesus in the Unification Church.” While Heung Jin Moon lay in a coma, True Parents conducted a ceremony in the hospital chapel in which, on the foundation of Heung Jin Moon’s “precious sacrifice,” they called for the unity of Judaism, Christianity and the Unification Church; the unity of Korea, Japan and the United States; the unification of True Parents and their family and the members of the Unification Church, as well as all races of the world. After Heung Jin Moon’s ascension, True Parents established the Day of Victory of Love.

The Day of Victory of Love found a permanent liturgical expression in the church’s tradition of Seonghwa (“ascension and harmony”) ceremonies, which True Parents established after Heung Jin Moon’s own ascension. Unlike traditional funerals, these ceremonies were not to be gloomy or sad but “beautiful, enlightening and joyful,” using bright or light colors. True Father explained:

“In the secular world, death signifies the end of life. However, in our world, death is like a rebirth or a new birth into another world. Particularly those who give their life for the purpose of the Kingdom of Heaven and for the sake of the movement are special heroes.

“For that reason, we must not make those occasions gloomy or sad or feel discouraged. … If we here on earth become very mournful and gloomy, it is like pulling the person who is going up to the heavens down to the ground. This is a birth from the second universal mother’s womb into another world, just like when a baby emerges from its first mother’s womb.

“A Seonghwa ceremony is actually comparable to a wedding, when men and women get married. It’s not a sorrowful occasion at all. It’s like an insect coming out of its cocoon, getting rid of a shackle and becoming a new body and a new existence, a new entity. That’s exactly the same kind of process.

“In our way of life and tradition, spirit world and physical world are one, and by our living up to that kind of ideal, we bring the two worlds together into one.”

JANUARY 4, 1959

Miss Kim Begins the American Mission

Dr. Young Oon Kim (right) with early missionaries.

Dr. Young Oon Kim was the first Unification Church missionary to America. A former professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Miss Kim had done postgraduate work at the University of Toronto and attended international Christian conferences in Germany and Switzerland. She later wrote: “As soon as I discovered the universal value of the Divine Principles and the heavenly dispensation, I began to be concerned with the people of the Western world with whom I had established a cultural bond. Not only did I feel this, but in the rest of the membership there was no one else at that time who could undertake the job of bringing the Principle to the West.”

Miss Kim arrived in Eugene, Oregon, where she had been accepted as a student, in the midst of a raging snowstorm on January 4, 1959. She immediately began witnessing and took up residence in Oakhill, a rural settlement, with several of her most promising contacts. There she worked on an English translation of the Principle, raised members and established patterns of community life until late 1960, when she migrated, along with five Oakhill members, several hundred miles down the coast to San Francisco. In the Bay Area she completed her English translation of the Principle, incorporated the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC), and expanded her group, then known as the Unified Family. In 1965, she relocated to Washington, D.C., where she directed a fluctuating network of centers throughout the United States and Western Europe until 1972.

JANUARY 4, 1972

True Father Plans His Inaugural Speaking Tour

On January 4, 1972, at a joint meeting of East and West Coast Korean missionaries to the United States in Washington, D.C., True Father implemented plans to launch his first-ever speaking tour. The “Day of Hope” speaking tour became the major focus of True Parents’ third world tour. During True Father’s first world tour in 1965, he blessed Holy Grounds in 40 countries. During True Parents’ second world tour, they blessed 43 couples worldwide. During their third world tour in 1972, True Father began a new phase in his public ministry, as he had not spoken publicly in either Korea or Japan. The first Day of Hope tour began on February 3, 1972, at Alice Tully Hall, a concert hall that is part of New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and included stops in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Berkeley, California.

JANUARY 6, 1976

Internal Revenue Service Begins Audit of Unification Church

On January 6, 1976, Senator Bob Dole (R-Kansas) wrote a letter to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commissioner stating that an audit of the Unification Church was needed.

Within days, the IRS began what Carleton Sherwood, in his book Inquisition, The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon (Regnery Gateway, 1991), termed “the most intensive and expensive criminal tax investigation of any religious figure in U.S. history.” A squad of IRS agents took up permanent offices in the Unification Church’s downtown New York headquarters, while a team of field agents began round-the-clock surveillance of selected church members and their telephones. In 1978, after two years of investigations, the IRS was unable to find anything that compromised the church’s tax exempt status but turned over to the New York District Attorney’s Office “certain anomalies” in Rev. Moon’s tax returns for the years 1973-75. This eventually led to the indictment of True Father.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of December 31 – January 6.

Sharing the Good News

This week in history, December 24-30:

• The first God Conference is held (December 26, 1981)
• The Little Angels perform at the United Nations (December 27, 1973)
• A letter from God is received from the spirit world (December 28, 2001)
• International Cross-Cultural (Gyocha) Marriage Blessing Ceremony is held (December 29, 2005)

DECEMBER 26, 1981

The First God Conference

The first God Conference, entitled “God: The Contemporary Discussion,” was held from December 22 to 31, 1981 on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Dr. Frederick Sontag, distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of Pomona and author of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church (Abingdon, 1977), suggested the conference as an “internal” equivalent of the annual International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS). The conference attracted 170 participants from 33 countries and all major religious traditions. Seventy-five papers were presented, 22 of which were selected for inclusion in a resulting book, God: The Contemporary Discussion (1982).

The Youth Seminar on World Religions (YSWR) emerged out of the first God Conference. From 1982 to 1984 it sponsored annual seven-week around-the-world pilgrimages to sites associated with the religious traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Unificationism for 150 students and professors. This expanded the movement’s ecumenical and inter-religious network and involved religious scholars of the highest rank, including Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions and one of the country’s foremost authorities on world faiths, who with his wife co-chaired the first two Youth Seminars and served as chair of the fourth God Conference.

DECEMBER 27, 1973

Little Angels Benefit Performance at the United Nations

True Father conceived the idea of forming a Korean children’s dance troupe “as a means of promoting world peace and sharing the Korean culture throughout the world.” He asked Dr. Bo Hi Pak to take responsibility for assembling the group. Dr. Pak agreed, and he traveled back and forth between the United States and Korea in developing the “Little Angels” from 1962 to 1964. The Little Angels’ inaugural tour of the United States in 1965 was difficult, and in many cases “the performers outnumbered the audience.” However, their tours were increasingly successful, and by 1971 they had performed on national television, at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games at Mexico City, and before numerous heads of state including U.S. President Richard Nixon and President Park Chung-hee of the Republic of Korea, as well as at a Royal Command Performance before Queen Elizabeth II, who broke with protocol by receiving the performers and greeting each of them, escorted by Dr. Pak. On December 27, 1973, the United Nations opened its General Assembly Hall for the first time for a cultural performance, a gala benefit for UNICEF by the Little Angels. TheNew York Times reviewer wrote, “Judging from the standing ovation the children received, their performance of sometimes exotic national dance to music played on replicas of ancient Korean instruments has a universal appeal.” True Parents also received a standing ovation when they were introduced as The Little Angels’ founders.

DECEMBER 28, 2001

Letter from God

True Father understood Cheon Il Guk to be the nation of cosmicpeace and unity. As such, it encompassed not only the visible world but the totality of creation, both physical and spiritual. As he expressed it, “The world has entered an age in which the spirit world and physical world can become one and communicate freely with each other.” Communication with the spirit world was nothing new to the Unification movement. In fact, since 1935 when he encountered and experienced a divine call from Jesus, True Father had carried on a ministry to spirit world in parallel with his ministry on earth. For most of that time this was not a matter of public knowledge. With the proclamation of Cheon Il Guk this changed. True Father insisted that messages from the spirit world be disseminated as widely as possible.

The most prominent of these was “The Cloud of Witnesses,” a collection of messages which derived from “seminars” in the spirit world, initially for four religious founders (Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad) and subsequently for leaders in their traditions as well as for famous communists. The “Cloud of Witnesses” messages culminated in a “Letter from God,” addressed to “My beloved True Parent” and dated December 28, 2001. If True Father’s lifelong goal was “to melt the block of ice frozen in the heart of God,” the letter indicated that he had succeeded.

God, who self-identified as “Jehovah, the God of all humankind,” stated: “My gratitude and appreciation for you is beyond words. The word ‘love’ is inadequate to express My feelings. … I want to embrace you in My bosom and never let you go! I would carry you on My back and never let your feet touch the ground! I would hold you, and we would talk together all night long.” Apart from this, God validated True Father’s position, stating, “You have been victorious on every level and have restored to its proper position everything that had fallen. … Hence, Jehovah, the God of all humankind, hereby bestows upon His beloved True Parent the title King of all kings.” The Unification Church subsequently published “The Cloud of Witnesses” and “Letter from God” in space purchased from leading newspapers in all fifty states.

DECEMBER 29, 2005

International Cross-Cultural (Gyocha) Marriage Blessing Ceremony

True Parents conducted a Gyocha, “cross-cultural” Marriage Blessing between all cultures, races and religions on December 29, 2005. True Father also opened the gate for all who were blessed but lost their spouse due to divorce to be re-blessed. Grace was opened for all. True Father matched second-generation Unificationist couples and first-generation Unificationist couples and gave the responsibility to all continental directors of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) to heal the families through matching of previously blessed couples with one another and allowing them to be blessed. The Gyocha Blessing of 1,147 Couples was conducted at Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of December 24–30.

On the Eve of Peace

This week in history, December 17-23:

• True Parents arrive in Washington, D.C. (December 18, 1971)
• The IRFWP conference “Realizing the Interfaith Ideal: Action Beyond Dialogue” is held (December 18, 1998)
• The monthly magazine Tongil Segye begins publication (December 20, 1970)
• The World Summit of Muslim Leaders is held (December 20, 2001)
• Heung Jin Moon ascends in a car accident (December 22, 1983)
• The Peace King Coronation of Jesus takes place (December 22, 2003)

DECEMBER 18, 1971

True Parents Arrive in Washington, D.C.

The Kennedy Center is where the Little Angels performed the day they greeted True Father in Washington, D.C.

Having been denied visas on arriving in Los Angeles on December 11, 1971, because of alleged “communist affiliations,” True Parents traveled to Toronto, Canada. There, due to the intervention of U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC), who was familiar with True Father’s Victory over Communism work, their situation was clarified and they arrived in Washington, D.C., on December 18. Dr. Bo Hi Pak, who welcomed True Parents, stated that it “pained” him that he and others had not made “the necessary social and political preparations” for True Parents. However, it comforted him that the Little Angels were scheduled to perform that very night at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and they were all at the airport to greet True Parents. True Father, he said, “was extremely pleased with this unexpected welcome.”

That night, True Parents’ party sat in the VIP section of the balcony at the Kennedy Center. Dr. Pak noted, “More than a hundred senators, congressmen and other notables were there with their families, including Sen. J.W. Fulbright [D-Ark], Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird, and several other Cabinet-level officials.” There were ambassadors from around a hundred countries, he said, with more than 2,200 people in the sold-out crowd. Dr. Pak commented, “In a symbolic sense, the Little Angels’ invitational performance was a welcoming banquet held in celebration of Reverend Moon’s arrival in America that day. … It could also be said that Reverend Moon was the real host of that performance.” At the conclusion, Dr. Pak introduced True Father as the Little Angels’ founder and invited everyone to welcome him with a round of applause. According to Dr. Pak, “the leading figures from all walks of life in the United States were receiving the Lord for the first time and, symbolically, were giving him an enthusiastic welcome.”

DECEMBER 18, 1998

Realizing the Interfaith Ideal: Action Beyond Dialogue

True Father speaks at the IRFWP conference.

The Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace (IRFWP) sponsored an important conference, “Realizing the Interfaith Ideal: Action Beyond Dialogue,” in Washington, D.C., from December 18 to 20, 1998. The “concept for the conference,” according to its coordinator, Dr. Frank Kaufmann, “revolved around an initiative for religious leaders to work formally with the United Nations.” Dr. Kaufmann described the response of UN representatives present as “gratifying” in that they acknowledged the conference initiative to be “inspired, timely, necessary and doable.” True Father’s banquet address at The Washington Times offices expanded on the UN theme. He stated, “The path to world peace will be incomplete if we rely merely on the political, economic and military functions of the United Nations. … The more internal and spiritual aspects can be reached only through religious teaching and through the unity and united actions of the world’s religions.” The conference was significant in that it planted the seed for True Father’s call for “a religious assembly, or council of religious representatives, within the structure of the United Nations” less than two years later at Assembly 2000.

DECEMBER 20, 1970 

First Publication of the Monthly Magazine Tongil Segye

The church headquarters first published the monthly magazine Tongil Segye on December 20, 1970. Its registration number at the South Korean Ministry of Culture and Public Information was Ra 1388. True Father congratulated them on publishing Tongil Segye and wrote its name (統一世界) in calligraphy. As the monthly magazine of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, Tongil Segye has featured pictures from major events, True Parents’ messages, feature articles, interviews and reports, church news, and articles contributed by members. In doing so, it has been leading the culture of heart that the Unification Church aims to realize. Its current issue is the 524th, and it has a standing history of 45 years. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee.) 

DECEMBER 20, 2001

World Summit of Muslim Leaders

Former President of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, met with True Father at the World Summit of Muslim Leaders.

A little more than a month after the tragic events of 9/11, True Father hosted Assembly 2001, “Global Violence: Crisis and Hope,” in New York City from October 19 to 22, 2001. It convened 380 political and religious leaders from 101 nations. During the conference, True Father met with Abdurrahman Wahid, the former president of Indonesia and longtime head of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest independent Muslim organization in the world. True Father also met with Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan and urged the two to work together. A month later at a breakfast meeting with Unificationist leaders, True Father suddenly insisted, “Muslims should hold a peace meeting before the end of the year. Ask H.E. Wahid and Minister Farrakhan if they will convene such a conference. I will help if needed.” Dr. Frank Kaufmann reported, “Within 22 days, 180 Muslim leaders from 51 countries sat in the ballroom of the newly opened JW Marriott Jakarta to welcome speakers for the opening plenary of the World Summit of Muslim Leaders discussing Islam and a future world of peace.” Minister Farrakhan and H.E. Wahid acted as co-conveners ably supported by IRFWP staff. Amid the confusion and retaliatory “war on terror,” True Father was constant in his emphasis on interreligious and international cooperation. This was evident in the Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) organized by the Universal Peace Federation and associated peace efforts in the post 9/11 era.

DECEMBER 21, 1973

True Father’s Watergate Statement Read into the Congressional Record

The Unification movement’s National Prayer and Fast for the Watergate Crisis Committee (NPFWC) organized vigils, rallies, letter-writing and leafleting in all fifty states to publicize its theme and to obtain signatures of people promising to pray and fast for the Watergate crisis. Eight U.S. senators and fifty-three U.S. congressmen either signed True Father’s Watergate Statement, “Forgive, Love, Unite,” or responded with messages of support. Congressman Guy Vander Jagt (R-Michigan) read True Father’s statement into the Congressional Record of December 21, 1973.




 

DECEMBER 22, 1983

Heung Jin Moon in Car Accident

Moon, True Parents’ second son, was critically injured in a car accident on Route 9 just north of Poughkeepsie, New York, on December 22, 1983. He was traveling south from Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown with two companions when a tractor-trailer jackknifed on an icy stretch of road and collided with the Honda Civic that Heung Jin was driving. Though seriously injured, his two friends survived because, as they testified, Heung Jin swerved the car at the last moment to take the brunt of the impact himself and save them. Heung Jin suffered massive head injuries and lingered in a coma for ten days before expiring at 1:18 a.m. on January 2, 1984. He was seventeen. By all accounts, he was an exemplary son. Rev. Moon described him as “the most exemplary, obedient son, with the greatest piety … the most comforting son to Mother and me.”

True Parents were out of the country at the time of the accident, conducting a series of Victory over Communism rallies in Korea. A number of spiritualists had communicated to them that December 1983 was a “very dangerous time” and that True Father “must absolutely be careful.” True Father later testified that at the last rally in Kwangju, a left-leaning city with a reputation for rebelliousness, 36 terrorists were prepared to attack but were prevented from doing so because “the auditorium was already completely packed by the time they arrived.” With another 5,000 people outside, they “had absolutely no way to enter.” During True Father’s speech in Kwangju, Heung Jin Nim’s accident occurred. According to True Father, “Satan lost his condition to attack me and then turned his attention to the next best, my second son.”

DECEMBER 22, 2003

Peace King Coronation of Jesus

A rally was held at Jerusalem’s Peace Park.

True Parents set important conditions, centered on the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC), for the reconciliation of the Abrahamic faith traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In 2003, True Father called upon Christian clergy to “exchange the cross for a crown” as a foundation for traveling to the Holy Land and reconciling with their Jewish brethren. Some 131 members of the clergy did so and went to Jerusalem, where they met a like number of Israeli rabbis and jointly signed the Jerusalem Declaration, which repented for “dark parts of our past” and sought a “bright future” together.

Dozens of subsequent pilgrimages were conducted as part of the “Middle East Peace Initiative” (MEPI). True Father called for a “major providential mobilization” centering on December 22 as an Interreligious and International Day of Prayer for Peace in the Middle East. The day’s centerpiece was a rally at Jerusalem’s Peace Park which included a coronation of Jesus.

For Unificationists, this was a condition that “the chosen people of Israel embraced and welcomed Jesus and crowned him as the King of Peace,” an action that “reversed all that occurred 2,000 years ago.” Two Muslims presented a Jewish professor with a golden menorah as a symbol of reconciliation with the Jews. After that, Christian leaders presented a robe to a Muslim representative, symbolizing the confirmation that Muhammad is God’s prophet. Michael Jenkins, the rally’s master of ceremonies, proclaimed, “Jesus, Moses and Muhammad are one. The era of conversion is over, and the Era of the Peace Kingdom is now realized.”

DECEMBER 23, 1992

True Mother’s Beijing Rally

True Mother’s Beijing Rally was held in commemoration of the establishment of the Women’s Federation for World Peace on December 23, 1992, in the Great Hall of the People. True Mother gave a speech titled “Women’s Role in World Peace,” the first Korean woman to give a speech in the Great Hall. Four hundred members of the Wives’ Association of the Great China listened attentively. On the 22nd, the day before the event, True Mother met Deng Pufang, the eldest son of Deng Xiaoping, who at the time was the most powerful political figure in China, and discussed about mutual cooperation between the two nations. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee.)

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of December 17-23.

A Global Ministry Grows

This week in history, December 10-16:

• True Mother and Korean FFWPU aid typhoon-afflicted Philippines (December 10, 2013)
• The German Unification Church is legally registered (December 11, 1964)
• True Parents arrive in America (December 11, 1971)
• True Father returns to Korea after Danbury (December 11, 1985)
• The fifth Crown of Peace ceremony is held (December 13, 2004)
• The National Christmas Tree Lighting with President Nixon takes place (December 14, 1973)
• The CAUSA providence begins (December 15, 1980)

December 10, 2013

True Mother and Korean FFWPU Aid Typhoon-Afflicted Philippines

Super Typhoon Haiyan—one of the strongest storms recorded on the planet—smashed into the Philippines on November 8, 2013. The deadliest Philippine typhoon recorded in modern history, it killed at least 6,300 people. The international community responded generously with monetary aid and aid workers. One Unificationist city leader was killed and 100 members in the Philippines’ central region were left homeless. After hearing reports about the situation in the Philippines on November 15, True Mother gave a direction that one million dollars should be sent to the Philippines, and the Korean Family Church designated November 17 as a “Day to Support Members in the Philippines,” fasting in the morning and kicking off a campaign to collect donations and relief supplies until December 10. Korean FFWPU President Kyeng Seuk Lu visited the Philippines, bringing with him 200,000 dollars in donations collected by Korean church members and delivering a message of encouragement. More than 5,000 Philippine church members who had participated in international marriage blessings were living in Korea, and another 7,000 in Japan.

DECEMBER 11, 1964

Legal Registration of the German Unification Church

Rev. and Mrs. Peter Koch in Mauny, France, May 1978. To the right, Rev. Reiner Vincenz, spiritual son of Rev. Koch.

The German Unification Church was the first to be established in Europe, and its founding is considered also to be the beginning of the European church. The roots of the European and German church go back to 1961, when several Germans who lived in the United States joined under Dr. Young Oon Kim in San Francisco. After three years, several returned to their home country. The first was Peter Koch, who arrived on June 11, 1963, in his hometown of Muenster, Germany. Following him were Ursula Schuhmann, Barbara Koch (Vincenz), Paul and Christel Werner with their 11-year-old son, Klaus, Elke Klawiter, and Peter Politzki. The first member who joined in Germany was Reiner Vincenz, who joined in the summer of 1964.

DECEMBER 11, 1971

True Parents Arrive in America

True Parents at the Los Angeles airport.

Accompanied by Mrs. Won Bok Choi, Rev. Young Hwi Kim (then-president, HSA-UWC Korea) and Mr. Mitsuharu Ishii (then-director, HSA-UWC Business Enterprises, Japan), True Parents arrived in Los Angeles, California, on December 11, 1971, to begin a new phase in their global ministry. However, things did not go smoothly: They were denied visas, ironically, because of alleged communist affiliations. As a consequence, the group flew to Toronto, Canada, the next day. This problem was straightened out over the following week, thanks to high-level contacts that U.S. Unificationists had cultivated through the Freedom Leadership Foundation (FLF). Cleared to enter the United States, True Parents arrived in Washington, D.C., on December 18. It was there that True Father announced his plan to hold revival meetings in major U.S. cities. As the Unification Church in America to this point consisted of disparate missionary groups, it is appropriate to date the birth of the church in America from True Parents’ arrival. And since True Father had not spoken publicly either in Korea or Japan, the birth of the U.S. church coincided with the beginning of a new phase in his public ministry.

DECEMBER 11, 1985

True Father Returns to Korea after Danbury

True Father delivers the Citizens’ Federation Founder’s Address.

The “Danbury Course” was decisive in sparking widespread grassroots support for True Father across the United States from minority communities and those concerned about religious and civil liberties. In fact, a broad spectrum of 1,600 clergy and prominent laypeople welcomed True Father back from prison at a “God and Freedom” banquet held in his honor at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. A similar event occurred in Korea on December 11, 1985, when some 2,300 dignitaries from a diversity of fields, including a former prime minister of the Republic of Korea, attended a welcoming banquet at the Hilton Hotel Convention Center to pay tribute to the conclusion of True Father’s 40-year ministry and to welcome him back to his homeland. Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone of Japan and five former presidents of Latin American countries presented gifts and plaques of appreciation. From this point, True Parents initiated activities in Korea through the Korean Root-Finding Association, the Citizens’ Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland, the Segye Ilbo newspaper, business investments and cultural work that would culminate in his meeting with North Korean President Kim Il Sung in 1991.

DECEMBER 13, 2004

The Fifth Crown of Peace Ceremony Held in Washington D.C.

The Unification Church conducted six major “Peace King” coronations, also referred to as “crown of peace” ceremonies, from 2003-05. These were undertaken as sequels to the January 13, 2001 “Coronation of God’s Kingship” and held for the purpose of substantiating “heavenly kingship” on earth. The first of these was a coronation of Jesus as “King of Peace” in Jerusalem as part of the Middle East Peace Initiative on December 22, 2003. This was followed by a second coronation of Jesus in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2004 at which time crowns also were presented to True Parents represented by their son Hyun Jin and his wife. A third crown of peace coronation of True Parents was conducted at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 23, 2004. A fourth “crown of peace” coronation was conducted in the Korean National Assembly Library on August 20, 2004. Afterwards, True Father directed that the Unification Church conduct blessing registration and “crown of peace” ceremonies in forty nations and on all six continents by the end of 2004. This culminated in a fifth “crown of peace” ceremony in Washington, D.C. on December 13, 2004. True Father delivered his speech, “Our Mission in the Last Days of Providential History” to more than 3,400 leaders from around the world. A sixth and final “crown of peace” ceremony was conducted at Cheong Pyeong Lake in Korea on February 14, 2005.

DECEMBER 14, 1973

National Christmas Tree Lighting

True Father issued his “Answer to Watergate” on November 30, 1973. He then organized the National Prayer and Fast for the Watergate Crisis Committee (NPFWC), which organized vigils, rallies, letter-writing and leafleting in all 50 states in accordance with its “Forgive, Love, Unite” theme. A highlight was the December 1973 National Christmas Tree Lighting at which President Richard Nixon turned on the lights of a new permanent national Christmas tree near the White House. According to one press account, the president “was greeted by several thousand wildly cheering young supporters who carried signs that read ‘God Loves America. God Loves Nixon. Support the President.’” Unificationists gathered later that evening at Lafayette Park across from the White House for a candlelight rally during which President Nixon emerged from the White House and crossed over to the park with a security escort to greet and thank them. NPFWC President Neil Salonen presented the president with a poster-size Christmas card and a huge candle which he told the president was big enough to burn for the duration of his term.

DECEMBER 15, 1980

The CAUSA Providence Begins

Shortly after its launch, CAUSA holds a workshop for students in Bolivia.

True Father launched CAUSA International in 1980, when he asked Dr. Bo Hi Pak to visit political leaders of countries in South America and offer a unique form of assistance both in the defense against communism and in bringing about a renaissance of morality and virtue. At the same time, True Father selected a group of graduates of the Unification Theological Seminary—including Thomas Ward, William Selig, Beatriz Gonzalez, Juan Sanchis, Jean Jonet and Paul Perry—to study intensively with Dr. Sang Hun Lee in preparation for offering programs patterned after Dr. Lee’s Victory over Communism presentations. The threat of further communist inroads into the Americas, following the fall of Nicaragua to the Sandinistas in 1979, was a driving force behind the development of CAUSA. True Father took this situation seriously enough to cancel his 60th birthday celebration—normally an important occasion in Oriental tradition—in favor of CAUSA preparation.

The first country to request onsite CAUSA training was Bolivia. On December 15, 1980, U.S.-based CAUSA lecturers traveled to a tiny hamlet in the mountains of Bolivia to lecture to 45 students who previously had been indoctrinated in Marxist theory. Prior to their departure, True Father guided the lecturers, telling them:

The CAUSA movement is an ideological movement, not an academic one. If you don’t bring about a revolution in people’s heart and character, you will have failed. To bring the revolution, you have to move their hearts. Don’t just lecture but revive people’s souls. Prepare for a two-hour talk by praying for six hours. What I’m saying is, use spiritual power to bring about a reformation in the people. You should take leftist sympathizers and make brave VOC fighters out of them.

The overwhelming success of the 10-day program led to seminars in Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. The CAUSA providence greatly expanded in the years ahead to the remainder of South America, Central America and the United States.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of December 10-16.

A Proclamation of Peace

This week in history, July 2-8:

• 1,440,000 second generation Christian youth and world religious youth receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (July 3, 2002)
• America declares independence from Great Britain (July 4, 1776)
• True Father is arrested in Ewha Womans University incident (July 4, 1955)
• True Father is transferred from Danbury to Phoenix House (July 4, 1985)
• Leading newspapers in all fifty states began publishing “A Cloud of Witnesses” (July 4, 2002)
• First one hundred-day workshop is held in Japan (July 5, 1973)
• The Cross-Cultural Marriage Blessing Ceremony in the Sacred Reign of Peace is held (July 5, 2007)
• True Father declares his messiahship publicly for the first time (July 6, 1992)
• The first car is purchased for True Parents (July 7, 1958)
• The Convention to Proclaim the Embodiment of God’s Word and the Era of the Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind is held (July 8, 2010)

JULY 3, 2002

Holy Blessing of 1,440,000 Second Generation Christian Youth and World Religious Youth

True Parents officiated at a series of Interfaith Marriage Blessings centered on the American Clergy Leadership Conference (est. 2000) and the ACLC’s “We Will Stand in Oneness” 50-state speaking tour (2001). The first of these was an Interfaith Marriage Blessing of sixty clergy couples presided over by True Parents in the Cotillion Room of the Hilton Hotel in New York City on May 27, 2001, which included, most prominently, Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo. The second was a blessing of 144,000 clergy couples, 700 of whom gathered as representative couples at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, on April 27, 2002. The third was the Holy Blessing of 1,440,000 Second Generation Christian Youth and World Religious Youth on July 3, 2002. Seven hundred couples jammed the representative venue at the Sheraton National Hotel. A U.S. congressman offered a congratulatory address. World religious representatives, including a Native American chief, offered prayers. This time, the Nation of Islam brought 40 couples, the Sikhs 20 and the Hindus 20 in addition to other groups that “brought their lineages before heaven.”

JULY 4, 1776

America Declares Independence from Great Britain

On July 4, 1776, members of the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, which explained the reasons for the 13 American colonies to separate from the British Empire. Two days earlier, on July 2 in closed session, the same Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence. From the beginning, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, thereafter known as Independence Day or the Fourth of July. Independence Day is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays, barbecues and fireworks. In 1976, the year of the American Bicentennial, True Father founded the “Bicentennial God Bless America Committee” to focus the bicentennial celebrations on God and to call America to its global responsibilities. True Father delivered major speeches at Yankee Stadium in New York City on June 1, 1976, and at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on September 18, 1976.

JULY 4, 1955

True Father Arrested in Ewha Womans University Incident

In late 1954 and early 1955, the newly founded Unification Church witnessed successfully on the campuses of Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University in Seoul. Nearly 400 students connected to the church, at which point Ewha President Helen Kim and Vice President Maria Park spearheaded a crackdown. Five Ewha University faculty members, including Dr. Young Oon Kim and Won Pok Choi, who had joined the church, were fired. Students were given the choice to discontinue association with the church or be expelled. Fourteen students accepted expulsion. Finally, as a result of an orchestrated defamation campaign, True Father, Won Pil Kim, Church President Hyo Won Eu and two of Mr. Eu’s relatives were arrested. True Father spent three months in Seoul’s Seodaemun prison before being freed on appeal.

JULY 4, 1985

True Father Transferred from Danbury to Phoenix House

After serving nearly 12 months in Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut, True Father was transferred to Phoenix House, a halfway facility in Brooklyn, New York, where he served the final 45 days of his 18-month sentence, getting five months off for good behavior. True Father was permitted to leave the house at 7:00 a.m. each morning and was required to return by 11:00 p.m. During the day he was free to direct church affairs.

JULY 4, 2002

“A Cloud of Witnesses: The Saints’ Testimonies to the True Parents”

Leading newspapers in all fifty states began publishing “A Cloud of Witnesses” spirit world messages in ad space purchased by the Unification movement. The spirit world messages were the result of “seminars in the spirit world,” initially for the four religious founders (Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad) and subsequently for “120 Christians Who Illuminated History,” 120 leaders each from Buddhist, Confucian and Muslim traditions, and 120 communists. They also included a “Letter from God.” The seminars were led by Dr. Sang Hun Lee (d. 1997) and channeled through Mrs. Young Soon Kim. True Father authorized the messages, stating they “should be considered to be from me.” The “cloud” testimonies were direct about True Parents’ position as the savior of all humankind and controversial among clergy associated with the movement. However, they also provided an opportunity for education. The movement convened “National Ministers Workshops” for several hundred clergy. As one leader put it, “The trial of the Cloud of Witnesses led to a Divine Principle movement within the clergy.”

JULY 5, 1973

First One Hundred-Day Workshop in Japan

The first one-hundred-day workshop in Japan began on July 5, 1973, at the Atsugi Training Center in the city of Atsugi. Members had responded to True Father’s words: “For people to become global leaders, there are three abilities they must have. Based on correct values, these are persuasion, public relations, diplomacy and business skills.” Eighteen one hundred-day workshops were held, with Japan’s top executives participating. After that, it was replaced by a forty-day workshop. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

JULY 5, 2007

Cross-cultural Marriage Blessing Ceremony in the Sacred Reign of Peace

As part of the 2007 World Culture and Sports Festival (WCSF 2007), True Parents officiated an international marriage blessing at Yoo Gwan-soon Indoor Gymnasium in Cheonan, Korea (one hour south of Seoul) on July 5. Under the title, “2007 Cross-cultural Marriage Blessing Ceremony in the Sacred Reign of Peace,” the blessing brought 1,634 couples together in holy matrimony. The blessing was the 7th Phase of the International Cross-cultural Blessing of 400 Million Couples.  The ceremony was broadcast through the internet, so many other couples participated indirectly from all around the world. Dr. Lee Soo-sung, former prime minister of Korea and H.E. Stanislav Shushkevich, former president of Republic of Belarus, offered congratulatory addresses. In his remarks, Shushkevich noted, “I had the privilege to be at the World Peace Blessing in 1992, when I was still head of state of Belarus,” he explained, “At that time we were so happy because of our new found freedoms. But looking back now fifteen years later I can say that freedom alone is not enough: we must have strong families and a strong moral structure if our nations are to prosper.”

JULY 6, 1992

True Father Publicly Declares His Messiahship

True Father publicly declared his messiahship for the first time in a speech delivered to Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) and Korean civic leaders in Chungju, Korea. This was the first of four major gatherings that took place from July 6 to 9, 1992, in Korea’s Seoul region, the southeast region, the southwest region and the mid-Korea region. In his speech, “The Reappearance of True Parents and the Ideal Family,” True Father stated:

“God chose me to be the Messiah. … I have fulfilled my mission as the Lord of the Second Advent, Savior and the True Parent. I am proclaiming this in this place because the time has come to do so. Those who accept this will be blessed. If this race listens to me, how good that will be for the country. How good it would be, if the statesmen listen to me.”

True Father declared his messiahship on the worldwide level at the first World Culture and Sports Festival (WCSF) held in Seoul from August 19 to 30, 1992.

JULY 7, 1958

First Car Purchased for True Parents

True Parents’ first car was bought on July 7, 1958. The car’s plate number was “Seoul, Ja 747.” True Father went on endless tours nationwide with this car. During summer and winter forty-day witnessing periods in particular, True Father was busier than usual, moving around the country to encourage witnessing members. At times, a church in a province would be preparing for a revival when suddenly it would receive information of an impending visit by True Father. All members would come out and warmly welcome him. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

JULY 8, 2010

The Convention to Proclaim the Embodiment of God’s Word and the Era of the Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind is Held

True Parents hosted the Convention to Proclaim the Embodiment of God’s Word and the Era

of the Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind at the Cheon Jeong (Original) Peace Palace in Korea on July 8, 2010. Two thousand overseas members attended including some 640 from Europe and 130 from the United States. The convention culminated True Parents proclamation of a new heavenly calendar, their Golden Wedding Anniversary and Seunghwa Memorial Festivals held at the United Nations and elsewhere earlier that year. In his speech, True Father

stated, “True Parents have already prepared the last words I will give to humankind” and noted, “I am leaving behind eight textbooks and teaching materials for humankind to use for all eternity. These are published in almost a thousand volumes.” He called upon blessed families to carry our Hoon Dok education, establish an absolute family, and to “inscribe in your hearts the fact that we have entered the era of the realm of the cosmic Sabbath.” Through this proclamation ceremony, True Father stated, “all the borderlines in the entire cosmos have been abolished.”

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of July 2 to 8.

Hopes for Peace and Reconciliation

This week in history, December 3-9:

• The dedication of the Washington, D.C. Church is held (December 4, 1977)
• The Third World Assembly takes place in Seoul, Korea (December 4, 2010)
• True Parents meet Kim Il Sung (December 6, 1991)
• Japan attacks Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)
• The National Blessing for Reconciliation is held (December 7, 2002)
• San Francisco Bay Area welcomes “The Day of Hope” (December 7-9, 1974)
• The Korean Cultural Foundation in Seoul, Korea is established (December 9, 1969)
• True Mother gives a speech in Brasilia, Brazil (December 9, 1993)

December 4, 1977

Dedication Ceremony for the Washington, D.C., Church

A dedication ceremony for the Unification Church at 1610 Columbia Road NW in Washington, D.C., occurred on December 4, 1977. Two hundred members attended this ceremony, at which True Father spoke on the topic “Let Us Renew Ourselves.” Among other things, True Father said, “We need to know that all heaven and earth, the entire world, and even America is on the path through a process based on providential numbers.” The Unification movement purchased the building and property from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and had it remodeled before dedicating it to God.

December 4, 2010

Third World Assembly Takes Place in Seoul, Korea

The third Cosmic Assembly to Proclaim the Substantial Word That Firmly Establishes the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind was held in Seoul, Korea, on December 4, 2010. The assembly, which began at 2 p.m. in the Main Sanctuary of the Cheong Bok Gung headquarters church, drew three thousand participants, including distinguished social and religious leaders and Ambassadors for Peace. The purpose of the assembly was to transfer the victorious providential fruit reaped from the rallies in Washington–New York, and Hoover Dam–Las Vegas. True Father spoke as if delivering his final will and testament to all humanity. He said that all people must restore their spirituality, which was lost through the Fall, and that the process of re-creation has to go through three stages as did the original Creation. True Parents signed the written declaration and sounded the peace gong, which marked the conclusion of the first Cain-Abel UPF rally of the third Cosmic Assembly to Proclaim the Substantial Word That Firmly Establishes the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind.

December 6, 1991

True Parents Meet Kim Il Sung

After much preparation, True Parents have a successful meeting with Kim Il Sung.

True Parents met North Korean President Kim Il Sung on December 6, 1991. Their meeting was the high point of a week-long visit to North Korea that had begun on November 30. It also culminated more than four decades of True Father’s public work as he returned to the land of his birth, upbringing and call to ministry. More than that, it encapsulated and vindicated True Parents’ life course as they turned a former enemy into a friend. True Father stated on his return:

“No one can claim more justification than I for harboring feelings of ill will against North Korea. I received severe persecution from the current government of North Korea because of my position as a religious leader and my unswerving anticommunist principles. I was tortured harshly and then imprisoned for nearly three years in a labor camp. There I witnessed the deaths of many who also had been imprisoned without cause. …

Now I have visited North Korea in the spirit of true love. True love is love that loves even that which cannot be loved. …

As I set foot in Pyongyang, my heart was as clear as the autumn sky. I did not feel that I was entering the house of my enemy, but rather that I was returning to my hometown to visit the house of my brother. I carried with me to North Korea the principle that I have always lived by: that is, to forgive, love and unite.”

Still, it wasn’t easy. North Koreans were shocked by the manner and extent to which True Father criticized their ideology. Besides saying, “Juche ideology is not going to work. … The world is not this small. … You people are in … [a] cave,” True Father made several staggering proposals. In one meeting he asked the government officials in the audience to persuade Kim Il Sung to place a large announcement in the North Korean newspaper instructing that the 30,000 to 40,000 spies and agents in the South surrender to Rev. Moon and be instructed in his headwing ideology. In another session, True Father stated that he had to be the initiator and leader of reunification efforts, with Kim Il Sung and South Korean President Roh Tae-woo working as deputies under him.

North Korean officials who had dealt with True Father were fearful of a disastrous encounter with their leader. However, their fears were misplaced. Kim Il Sung directed that True Father’s speech at an opening banquet be published in North Korea’s only newspaper, Rodong Shinmun, and it was, word for word, including all references to God. He also overruled his subordinates and insisted that he wanted not only to meet Rev. Moon but also “to have lunch with him as well.” According to Dr. Bo Hi Pak, “The big man recognized the big man.” Significantly Kim Il Sung chose to meet True Parents at his Hamheung palace, about one hundred and fifty miles from Pyongyang, near Heungnam. In fact, the route from the state guesthouse to Kim Il Sung’s residence passed right by the Heungnam prison and fertilizer plant where True Father had been imprisoned for two years and eight months from 1948 to 1950. Dr. Pak speculated that this was a symbolic apology for earlier mistreatment.

On meeting, True Father and Kin Il Sung gave one another “a big bear hug.” Their private 90-minute conference went exceedingly well, with True Father cordially presenting his ideas for Korean reunification and Kim Il Sung reportedly initiating applause and saying “thank you” three times. They exchanged hunting and fishing stories during the two-and-a-half-hour luncheon and afterward strolled hand in hand down a long hallway for official pictures. The Pyongyang newspaper carried a large front-page photo of them holding hands with big smiles on their faces, something that North Korea experts regarded as extraordinary. Later, the Segye Ilbocarried the same photograph. Kim Il Sung reportedly requested True Father to arrange a meeting with U.S. President George H.W. Bush. He also offered True Father first rights to develop North Korea’s Diamond Mountains as a tourist area. They both agreed to cooperate in establishing a place where members of separated families could meet and in facilitating the exchange of mail. Kim Il Sung told True Father that he would preserve his birthplace as a shrine and that he was welcome to return any time.

December 7, 1941

Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise military attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese sank or damaged all eight U.S. battleships, three cruisers, and three destroyers. One hundred eighty-eight U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.” During the war True Father was enrolled in Waseda Koutou Kougakko, a technical engineering school affiliated with Waseda University in Japan, while active in the Korean student underground independence movement. He began his public ministry with the defeat of Japan and independence of Korea in 1945.

December 7, 2002

A National Blessing for Reconciliation

True Father’s December 7-9, 1974, San Francisco Bay Area Day of Hope tour stop was the greatest success since Madison Square Garden. The December 7 kickoff banquet, held at the Fairmont Hotel, brought out 1,160 San Franciscans. A letter of welcome from California Governor Ronald Reagan was read, and proclamations were announced from San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, Concord, Burlingame, San Mateo, Stockton, Menlo Park and Hayward. The city of Oakland proclaimed December 9 as Sun Myung Moon Day and presented True Father with a tie tack and cuff links in the shape of an oak tree. The December 9 talk brought 5,000 people to the 3,200-seat San Francisco Opera House, with the overflow directed to the Municipal Auditorium a block away.

December 9, 1969

Establishment of the Korean Cultural Foundation in Seoul, Korea

The Korean Cultural Foundation was established in Seoul on December 9, 1969, in order to support the Little Angels, who had been enhancing the nation’s prestige by promoting Korean culture around the world. In obedience to True Parents’ instructions, Korean elders created a foundation to manage the Little Angels. They obtained permission from the Ministry of Culture in December 1969. The Little Angels troupe has visited more than seventy nations, performing more than six thousand times, and, acting as an emissary of peace, has met top-level leaders in more than fifty nations. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee.)

December 9, 1993

True Mother’s Speech in Brasilia, Brazil

The first-ever speech of True Mother in South America took place at the Naun Plaza Hotel in Brasilia, Brazil, on December 9, 1993. At this speech, part of True Mother’s “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age Tour,” the president of Brazil’s Congresso Nacional warmly welcomed her. She spoke about the importance of the mother’s role in the Completed Testament Age, and the audience responded with warm applause. The South American leg of her speaking tour continued through Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 10, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 11, and Lima, Peru, on December 13. (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee.)

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of December 3-9.

Forgive, Love, Unite

This week in history, November 26 to December 2:

• True Parents visit Oceania for the first time (November 26, 1992)

• True Parents prepare for a meeting with Kim Il Sung (November 28, 1991)

• The 3.6 Million Couples’ Marriage Blessing Ceremony is held (November 29, 1997)

• Korean executives are urged to implement True Father’s teachings (November 29, 2011)

• True Mother hosts sermon contest (November 29, 2012)

• True Father gives his “Answer to Watergate” statement (November 30, 1973)

• True Parents visit North Korea (November 30 – December 6, 1991)

• Korean Blessed wives depart for a three-year condition (December 1, 1970)

• True Father departs Pyongyang for the South (December 2, 1950)

• The first 40-day Inter-Religious Leadership Seminar for Muslims is held (December 2, 1990)

NOVEMBER 26, 1992

True Parents First Visit to Oceania

True Parents visited Australia and New Zealand for the first time on the occasion of True Mother’s Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) 1992 world speaking tour. They had visited Hawaii on several occasions and True Father had established a Holy Ground in the Philippines during his first World Tour in 1965. However, this was their first visit to the South Pacific. Following their arrival at Cairns in northeastern Australia on November 26, True Father tested the black marlin fishing grounds for three days. True Mother then delivered her address, “Women’s Role in World Peace,” before an audience of 500 in Sydney on November 29. The next day, True Father spoke to Unificationists on “The Liberation of Women” for seven hours and wrote a calligraphy, “Unification World is from Oceania.” True Mother spoke before 400 people in Auckland, New Zealand on December 2. Afterwards, they visited the South Island deer farm which had won first prize in a 1991 nationwide deer velvet competition. Observing the countryside and beautiful clear running water, True Mother was heard to say, “I have always dreamed there was a country like this.”

NOVEMBER 28, 1991

True Parents Prepare for Meeting with Kim Il Sung

Prior to True Parents’ epoch-making visit with North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in December 1991, they stopped in Hawaii to make their final internal preparations. True Father also wrote a speech he intended to share with Kim Il Sung alone. True Father later stated, “I … visited Hawaii and prayed here at a critical moment when I was on my way to meet Kim Il Sung of North Korea in 1991 with the purpose of bringing an end to the Cold War era.” According to Mrs. Gil Ja Sa Eu, True Father “went to Hawaii to offer Heaven the last prayer so he could overcome his hatred for Kim.” His attitude was “even if the whole world hates him and accuses him of being a murderer, if I hate him, too, he cannot be saved.” True Father concluded that he would go with the heart of a parent. Mrs. Eu said that the “trust created” at True Father and Kim Il Sung’s meeting “was possible only because Kim could feel Father’s sincere love.”

NOVEMBER 29, 1997

Holy Marriage Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples

An aerial view of the 3.6 Million Couples’ Marriage Blessing Ceremony.

True Parents conducted the 3.6 Million Couples’ Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony at Washington, D.C.’s Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Stadium on November 29, 1997. This was the first major Blessing in the United States since 1982 and was an exponential leap beyond the Holy Blessing of 360,000 Couples at Seoul Olympic Stadium in 1995. The 1997 Blessing was conducted within the context of the third World Culture and Sports Festival (WCSF) from November 23-30. Under the theme, “Rebuilding the Family, Restoring the Community, Renewing Washington,” WCSF III featured an array of conferences, sports competitions, concerts, recitals and service projects all of which culminated with the Blessing, billed as “True Love Day at RFK.” Couples bussed in from as far away as Chicago. The Washington Post set attendance at 40,000, CNN at 45,000 and the Associated Press at 56,000. Other couples took part by “satellite Blessing” at locations throughout the world.

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

Korean Executives Urged to Implement True Father’s Teachings

More than 300 corporate executives from the top 50 companies in Korea gathered on November 22, 2011, for a vision seminar for financial leaders titled “God’s Fatherland and the Abel Peace UN.” Participants at this seminar, sponsored by the Segye Ilbo (Segye Times) newspaper and held at the Cheongshim International Youth Training Center, included heads of companies and executive staff members. True Father spoke to the participants for more than three hours, educating with true love. He asked the participants, who were sitting at round banquet-style tables, to pick up their chairs and come forward and huddle at the front of the room. True Father told the financial leaders: “Humankind must now humbly submit before heaven’s commands. … The time of destiny has come, when we must go all out and make a life-or-death determination, following the teachings of true love.” He emphasized to the executives the urgency of heaven’s current providence. (Contributed by Dohyun Kim, representing the History Compilation Committee of the Unification Church of Korea.)

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

True Mother Hosts Korean Unification Church Sermon Contest

More than 100 Unificationists gathered in an assembly room in the Cheon Jeong Gung, Gapyeong, South Korea, for an unprecedented sermon contest organized by the FFWPU Korean Headquarters called “Evangelize for Cheon Il Guk” on November 29, 2012. The purpose of the event was to “resurrect the heart for evangelism” within the Unification movement, reflecting the words of True Mother during a nationwide worship service: “We need to revive the church and become engines of growth by becoming great preachers.” A total of 22 persons competed, including 15 district pastors, metropolitan-area pastors and the director of the Universal Peace Academy. Each of the contestants was instructed to give a sermon about the heart and mission of True Parents for a total of 10 minutes. Contestants put all their effort into presenting their sermons strongly. Pastor Seung Bae Ma from the Song Buk Church won first prize, Mu Sang Im from the Cheon An Church won second, and In Young Song from the Dae Gu Church won third. True Mother said: “I was moved by your sermons. When you go back to your respective churches, I think it would be good to extend [them]. … We need these sermons to have an impact on members throughout the week. … Then we will have a living, breathing and vibrant church.”

NOVEMBER 30, 1973

True Father’s “Answer to Watergate: Forgive, Love, Unite!”

The “Watergate Crisis,” which implicated the White House in a break-in of the Democratic Party’s National Headquarters in 1972, embroiled the United States in controversy and weakened it in the face of communist aggression in Vietnam. True Father viewed this as “more than a political, social and economic crisis.” He viewed it as “a crisis of the human soul” and, because of America’s position in the world, as “a crisis for God.” As a consequence, he took two weeks off from his 21-City Day of Hope speaking tour in late 1973 and returned to Korea “in a desperate search for an answer and new hope for America.” His conclusion was that “God’s command at this crossroads in American history is Forgive, Love and Unite!”

True Father’s “Answer to Watergate” statement appeared in full-page advertisements purchased in newspapers in each of the twenty-one cities of the Day of Hope itinerary, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, beginning November 30, 1973. Over the next two months, it was published in one newspaper in every state except Hawaii. In addition, the National Prayer and Fast for the Watergate Crisis Committee (NPFWC) organized vigils, rallies, letter-writing and leafleting in all fifty states to publicize its theme and to obtain signatures of people promising to pray and fast for the Watergate crisis. At least eight U.S. senators and fifty-three U.S. congressmen either signed the statement or responded with messages of support. Congressman Guy Vander Jagt (R-Michigan) read True Father’s Watergate statement into the Congressional Record of December 21, 1973.

NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 1991

True Parents Visit North Korea

True Father and Kim Il Sung.

True Parents arrived in Pyongyang on November 30, 1991, to begin a visit at the invitation of the North Korean government. They visited Kumgang Mountain on December 3 and True Father’s hometown, Jeongju, on December 5. Then they had a historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Il Sung on December 6 at Jusuk Palace in Majeon, Hamheung. They exchanged a letter of agreement for peaceful unification based on a joint statement that contained ten articles regarding such promises as the hosting of a North Korean–South Korean summit meeting, a peaceful resolution to the issue of North Korea’s nuclear armament and the hosting of reunions between the ten million separated Korean family members. In his statement True Father said, “I am not going to the house of my enemy but rather that of my homeland and that of my brother.” He also emphasized that he was visiting North Korea as a messenger of peace and that the homogenous “Korean people should never again engage in a war against each other.” (Courtesy of the History Compilation Committee.)

DECEMBER 1, 1970

Korean Blessed Wives Depart for Three-Year Condition

It had been a tradition of the Korean church for Unificationists to take part in summer and winter 40-day evangelical campaigns, later termed “pioneer witnessing” in Japan. However, on December 1, 1970, one hundred and twenty teams consisting of 1,200 women who had received the Marriage Blessing of the Unification Church went to 120 locations throughout the Korean Peninsula for three years. This necessitated a great deal of sacrifice, and in some instances, mothers placed their children with relatives or even in orphanages. The purpose of the mobilization was to consolidate the church’s foundation in Korea as a basis for True Parents to launch their global ministry. There was a good deal of public negativity at first, but according to True Father, “After two years passed, public opinion was unanimous that if all the Korean people loved their country as much as [Unificationists], then indeed the nation would be saved.” He noted that Korean Unificationists had “successfully fulfilled their course” and “I could come out of Korea for the worldwide dispensation.”

DECEMBER 2, 1950

True Father Departs Pyongyang for the South

The North-South Korean border during the Korean War.

True Father’s ministry to North Korea, which began in June 1946, ended on December 2, 1950, when he left Pyongyang for the South in advance of the invading Chinese army. He departed with Won Pil Kim, his “first disciple,” and Jung Hwa Park, a follower from the Heungnam prison camp who had a broken leg and whom True Father alternately carried and pushed on a bicycle on the route south. True Father had been released from Heungnam on October 14, spent ten days walking to Pyongyang and forty days there seeking former followers, most of whom he didn’t find. Won Pil Kim testified, “As we left Pyongyang … the city seemed to be totally on fire because of the many secret, confidential documents being burned. As Father looked around, he cried to see the condition of Pyongyang.” True Father previously had told them, “I came to make Pyongyang the second Jerusalem, but it rejected me and sent me to prison.”

DECEMBER 2, 1990

The First 40-Day Inter-Religious Leadership Seminar for Muslims

True Parents and the Grand Mufti of Syria.

Unknown to most, Unificationists had cultivated contacts within the Muslim world since the early 1980s. While conventional mission work was exceedingly difficult, the Middle East Times gave the movement a presence in the region. In addition, the Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA) held a series of six highly successful conferences that brought together Arabs, Israelis, Greeks, and Turks on a variety of topics. On the foundation of these meetings, the Council for the World’s Religions convened several conferences of high-level Muslim religious leaders, including the grand muftis of Syria and Yemen.

As a result of several audiences with True Parents, the Grand Mufti of Syria agreed to send forty core followers to New York for a forty-day Inter-Religious Leadership Seminar (IRLS) that included three cycles of the Unification Principle, beginning December 2, 1990. The Grand Mufti of Yemen, along with forty participants from his country, took part in the second IRLS from April 21 to May 31, 1991. They were followed by separate Egyptian, Jordanian, Turkish and Sudanese groups. These activities culminated on April 10, 1992, when forty-two Muslim couples took part in a Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony in Seoul, Korea. True Father termed the participation of Muslims in the wedding “a miracle.” In effect, it broke an interreligious barrier, enabling True Parents to extend the Blessing to people other than Unificationists.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of November 25 to December 1.

Perseverance and Love Amid Persecution

This week in history, November 19-25:

• The 1,000th Cheongshim baby is born (November 19, 2007)
• True Mother proclaims the “Feminine Logic of Love” (November 20, 1991)
• True Father is released from Pyongyang Jail (November 21, 1946)
• Young Oon Kim relocates to San Francisco (November 21, 1960)
• UTS is granted a provisional charter by the state of New York (November 21, 1986)
• Mrs. Han Sook Kim Lee ascends (November 22, 1989)
• International delegates attend historic World Assembly (November 22, 2010)
• The first ICUS Conference is held (November 23, 1972)
• Tiempos Del Mundo is launched (November 23, 1986)
• World Culture and Sports Festival is held in Washington, D.C. (November 23-30, 1997)
• The New Victoria Plaza Hotel is inaugurated (November 24, 1996)

NOVEMBER 19, 2007

The 1,000th Cheongshim baby is born

On November 19, 2007, at 6:47 pm, the 1,000th Cheongshim baby was born in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Cheongshim International Medical Center. The newborn was the eldest son (2.98 kg) of Yeong-cheol Pak and Mayumi Okawa (a 360,000 blessed couple, South Korea). The obstetrics and gynecology department of Cheongshim International Medical Center reportedly had the highest percentages for natural delivery and breastfeeding in all Korea, combining Western and Oriental approaches to medicine.

NOVEMBER 20, 1991

True Mother Proclaims the “Feminine Logic of Love”

On November 20, 1991, True Mother spoke before a gathering of 15,000 Women’s Federation for Peace in Asia members at Seoul’s Jamsil Stadium. At the event she stated, “In history, the ‘logic of power’ has been dominant,” but said that the present age demanded the “feminine ‘logic of love’ to solve … problems and lead history in a proper way.” True Mother’s admonition was taken up by the Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP), which was founded the following year.

NOVEMBER 21, 1946

True Father Released from Pyongyang Jail

True Father undertook mission work in North Korea beginning in June 1946. Some two months later, on August 11, 1946, he was arrested by police in Taedong, a district of Pyongyang. In jail, he met members of the “Inside-Belly” Church whose leader also had been arrested. That church had been preparing clothes and food for the the Lord of the Second Advent. On September 18, 1946, True Father passed a message to its leader, Mrs. Hyo Bin Heo, which stated, “The writer of this note has a mission from heaven. Pray to find out who he is.” The note was discovered and True Father was subjected to severe torture which included sleep deprivation and savage beatings. On November 21, a Soviet interrogator determined that True Father was not a spy from the South, and authorities notified followers that they should come and get him. According to one account, True Father was thrown out into the yard, half dead from the beatings, his clothes stuck to his body by clotted blood. He vomited blood, and those helping him thought he might die. However, after three weeks he began to improve. True Father wrote in his autobiography, “Once I recovered, I resumed my evangelical work.” Mrs. Hyo Bin Heo ultimately died in prison.

NOVEMBER 21, 1960

Young Oon Kim Relocates to San Francisco

Young Oon Kim with early members gathered at Oak Hill.

Young Oon Kim, “Miss Kim” to early American members, was the first Unification Church missionary to the United States. A former professor at Ehwa University in Seoul, she came to Eugene, Oregon, as an exchange student at the University of Oregon in January 1959. There she witnessed and gathered a small community who resided in Oakhill, a rural settlement outside Eugene. The group dedicated themselves to outreach and the production of Miss Kim’s English translation of the Divine Principle text. In September 1960, two female members fled Oakhill due to persecution from their husbands. They went first to Fresno, California, then to San Francisco. In part, because their husbands continued to harass the group, mainly by target shooting in the field across from where Miss Kim lived, she and three of her core members decided to relocate. Miss Kim wrote:

Eugene was a small, conservative city, where I went not by choice, but to follow my scholarship. Next I went to Oakhill, which was only a small settlement in the countryside. There I spent time raising those who had accepted and were deepening their understanding of the Principle, as well as teaching the Principle in Lebanon, Salem, Albany, and Portland. … I found Oregon quite provincial on the whole, though, and was not reluctant to leave. I yearned to launch my work in a cosmopolitan city. I now had a textbook for wider work. … It seemed like this was where Father was leading me.

Miss Kim’s group severed ties irrevocably with the Northwest and began a new chapter of Unification Church history in the San Francisco Bay Area.

NOVEMBER 21, 1986

UTS Granted “Provisional Charter” by the State of New York

An aerial view of UTS.

Unification Theological Seminary obtained a “provisional charter” to grant academic degrees on November 21, 1986. By a 12-2 vote, the New York State Board of Regents approved the Seminary’s provisional charter and master plan. UTS graduates would now receive master’s degrees in either Religious Education (M.R.E.) or Divinity (M.Div.). This action marked the end of a 10-year battle to attain recognition. A previous attempt to gain a provisional charter, submitted in 1976, was denied in 1978. UTS took the matter to court, claiming discrimination and unfair treatment, narrowly losing a 4-3 decision of the New York State Court of Appeals in 1981. Reapplication for the charter was made in April 1984. Some 450 students who had attended UTS prior to 1986 graduated with “certificates” rather than degrees. It would be another four years before the State of New York granted UTS its “Absolute Charter,” some 15 years after its initial application.

NOVEMBER 22, 1989

Mrs. Han Sook Kim Lee Ascends

On November 22, 1989, in Seoul, Han Sook Kim, the wife of President Sang Hun Lee of the Unification Thought Institute of Korea and America, passed on to the spirit world. In 1956 Mrs. Lee, together with her husband, joined the Unification Church. Mrs. Lee was a pioneer missionary and in 1970 took part in the mobilization campaign for blessed wives, going out on a three-year witnessing mission. After her passing, Mrs. Lee communicated to her husband thorough Mrs. Young Soon Kim. This was the beginning of Dr. Lee’s efforts to explain the reality of the spirit world. He wrote: “While I give Unification Thought lectures, the audience asks many kinds of questions to me. About the earthly things I gave all the answers with True Father’s teachings, but about spiritual things I couldn’t give an answer, so I was very frustrated.” After his passing in 1997, Dr. Lee authored a number of works about the spirit world, notably Life in the Spirit World and on Earth.

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

International Delegates Attend Historic World Assembly

A special World Assembly, “The Era of Universal Peace: God’s Providence and the ‘Abel UN,’” was held on November 22, 2010, at the Manhattan Center in the heart of New York City. According to unofficial notes taken at the time, True Father said that the assembly was providentially important because it took place on November 22 (10.17 H.C.), the day after the three-day period (10.14, 10.15, 10.16 H.C.) centered on 10.14 H.C. in 2010, which was the 60th anniversary of True Father’s liberation from the Heungnam labor camp in North Korea. True Father said that especially through these three assemblies, the proclamation of True Parents must reach perfection, conclusion, and completion. He said that it is proclaimed that Korea, which is where True Parents were born, became God’s homeland. True Father said that the internal meaning of these assemblies was that all the leaders of the Group of Twenty major economies and other countries should join the assemblies and attend the victorious True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind.

NOVEMBER 23, 1972

First ICUS Conference

A session from the first ICUS conference.

The First International Conference on Unified Science (later renamed the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, or ICUS) was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City from November 23-26, 1972. It convened twenty scientists from seven nations to discuss “Moral Orientation of the Sciences.” The previous January, True Father had suggested the idea to Edward Haskell, a lecturer at Southern Connecticut State College who dedicated his life’s work to the unification of human knowledge into a single discipline. Haskell, who had been contacted by the New Haven center, was enthusiastic about the proposal and helped draw up plans for the conference. The conference itself included an opening banquet and three working days of lectures, responses, panels and open discussions. In his closing address, True Father called for “a unified system of thought” and “a new standard of value” that will establish “the unified world of prosperity, happiness and goodness.” The conference was successful both in the quality of participants, presentations and as a building block for future conferences. The movement published the proceedings and held the Second International Conference on Unified Science the following November in Tokyo. Expanded guest lists and formats would characterize annual ICUS meetings.

NOVEMBER 23, 1986

Launch of Tiempos Del Mundo

President Bush holding a copy of Tiempos Del Mundo at its inauguration.

True Parents unveiled Tiempos del Mundo, the first inter-American Spanish-language newspaper at the Buenos Aires Sheraton on November 23, 1996. With publication beginning as a weekly in Buenos Aires, plans called for the newspaper to come out on Sundays at first, but go daily very quickly via satellite transmission to editorial centers in 17 countries (10 in South America, five in Central America and one in the Caribbean and the United States). At the gala evening inauguration attended by 300 leaders from 33 Latin American nations plus more than 600 local VIPs, former U.S. President George Bush stated, “I want to salute Rev. Moon, who is the founder of The Washington Times and also of Tiempos del Mundo. … A lot of my friends in South America don’t know about The Washington Times, but it is an independent voice. The editors of The Washington Times tell me that never once has the man with the vision interfered with the running of the paper, a paper that in my view brings sanity to Washington, D.C. I am convinced that Tiempos del Mundo is going to do the same thing.”

In a preamble to his speech, “In Search of the Origin of the Universe,” True Father said that the “guideline” for the newspaper will be to provide “edifying reports,” to offer “constructive information, promoting harmony” and to reverse “the tendency toward disbelief.”  He stated that he was “especially interested in emphasizing family ethics and in guiding youth in the right direction.”

NOVEMBER 23-30, 1997

World Culture and Sports Festival Held in Washington, D.C.

From November 23 to 30, 1997, the third World Culture and Sports Festival (WCSF) was held in Washington, D.C., taking place for the first time in the United States. True Parents envisioned the WCSF as an event that would gather thousands of participants from many fields for the purpose of establishing a foundation for world peace. Each gathering brought together many of the projects which represented True Parents’ lifelong efforts around the world. The Unification movement organized the first World Culture and Sports Festival in 1992 and the second in 1995, both of which took place at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul, Korea.

NOVEMBER 24, 1996

Inauguration of the New Victoria Plaza Hotel

True Parents inaugurated a new annex tower and a newly remodeled Victoria Plaza Hotel in Montevideo, Uruguay, on November 24, 1996. A modern five-star hotel with state-of-the-art conference facilities, the Victoria Plaza prominently stood out as a premier landmark for Uruguay and the Southern Cone region of South America.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of November 20-26.

Spiritual Revolutions

This week in history, November 12-18:

• Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi arrives in San Francisco (November 12, 1965)
• The dedication ceremony for the Cheongshim Youth Center is held (November 12, 2004)
• The Japan High Court makes landmark ruling against kidnapping and “deprogramming” (November 13, 2014)
• True Father is awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of La Plata (November 15, 1984)
• The First Assembly of the World’s Religions is held (November 15, 1985)
• True Father proclaims Cheon Il Guk (November 15, 2001)
• Lady Dr. Kim ascends to the spirit world (November 16, 2004)
• The 11.16 Marriage Blessing Ceremony is held (November 16, 2009)
• A Soviet journalist interviews True Father (November 17, 1989)

NOVEMBER 12, 1965

Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi Arrives in San Francisco

True Father with Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi prior to his departure as a missionary

Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi, the first successful Unification Church missionary to Japan, began his mission in the United States on November 12, 1965. He was the fourth Korean missionary to pioneer the United States, following Miss Young Oon Kim, Mr. David S.C. Kim and Col. Bo Hi Pak. Mr. Choi was joined by Daikon Ohnuki and Soo Lim (later known as “Onni” Durst). They, along with Mrs. Choi, the Chois’ infant son and three members from the church in Japan, developed what later became the International Re-Education Foundation in San Francisco. Mr. Choi adapted “Principles of Education” and a social movement rather than church profile to reach the secular Bay Area audience and hippie youth. The original community of eight doubled itself with eight new American members by the end of 1967. A pattern of doubling membership annually continued until 1971.

NOVEMBER 12, 2004

Dedication Ceremony for the Cheongshim Youth Center

The Cheongshim Youth Center in Cheongpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, was dedicated on November 12, 2004. Around a thousand Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center workshop participants came for the ceremonial dedication. True Parents planted a commemorative tree and cut a ribbon. True Father wrote a calligraphic message, “Cheon-ji Gae-byeok Cheon-jin-gyeok-dong Man-hwa-seong-chui.” The Cheongshim Youth Center began to play a key role in the education of Unificationist-born young people under the vision “Challenge to Achieve Dreams and Hopes.” (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee.)

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Japan High Court Landmark Ruling against Kidnapping and “Deprogramming”

The Unification movement in Japan won a major victory on November 13, 2014, when Tokyo’s High Court ruled in favor of Mr. Toru Goto in his civil suit against family members and “deprogrammers” who had held him captive for 12 years and five months (September 11, 1995 to February 10, 2008) in order to force him to abandon the Unification faith. The court ruled that this amounted to kidnapping and “an unlawful suppression of freedom of action.” It ordered three family members to pay compensation of 22 million yen (2.2 million US$). The lead deprogrammer was ordered to pay 11 million yen (1.1 million US$) in compensation. Over the past 45 years, more than 4,300 persons, mostly Unificationists and 80 percent of them women, have been kidnapped for the purpose of breaking their faith. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the U.S. State Department previously filed reports critical of Japan for inaction on this human rights abuse. Mr. Goto’s initial effort to press criminal charges was denied in 2009 by the Tokyo Prosecutors’ Office, which cited “insufficient evidence.” He subsequently filed a civil lawsuit, which resulted in the 2014 decision. Japan’s Supreme Court dismissed appeals by the defendants in the case and upheld the verdict by the Tokyo High Court on September 29, 2015. This concluded Mr. Goto’s seven-year legal battle and put an end to kidnapping and deprogramming as a legal option in Japan.

NOVEMBER 15, 1984

True Father Awarded Honorary Doctorate by the University of La Plata

More than 500 people filled the United Nations Delegates’ Dining Room on November 15, 1984, when True Father and Dr. Bo Hi Pak were awarded honorary degrees of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Catholic University of La Plata, Argentina. True Mother received the degree on behalf of True Father, who at the time was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut. Monsignor Antonio Jose Plaza, archbishop of La Plata and chancellor of the university, traveled to New York to bestow the award despite objections from the Vatican. True Mother thanked the chancellor and university for their “courageous stand … in recognizing and honoring my husband at this difficult time.” True Father previously had received an honorary doctorate in law from Ricker College, Maine, in 1975. During his time in Danbury, he received four additional honorary doctorates. The first was awarded by La Plata University, also in Argentina. The second, on May 11, 1985, was conferred by the Shaw University Divinity School, affiliated with the Methodist Church. The third, on May 28, 1985, was from the Bible Theological Seminary of the State of Florida, and the final one was awarded by Vennard College on August 15, 1985.

NOVEMBER 15, 1985

The First Assembly of the World’s Religions

Dr. Huston Smith, author on world religions, greets True Father at the assembly.

More than 600 spiritual leaders, clergy, professors, artists, students and professionals from 85 nations gathered at the Americana Great Gorge resort, in McAfee, New Jersey, for the first Assembly of the World’s Religions from November 15 to 21, 1985. Sponsored by the International Religious Foundation (IRF), it was envisioned as the first of three assemblies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. The theme of Assembly One was “Recovering the Classical Heritage.” Stylistic banners representing the world faith traditions were created for the occasion by the famed banner-maker Norman Laliberte. Participants gathered daily for meditations, plenary talks, discussion groups, and informal presentations of song and storytelling. A practical outcome of the assembly was the launch of the Religious Youth Service (RYS).

In his Founder’s Address, titled “Dialogue and Alliance,” True Father memorably stated, “As far as I know, God is not sectarian. He is not obsessed with minor details of doctrine. We should quickly liberate ourselves from theological conflict, which results from blind attachment to doctrines and rituals, and instead focus on living communication with God.” He contended, “Only through a religious and spiritual revolution bringing great harmony, love and compassion will we finally realize the ideal world of peace.” He also expressed three goals for the assembly:

First, that the world’s religious traditions respect each other and at least work to keep in check any inter-religious conflicts and wars. Second, that the assembly serve the world by becoming a cooperative community of religions … calling religious people to practical action, encouraging all people to live by God-centered values, and fostering the development of human minds and spirits. Third, that the assembly develop into an organization in which the major leadership of all religions participate.

NOVEMBER 15, 2001

True Father Proclaims Cheon Il Guk

True Father proclaimed Cheonju Pyeonghwa Tongil Guk (the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity), abbreviated as Cheon Il Guk (CIG), on November 15, 2001. Cheon Il Guk is the Unification equivalent of the Kingdom of Heaven and the culmination of True Father’s ministry. Previously True Father declared a fundamental shift in the order of salvation from the individual to the family. Cheon Il Guk advanced beyond the family to the creation of a heavenly nation. True Father defined the Cheon Il Guk “era” as the period during which the foundation of Cheon Il Guk was to be established. He said the movement was on a “tight schedule” of twelve years, extending until 2013. True Father’s proclamation of Cheon Il Guk energized the Unification movement and marked a new stage in its development.

NOVEMBER 16, 2004

Lady Dr. Kim Ascends

Mrs. Shin Wook “Lady Dr.” Kim ascended on November 16, 2004, at age 90. She converted to the Holy Spirit Association from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1956 and was an obstetrician and gynecologist, having delivered more than 5,000 babies, including five of True Parents’ children. She also was a “spiritual doctor,” and that was the title and mission True Father assigned to her in America. She immigrated in 1971 and was well known among early American members for her wise and warm counsel. Prior to the Cheongpyeong providence, she also played a major role on issues related to ancestors and the spiritual world. During the Washington Monument campaign, she conducted an important ceremony to sanctify the grounds and protect True Father’s life.

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

11.16 Blessing Ceremony for Unificationist-born Couples

On November 16, 2009, 173 Unificationist-born couples from 28 nations took part in a Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony before 1,200 parents and others at the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center. All participants met the Cheon Il Guk matching standard of purity, never having kissed, dated, had any physical relationship or made any exclusive romantic commitment. They also met the standard of openness to form an international or intercultural couple. On that foundation, True Parents matched the couples individually.

NOVEMBER 17, 1989

Soviet Journalist Interviews True Father

The Soviet interview with True Father was reprinted in major U.S. newspapers.

In a sign of things to come, True Father granted his first interview in 13 years to Za Rubezhom (“Abroad”), a Soviet newsweekly with a circulation of over 1 million that was read by intellectuals and policy leaders throughout the Soviet Union. Za Rubezhom titled the interview “A Spiritual Revolution Is Needed” and published it the week of November 17-25 in its “Religion and Society” section. The interview was translated into English and published in advertisements in major newspapers around the United States under the banner head “Rev. Moon Breaks His Silence.”

True Father spoke about his daughter-in-law Hoon Sook (Julia) Moon’s dance performance on the stage of the Kirov Theatre and his respect for Russian artistic traditions; President Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts to launch glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”); and the need for the Soviet Union to support religious freedom and develop “a wider-based individual incentive system” for its commerce. He said that he welcomed the “lessening of tensions among the nations of the world” but that lasting peace would come only when we “settle our peace with God.”

“What our world most needs,” True Father stated, is “a spiritual revolution. Then we can successfully solve our economic and social problems.” True Father’s interview with Za Rubezhom culminated a decade of groundwork by the World Media Association in cultivating contacts among Soviet journalists and was a steppingstone to the 11th World Media Conference in Moscow and True Parents’ meeting with President Gorbachev in April 1990.

NOVEMBER 19, 2007

1,000th Cheongshim Baby Born

The parents of the 1000th Chungshim Baby, Yeong-cheol Pak (right) and Mayumi Okawa, November 19, 2007, Chungshim International Hospital.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of November 13-16.

Breaking Down Barriers of Heart

This week in history, November 5-11:

• True Father is admitted to the United Kingdom after 27 years (November 5, 2005)

• The Inter-Denominational Christian Association is established (November 7, 1966)

• A dedication ceremony is held for the Cheonseong Wanglim Palace (November 7, 1999)

• UTS students hold a prayer walk for religious freedom in the Soviet Union (November 8, 1987)

• East Germany opens the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989)

• True Father proposes an international highway (November 10, 1981)

• David S.C. Kim’s Seonghwa Ceremony is held (November 10, 2011)

• True Mother begins a 12-city speaking tour of the United States (November 11, 2007)

November 5, 2005

True Father Admitted to the United Kingdom after 27 Years

On November 5, 2005, at about 11 a.m. an airplane carrying True Parents landed at a small airport, Biggin Hill, in the foxhunting countryside near the London suburb of Chislehurst. This was True Father’s first visit to the United Kingdom since the summer of 1978, when he came with Unification Theological Seminary students to pioneer home church. Since 1995, the British government had banned True Father from entering Britain. Germany subsequently banned True Father as “a threat to public order” and was followed by fourteen additional European Union nations who employed common immigration practices under the Schengen Agreement’s immigration system. Schengen Agreement provisions were designed to prevent terrorists and drug dealers from abusing liberal European travel codes. Unificationists eventually would be successful in demonstrating that the ban on True Father was illegitimate and having it removed. Prior to that, in October 1995, British Home Secretary Charles Clark lifted the British ban and True Father delivered a public address, “True Family and I,” in London as part of the Universal Peace Federation’s Inaugural World Tour. On disembarking the plane, True Father was reported to have said, “Hmm … harder to get into Britain than to enter the spiritual world.”

NOVEMBER 7, 1966

Establishment of the Inter-Denominational Christian Association

A ceremony marking the foundation of the Inter-Denominational Christian Association was held on November 7, 1966, at A-seo-won, in Jung district of Seoul. This was the result of the Christianity-based interdenominational activities that had been held since 1965. True Father said, “If a hundred members become people central to creating harmony, they can be remembered by Heaven. To bring about harmony, interdenominational activities must be carried out to a degree where one would even fall into debt for it.” When first established, it was launched under the name the Christian Inter-Denominational Movement Headquarters but was renamed the Inter-Denominational Christian Association eight years later in October 1974. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

NOVEMBER 7, 1999

Dedication Ceremony for Cheonseong Wanglim Palace

On March 10, 1997, there was a groundbreaking ceremony at Cheongpyeong Lake in Korea for what was to become a major sanctuary that could hold up to 10,000 workshop participants at a time. In design, it was understood to be a replica of a palace in heaven, a reality that was attested to in calligraphy provided for the occasion by True Father, which read, “The Heavenly Palace that came down from Heaven.” Essentially, a small mountain was leveled to construct a magnificent marble structure overlooking Cheongpyeong Lake. Named Cheonseong Wanglim Palace, the edifice was dedicated on November 7, 1999.

NOVEMBER 8, 1987

UTS Students Hold Prayer Walk for Religious Freedom in the Soviet Union

The “Soul of Russia,” a Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) student-based prayer and educational group concerned with ending religious persecution in communist countries, held a prayer walk with more than 250 participants at UTS on November 8, 1987. Titled a “Restorational Prayer Walk for Religious Freedom in the Soviet Union,” the candlelight walk was timed to follow the 70th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The turnout generated extensive media coverage, including front-page photos in local newspapers.

NOVEMBER 9, 1989

East Germany Opens the Berlin Wall

The Unification movement dedicated itself to “Victory over Communism” for many years. In 1985, True Father sponsored a major conference in Geneva, Switzerland, titled The Fall of the Soviet Empire. At that time, few thought this was a realistic possibility. However, four years later, on November 9, 1989, East Germany officially announced freedom of travel and border guards opened the gates which had restricted travel since 1961. This major symbol of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain subsequently was demolished and the Soviet Union itself collapsed less than two years later.

NOVEMBER 10, 1981

True Father Proposes International Highway

In “The Creation of a New World,” the Founder’s Address at the 10th International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS), held in Seoul, Korea, from November 9 to 13, 1981, True Father proposed the construction of a “Great Asian Highway” that eventually would link the world. This, he said, “would be a great international highway around which freedom is guaranteed.” He also envisioned the highway as a spur for economic development and cultural integration. His call resulted in the establishment of the Japan-Korea Tunnel Research Institute and the International Highway Construction Corporation, which conducted extensive private research and public relations activities during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2005 at the Inaugural Convocation of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), True Father renewed his call for an International Highway System, focusing on “a passage for transit across the Bering Strait.”

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

David S.C. Kim’s Seonghwa Ceremony

David S.C. Kim working with the One World Crusade.

David S.C. Kim, one of the five founding members of the Unification Church in 1954, the second missionary to the United States in 1959, and the founding president of Unification Theological Seminary (1975-1994), passed away on November 8, 2011, at age 96. On his passing, True Father stated that he had “entered the Garden of Heaven as a representative of filial piety and loyalty.”

NOVEMBER 11, 2007

True Mother Begins Twelve-City Speaking Tour of the United States

True Mother began a U.S. 12-city speaking tour titled Providential View of the Pacific Rim Era in Light of God’s Will on November 11, 2007. She began the tour in Los Angeles and concluded it in New York on November 21. Wherever she spoke, many people came. Throughout the tour, True Father offered conditions on Geomun Island, Yeosu, Korea, and encouraged True Mother by telephone. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee.)

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of November 6-12.

Education of the Heart

This week in history, October 30 – November 4:

• 6,500 couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (October 30, 1988)
• A WFWP conference is held in North Korea (October 30, 2007)
• True Father issues the Declaration of the Elimination of Historical Indemnity (November 1, 1996)
• A Multicultural Peace Festival is held in Korea (November 1, 2014)
• True Parents dedicate the CAUSA International headquarters (November 2, 1983)
• The first global assembly for university CARP students is held (November 2, 1984)
• True Mother’s 40-nation speaking tour begins (November 2, 1993)
• FFWPU Korea launches a nationwide Divine Principle revival campaign (November 2, 2012)
• True Mother’s mother ascends to the spirit world (November 3, 1989)
• Sung Hwa University is established (November 3, 1989)
• The News World predicts a Reagan landslide (November 4, 1980)

October 30, 1988

6,500 Couple’s Holy Marriage Blessing Unites Korean and Japanese in Marriage

The 6,500 Couple’s Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony, October 30, 1988.

On October 30, 1988, True Parents blessed in marriage 6, 516 couples in a Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony conducted in the complex of Ilhwa Pharmaceutical’s McCol soft drink factory in Yong-in, Korea. This Marriage Blessing was significant in that it brought together some 2,500 Korean/Japanese couples. As True Father noted, “Korea and Japan have been enemies for a long time, and their animosity has never been healed. Through this matching … emotional strains and hurt will be removed … the fortunes of these two nations will begin to take root on earth.” True Parents conducted the Marriage Blessing on the foundation of the recently completed Seoul Olympics and declaration of “The Nation of the Unified World.” It was the ninth providential Marriage Blessing following True Parents’ Holy Wedding and the Marriage Blessings of 3, 36, 72, 124, 430, 777, 1,800 and 8,000 couples.

October 30, 2007

WFWP Conference in North Korea

WFWP Korea had been working for some time to re-establish inter-Korean sisterhood, initiating, among other things, a “One Percent Love-offering” which encouraged people in South Korea to donate 1 percent of their income to the North. WFWP Leaders also met with their counterparts from the North on a number of occasions. Their interaction came to fruition in a WFWP convention on “Women’s Leadership in Building North-South Unification and World Peace” held at the Mount Kumgang Resort in the North. Ten female leaders from Pyongyang participated in the conference in addition to 700 international delegates. There were some sensitive issues, such as use of the term “leader,” as North Koreans used the word “leader” only for Kim Jong Il and preferred the designation “worker” or “laborer” for signage. They also resisted religious words such as “God” (changed to “Creator”) and religious ceremonies. Nevertheless, the head of the North Korean delegation referred respectfully to True Parents’ visit with Kim Il Sung sixteen years earlier, acknowledging that “They  … so love this nation and its people.”

November 1, 1996

Declaration of the Elimination of Historical Indemnity

True Father issued a number of declarations during the late 1990s, several centered on New Hope Farms in Jardim, Brazil. These declarations were foundational in the globalization of the Blessing and the proclamation of the Nation of Cosmic Harmony (Cheon Il Guk). On November 1, 1996, in Uruguay, True Father declared the Elimination of Historical Indemnity. In his speech he declared, “An era of great transition has begun” and stated, “The settlement of the Family Federation for World Peace and the elimination of historical indemnity could be proclaimed in the name of True Parents.” He especially uplifted the role of True Mother in this process, stating:

On the blessed family foundation, individuals and families representing Cain and Abel must unite centering absolutely on the True Parents, first becoming as one with True Mother. Centering on her, the democratic and communist worlds, Catholics and Protestants, and the spiritual and physical worlds can be united. On this global foundation, everything could then be indemnified centered on Mother. Thus, it became possible to proclaim the settlement of the Family Federation for World Peace and the elimination of historical indemnity.

November 1, 2014

Multicultural Peace Festival in Korea

Sun Moon University along with the Korean Multicultural Peace Federation and the Multicultural General Welfare Center hosted a Multicultural Peace Festival in Korea, held in Asan on November 1, 2014. About 10,000 people from Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and some 80 other nations gathered for the event. The festival spotlighted multicultural families and was intended to support the realization of a multicultural society for Korea. The event included a commemorative ceremony, multicultural performances, sports competitions, booths with international food, and a “Global Village One Family Parade” to Asan City Hall under banners of “Korea Welcoming Citizens of the World,” “Multicultural Couples Creating Happiness,” and “Korea as One Family.” The festival also served to launch the True Love Peace Service Federation, which was intended to “realize love and service beyond the barriers of nations, religions, races and cultures.” Some 160 multicultural and service organizations participated. The 2014 festival was based on True Parents’ teachings of “One Family under God.” Organizers stated their intention to hold the Multicultural Peace Festival every other year.

November 2, 1983

Dedication of CAUSA International Headquarters

True Parents dedicate the CAUSA International Headquarters.

True Father set up CAUSA, from the Latin word for “cause,” in 1980 following the fall of Nicaragua in 1979 to Marxist Sandinistas. The overwhelming success of CAUSA programs in Latin America in ideologically arming students, union leaders, teachers, government officials and police who previously had been exposed to Marxist theory led to CAUSA’s expansion to the United States. In 1983, construction of CAUSA International Headquarters began in the Tiffany Building on Fifth Avenue in New York City. In addition to a main hall equipped with highly advanced multimedia equipment and seating for 200, renovated space included 22 offices.  Among these were CAUSA libraries for research, the CAUSA Institute, and multimedia rooms for the preparation of lecture slides and diagrams. True Parents dedicated the facility, cutting a ceremonial ribbon and encouraging staff at a celebration banquet on November 2, 1983. The following year, CAUSA sponsored 34 major conferences and 290 local programs.

November 2, 1984

The First Global Assembly for CARP University Students

Around 3,000 CARP members took part in the First Global Assembly for CARP University Students, which was held in the Little Angels Performing Arts Center in Seoul under the theme “One World under God” from November 2 to 8, 1984. During the assembly, a symposium entitled “University Student Values Regarding World Peace,” a friendship ceremony between Korean and Japanese students and a sports festival to bring about harmony and unity among the global CARP membership were held. It was during this assembly that True Parents’ first son, Hyo Jin Moon, was appointed as the World CARP president. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

November 2, 1993

True Mother’s Forty-Nation Speaking Tour Begins

On November 2, 1993, True Mother set off on her “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age” tour of forty nations. True Mother first spoke in Frankfurt, Germany. She called on women to take the lead in realizing God’s ideal. Her speaking tour ended in Taiwan on December 22, 1993. True Mother with True Father previously delivered the address in 33 U.S. cities, and True Mother gave it in the U.S. Capitol. She later delivered the address at the United Nations in New York on September 7, 1993, which served as a springboard to the world tour. From September 11 to 30, True Mother conducted twenty-five rallies in Japan, the highlight being her speech before 50,000 people at the Tokyo Dome. In October 1993, she delivered the Completed Testament Age message before audiences at forty Korean universities, often speaking at two campuses on the same day. Having spoken in the United States, Japan and Korea, True Mother traveled the globe for the next fifty-three days. The tour covered Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, Africa, South America and Asia.  

November 2, 2012

The Korean Church Launches a Nationwide Divine Principle Revival Campaign

Participants listen to a Divine Principle lecture at the No-won Church during the three-day lecture series on November 2-4, 2012 as part of the first of three 40-day Revival Campaigns.

Scores of churches across Korea launched a Nationwide Divine Principle Revival Campaign on November 2, 2012. FFWPU Korea published advertisements for the campaign in 11 national newspapers under the headline “The Time That You Open Your Mind, New Life Will Begin.” The revival was aimed at explaining who Rev. Moon was, what his mission was, and why Unificationists refer to him as “True Father,” the “Messiah,” and the “Second Coming.” Through the three-day lecture series which continued until November 4, it also was intended to answer fundamental questions about the life and destiny of humankind. After the passing of True Father, True Mother called for a revival through witnessing to the Divine Principle, True Father’s seminal teaching. The nationwide advertisements focused on the revival of Divine Principle education for non-Unificationists and Unificationists alike. Prior to that, churches in Korea had focused on educating Unificationists and Unificationist-born youth.

November 3, 1989

Ascension of Mother Soon Ae Hong

True Father’s calligraphy for Soon Ae Hong at her Seonghwa (ascension) ceremony.

True Mother’s mother, Soon Ae Hong (born February 14, 1914), ascended to the spirit world on November 3, 1989, at the age of 75. She had been ill for some time and True Mother was at her bedside when she passed. Mrs. Hong, whom True Father gave the honorific title Dae Mo Nim or “Great Mother,” had the distinction of participating in several of the Korean spiritual groups that preceded the Unification Church, including the Holy Lord and Inside-Belly churches. However, her main contribution was raising True Mother. At her Seonghwa ceremony True Father prayed that she “may pave the road for all people to receive God’s blessings, from the lowest parts of hell and on every level.” True Mother said, “She will be able to travel between heaven and earth freely,” assisting “True Family and all of you in your work.” Their words were prophetic as attested by the dynamic ministry undertaken under Dae Mo Nim at Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center.

November 3, 1989

Sung Hwa University Established

On November 3, 1989, it was announced that the South Korean Ministry of Education had given permission for Sung Hwa Theological Seminary to become a university. Located in the city of Cheonan, the seminary previously had been given permission to confer four-year degrees. With its elevation to university status, Sung Hwa entered an era of expansion which culminated in it becoming Sun Moon University in 1994 and moving onto a second campus in the city of Asan. True Father founded Sung Hwa Theological Seminary under the auspices of the Sung Hwa Educational Foundation, which managed a number of affiliated schools including Kyung Bok Elementary School, Sun Hwa Arts Middle and High Schools, Sun Jung Women’s Middle School and Sun Jung High School. True Father established the foundation to realize his vision for holistic education under the motto of “Love Heaven, Love Humankind, Love Your Country.”

November 4, 1980

The News World Predicts “Reagan Landslide”

Ronald Reagan holding a copy of the News World, which predicted Reagan’s landslide victory on Election Day morning, November 4, 1980.

After the Washington Monument rally of September 1976, True Father “set the deadline” of December 31 for producing the first issue of a new daily newspaper in New York City. On December 31, “the presses rolled early in the morning … and the first issue of The News World hit the streets of New York.” With a color photograph on the front page and a motto that described it as “New York’s oldest daily color newspaper,” The News World was a 24-page general-interest daily with a staff of 200. During the New York City blackout of July 1977, it was the only newspaper to publish, with reporters working by candlelight to write and edit stories. Later, during a three-month newspaper strike that shut down the city’s other major dailies, The News World continued to publish, with its circulation soaring to nearly 400,000 daily.

Undoubtedly the paper’s boldest move was to predict a “Reagan Landslide” in a bold headline on November 4, 1980, the day of the U.S. presidential election. The next day, having been vindicated in its prediction that Ronald Reagan would “win by more than 350 electoral votes and carry New York as well,” the paper published another banner headline, which read, “Thank God! We Were Right!” and featured a UPI photo of President-elect Reagan holding the previous day’s News World.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of October 29 – November 4.

Pioneers of the Culture of Heart

This week in history, October 22-28:

• The News World creates dailies in other languages (October 22, 1980)
• True Father gives an address at Foley Square (October 22, 1981)
• A Peace Week Proclamation Ceremony is held (October 22, 2011)
• The Seonghwa Student Council is established (October 23, 1955)
• The Declaration of the Day of Liberation of the Blessing for the Entire Cosmos is held (October 23, 1999)
• True Mother embarks on a North American tour (October 26-November 6, 2012)
• True Mother addresses WFWP USA at the 20th Anniversary Convention (October 27, 2012)
• The Inaugural Peace Queen Cup Tournament is held (October 28, 2006)
• The groundbreaking ceremony for the Cheongshim Peace World Center Stadium is held (October 28, 2008)

OCTOBER 22, 1980

The News World Creates Dailies in Other Languages

A Spanish-language New York daily, Noticias Del Mundo, was inaugurated on October 22, 1980, as a sister publication to The News World (started in 1976). Other News World spinoffs included a Korean-language daily, a Harlem weekly, and a small press service, Free Press International (FPI), out of New York. Overseas newspapers affiliated with The News World included Sekai Nippo, a daily in Japan; Ultimas Noticias, a daily in Uruguay; and The Middle East Times, a weekly published in Cyprus.

OCTOBER 22, 1981

Foley Square Address

Following his indictment on tax evasion charges, which later were shown to be riddled with irregularities, True Father returned to the United States from Korea for his initial appearance in a New York City court on October 22, 1981. At a large, public post-arraignment rally before supporters in a park across the street from Foley Square Courthouse in Manhattan, True Father said: “I came back to America not just for my own vindication. I came back to America as a representative of all those who suffer governmental injustice, racial prejudice or religious bigotry. … Today I declare war against these enemies.” He spoke under a massive “We Shall Overcome” banner that exhorted those present to “Protect Religious Liberties and Minority Rights.” In a memorable turn of phrase, True Father stated: “I would not be standing here today if my skin were white and my religion Presbyterian. I am here today only because my skin is yellow and my religion is Unification Church.” The movement subsequently published the text of True Father’s Foley Square Address in a full-page advertisement in The New York Times. It also provided an initial endowment of $2 million for the creation of a Minorities Alliance International (MAI).

OCTOBER 22, 2011

Peace Week Proclamation Ceremony

After a Hoon Dok Hwe session in the Cheon Jeong Gung (Peace Museum), True Father headed for Sun Moon University to attend the 2011 Peace Week Proclamation Ceremony. The ceremony, which commemorated the 20th anniversary of True Parents’ visit to North Korea, began at 10:30 a.m. in the Grand Hall on the sixth floor of Sun Moon University’s main building. True Father presided over the event hosted by the Ambassadors for Peace Council and Universal Peace Federation (UPF). More than 600 Ambassadors for Peace from regions across Korea attended. True Father’s talk centered on his speech given at the Cosmic Assembly for the Settlement of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind and for the Proclamation of the Word by God’s Substantial Self. After True Father finished speaking, the event ended at around 4:00 p.m. with three cheers of Eok Mansei led by Dr. No Hee Pak.

OCTOBER 23, 1955

Establishment of the Seonghwa Student Council

The Seonghwa Student Council was founded on October 23, 1955. At the beginning of that month, True Father was found innocent of draft evasion and released from Seodaemun Prison. The headquarters church was then moved to Yeongsan Gu, Cheongpa Dong. On October 16, Sunday school was opened. It was on this foundation that the Seonghwa Student Council, encompassing students in elementary school, middle school and high school, was founded. This was the result of activities that the founding preparatory committee, under the guidance of Rev. Won Pil Kim, carried out since September of that year. High school graduates this year are the 60th group of Seonghwa students. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

OCTOBER 23, 1999

Declaration of the Day of Liberation of the Blessing for the Entire Cosmos

On October 23, 1999, the Declaration of the Day of Liberation of the Blessing for the Entire Cosmos was held in East Garden, beginning at 7:00 a.m. In attendance were the children of True Parents and around forty movement leaders. On this day True Father said, “As of today, I proclaim the unity of the four great realms of the heart, the liberation of creation, the liberation of children, the liberation of a couple and the liberated realm of the True Parents of Heaven and Earth.” Based on this victorious foundation, True Father said we had entered the era of the realm of absolute ownership in which God can freely act. It was at this declaration that True Father instructed that holy wine and pure love candy be distributed to people on the street. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 6, 2012

True Mother’s North American Tour

True Mother arrived in Las Vegas on October 26, 2012. The next day, the 20th anniversary event of Women’s Federation for World Peace that had been planned before True Father’s Seonghwa was held successfully under True Mother’s guidance. Afterward, True Mother visited every corner of Lake Mead on True Father’s boat. There, she captured True Father’s spirit as Lake Mead had been the place that he had always gone and prayed to lead the Las Vegas providence. Soon after, True Mother started a cross-country pilgrimage that was retracing, in reverse from west to east, the course she had taken with True Father 34 years ago to bless America. That way, she symbolically completed the providence in the elder son nation. This pilgrimage, spiritually accompanied by True Father, took seven days from Las Vegas to New York and covered a total of 3,500 miles. It showed True Mother’s strong will and determination to lead the tradition and the providence that True Father had left behind. On November 3, 2012, True Mother completed her pilgrimage when she departed from Boston to New York, stopping by Bridgeport University. The next day, she spoke to 2,000 Unificationists at the Manhattan Center and emphasized that True Parents’ tradition and the providence will never be stopped and that all Unificationists should fulfill their mission and responsibility as Tribal Messiahs. The next day, on November 6, True Mother visited various places in East Garden and recalled the times she spent together with True Father and their family.

OCTOBER 27, 2012

True Mother Addresses WFWP USA 20th Anniversary Convention

True Mother addresses 1,200 attendees at the WFWP USA 20th Anniversary Convention

In her first public appearance in the United States after True Father’s Seonghwa, True Mother attended the Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) USA’s 20thAnniversary Convention in Las Vegas. Sun Jin Moon, currently the International President for Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), delivered True Mother’s keynote address, “Women as the Turning Point for Peace,” before 1,200 attendees. In her speech, True Mother called upon those present to “carry the heavy responsibility to complete the providential mission of the ‘Abel Women UN,’ which is the final organization that True Father and I created together.” She noted, “Until now we have depended on government organizations created by men to bring about global peace.” However, she said, “To surmount the limitations of their efforts … a peace movement … guided by women should take root as the cornerstone of a new system.” After the convention True Mother announced that she would go from there to the eastern United States, visiting places where she had accompanied True Father “years ago,” exploring places on the way “where he would like to visit.”

OCTOBER 28, 2006

Inaugural Peace Queen Cup Tournament

The Inaugural Peace Queen Cup Tournament is held in South Korea.

Following the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament jointly sponsored by Korea and Japan, True Father established the Sun Moon Peace Football Foundation. It sponsored a Peace Cup invitational soccer tournament for some of the world’s best men’s club teams every two years beginning in 2003. In 2006, the foundation sponsored the first Peace Queen Cup tournament for women’s soccer teams. It was held from October 28 to November 4, 2006, in six South Korean cities. The tournament brought together national women’s teams from Brazil, Italy, Canada, Australia, Denmark, South Korea, the Netherlands and the United States. The U.S. national women’s team defeated Canada 1-0 to win the first championship.

OCTOBER 28, 2008

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Cheongshim Peace World Center Stadium

Design plans for the Cheongshim Peace World Center.

Three thousand people attended the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Cheongshim Peace World Center on October 28, 2008. Designed to hold 25,000 people, it was created to be the largest and most sophisticated multipurpose cultural center in South Korea, eight times larger than the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and twice as large as the Olympic Gymnastics Hall, both located in Seoul. With three floors underground and four floors above, it was designed to be the first Korean arena with folding chairs, a state-of-the-art moving stage and an audiovisual system to host an array of events including concerts, business conventions, corporate events, indoor sports competitions, educational events, expositions and television commercials. The arena would take three years to complete and addressed True Father’s long-held desire to see an iconic center for global culture near Cheongpyeong Lake.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification movement, the lives of the True Parents, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of October 23-29.

Dedicated to Peace

This week in history, October 15-21:

• True Father is indicted in America (October 15, 1981)
• True Parents visit the Marshall Islands (October 15, 2000)
• The Million Family March is held (October 16, 2000)
• The Rally for the Harmony and Unity of Heaven and Earth is held (October 16, 2002)
• Children’s Day is established (October 19, 1960)
• A post-9/11 conference is held (October 19-22, 2001)
• The first World Media Conference is held (October 20, 1978)
• True Father begins his journey on the Amazon River (October 20, 1997)
• Julia Kim ascends (October 20, 2014)
• 777 couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (October 21, 1970)
• A 7-day fast is held for Japanese wives of North Korean repatriates (October 21, 1974)
• The Middle East Peace Summit is held (October 21, 1990)

October 15, 1981

True Father Indicted in America

In 1976, Senator Robert Dole (R-Kansas) wrote a letter to the Internal Revenue Service commissioner requesting an audit of the Unification Church. Within days, the IRS began what journalist Carlton Sherwood, in his book Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon (Regnery Gateway, 1991), termed “the most intensive and expensive criminal tax investigation of any religious figure in U.S. history.” A squad of IRS agents took up permanent offices in the Unification Church’s New York headquarters, while a team of field agents began round-the-clock surveillance of selected church members and their telephones. In 1978, after two years of investigations, the IRS was unable to find anything that compromised the church’s tax exempt status but turned over to the New York District Attorney’s Office “certain anomalies” in Rev. Moon’s tax returns for the years 1973-75.

The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York pursued the matter aggressively despite the unanimous recommendation in writing from attorneys in the Criminal Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division that prosecution was not advisable. Two grand juries refused to indict True Father. It was highly unusual that a prosecuting attorney would convene a second grand jury once an initial grand jury had determined there was no case. However, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York took the almost unprecedented step of convening a third grand jury to get the necessary indictment on October 15, 1981. True Father was in Korea when the indictment was handed down. There was no extradition treaty between the Republic of Korea and the United States, so as long as he was in Korea, he would never have to appear in a U.S. courtroom. Some suggested that prosecutors intentionally announced the indictment when True Father was away, hoping he would not return. Yet, as soon as he heard of the indictment, True Father booked a flight back to America to face the charges and his accusers.

October 15, 2000

True Parents Visit the Marshall Islands

True Parents visited the Marshall Islands at the invitation of the Honorable Kessai H. Note, president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, beginning on October 15, 2000. The president accorded True Parents a state-level welcome. President Note and his wife previously had attended several conferences and events held by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF). In fact, President Note, alone among the Marshall Island candidates for the presidency, attended an International Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., at the very time elections were being held. He found out he had been elected during the conference. Those who had declined the Washington invitation all lost! During their visit, True Father discussed his vision for establishing a school to educate youth from throughout Oceania. True Parents also spent a day fishing with the president. Their visit was a stepping stone toward what later would be declared as the Ocean Providence.

OCTOBER 16, 2000

The Million Family March

Based on mutual contacts, Unificationists in Chicago had been interacting on a cordial basis with the Nation of Islam (NOI) since 1995. That year Minister Louis Farrakhan attended a FFWPU-sponsored True Family Values Ministry awards banquet. Unificationists reciprocated by attending several NOI events. In 1997, Minister Farrakhan attended “Blessing ’97” at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., where he offered congratulatory remarks and a prayer of blessing on behalf of the Muslim world. In 1998, Minister Farrakhan visited Korea, where he met True Parents and toured church-owned facilities. Later that year, he announced his intention to hold a Million Family March on October 16, 2000, five years to the day after the 1995 Million Man March. Significantly, he asked his directors “to work together with the leadership of the Family Federation.” This met resistance among some within NOI and FFWPU. However, three months prior to the march, True Father invited Minister Farrakhan to his residence, advising him that the event should be non-political, interreligious and interracial. A month prior to the march, True Father expressed hope that it would be “a turning point for racial reconciliation in America.”

The march went off smoothly. Thousands of families crowded the U.S. Capitol plaza and the National Mall, and there were no incidents. Minister Farrakhan preached family, ecumenism and brotherhood, at one point proclaiming, “I am a Christian. I am a Jew. I am a Muslim.” In his keynote address he offered “special recognition and thanks” to True Parents and conducted a Unification-inspired “Blessing” for several dozen international, intercultural and interracial couples immediately afterward. Dr. Chang Shik Yang, FFWPU continental director at the time, reported that FFWPU “mobilized about 2,000 members of the American Clergy Leadership Conference for this event,” including “a number of mainline denominational leaders.”

OCTOBER 16, 2002

Rally for the Harmony and Unity of Heaven and Earth

On October 16, 2002, the northern Rally for the Harmony and Unity of Heaven and Earth was held for the settlement of Cheon Il Guk at the Guri Training Center, Gyeonggi Province. Around four thousand people, including key members and peace ambassadors, took part in this rally. The southern rally was held on October 20 at Sun Moon University and attracted around twelve thousand people. Through the speech “God’s Homeland and One World,” True Father emphasized, “It is humankind’s mission and responsibility today to find and restore the ideal world God had envisioned in the beginning but that was lost through the Fall.” (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

OCTOBER 19, 1960

Children’s Day Established

True Parents celebrate the 48th Children’s Day and cheer with their grandson.

True Father established Children’s Day at the former headquarters church at Cheongpa-dong in Seoul on October 19, 1960 (October 1 lunar). It was the second major Holy Day established by the church, following Parents’ Day, which had been declared on March 1, 1960 (lunar). Children’s Day signified the restoration of God’s direct lineage and opened the way for humanity to be engrafted into that lineage as God’s sons and daughters. Children’s Day continued to be celebrated annually according to the lunar calendar. At the 35th Parents’ Day in 1994, True Parents directed that the word “True” be placed before the names of the four major Holy Days (God’s Day, Parents’ Day, Children’s Day and Day of All Things). Thenceforth, the day has been observed as True Children’s Day.

OCTOBER 19-22, 2001

Post-9/11 Conference on “Global Violence: Conflict and Hope”

The Global Violence Crisis and Hope assembly is held as a response to the tragedy on September 11.

Like the rest of the world, the Unification Church and its affiliated organizations were shocked by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. After a 12,000-Couple World Clergy Marriage Blessing Ceremony scheduled for September 22 at Madison Square Garden was canceled, a “Day of Prayer and Healing” prayer breakfast and rally were held in the heart of Manhattan. However, True Father did not consider this to be sufficient and convened a major gathering at the New York Hilton from October 19-22 to address “root causes and potential solutions to global violence.” Assembly 2001 was the second in a series of meetings sponsored by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) to address global problems. The event gathered some 400 political and religious leaders, media representatives, NGO representatives, scholars and peace activists from 101 nations, whom conference organizer Dr. Thomas Walsh congratulated for their “courage” in coming to New York.

Those attending included former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle; H.E. Abdurrahman Wahid, former president of Indonesia and head of the world’s largest organization of Muslims; the former presidents of Guatemala, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Belarus and Mongolia, and the former governor-general of Canada as well as many religious leaders such as Dr. Jerry Falwell, founder of Liberty University, Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, and Rabbi David Broadman, chief rabbi of two cities in Israel.

In his closing banquet address, “Let Us Discover the True Meaning of I,” True Father focused on human beings finding their “true” selves. This, he said, was possible only through “living for one’s family, nation, world and God.” In this way, “I” expands to ever more inclusive levels of “we.” Based on this vision of solidarity, True Father asked participants to go out to the world as “God-appointed ambassadors to realize world peace.”

OCTOBER 20, 1978

First World Media Conference

In its sixth year, the World Media Conference, held in Cartagena, Colombia, was the largest and most successful gathering in its history.

Having experienced the “awesome power” of the media “to create or to destroy,” True Father established the World Media Association to advance the cause of world peace by championing freedom and moral responsibility in the press. The association convened the first World Media Conference in October 1978 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, under the theme “The Future of the Free Press.” Thirty-eight journalists from 16 countries participated. The association continued to sponsor World Media Conferences and associated “fact-finding” tours for journalists throughout the 1980s. The sixth conference, held in Cartagena, Colombia, in September 1983, brought together 600 media representatives from 92 countries. The conferences culminated in the 11th World Media Conference, which was held from April 9-13, 1990, in Moscow. The conference, jointly sponsored with the Soviet Union’s Novosti news agency, resulted in True Parents’ private audience with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

OCTOBER 20, 1997

True Father Begins Journey on Amazon River

True Parents made South America a focal point of their work during the mid- and late 1990s. During a speaking tour of 23 Latin American nations in 1995, True Father emphasized the region’s “stunning and abundant potential,” noting that its “mountains, rivers and jungles hark back to the original state of creation.” Having purchased land in the Brazilian outback that would become New Hope Farms, True Father began exploring the Paraguay and Amazon Rivers in 1997. He pointed out that the Paraguay River divides the continent east and west and the Amazon divides it north and south, but that their sources were only four kilometers apart. He envisioned that area being preserved as a “place of encounter where God, people and all things meet in a New Eden.” He also envisioned representatives of the nations settling along the banks of the two rivers. In pursuit of this, True Father set out by boat on the Paraguay River in mid-summer. According to a travel companion: “Every 50 kilometers we set out a sign numbered on a stick. … It was not easy to do that, because it is swampy ground covered with growth, and we had to clear the area; walking through the water and getting bitten by bees and ants. We set 63 signposts along the Paraguay River.”

True Father speaks at New Hope Farm in Uruguay.

True Father did the same along the Amazon, beginning October 20, although given the vast stretches of river to be covered, he adopted a different strategy: flying to different sites and then renting boats in which to explore the river. True Father expressed admiration for the small villages and villagers whom he viewed as “pristine Adamic families.” The same companion noted that it was so hot and steamy” and “we all got blisters on our mouths” but that despite his exhaustion and the unbearable heat, True Father “continued to push us, saying that this is where we can build the Garden of Eden.” Following the stake-setting expeditions, the church began purchasing property along the Paraguay River for future development.

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Julia Kim Ascends

Mrs. Julia B. Kim, the wife of Dr. Christopher Kim, ascended on October 20, 2014, in Seoul, Korea, after a long battle with illness. The Kims served briefly as continental directors of FFWPU in North America in 2008, after completing almost 20 years of service as the continental directors of the Asia region, where they led FFWPU in many nations from the early stages of pioneering to become a movement with national influence, planting churches and establishing schools, non-profits and related businesses. They traveled widely throughout Asia and established many church centers in the Philippines and Thailand. They received awards from True Parents for their outstanding contribution. Upon hearing the news of Mrs. Kim’s ascension, True Mother bestowed a calligraphy and instructed that she be buried at Paju Wonjon. Mrs. Kim joined the church in 1964 and received the Blessing with the 777 Couples in 1970.

OCTOBER 21, 1970

777 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony

Rehearsal of the International Wedding Ceremony of 777 couples at Sutaek Ri.

True Parents presided over the first truly international Marriage Blessing Ceremony when they blessed 777 couples on October 21, 1970. As part of the 430 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing in 1968, True Parents blessed 43 non-Korean couples overseas in 1969. For the 777 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing, participants came from 10 nations to Korea. The Marriage Blessing was conducted at Seoul’s Changchung (Metropolitan) Gymnasium in the presence of over 15,000. True Father stated that this was the last Marriage Blessing that he would conduct “before globalizing my mission.” He noted that the 777 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing was the seventh following True Parents’ Holy Wedding. This Marriage Blessing lay the foundation for the Unification movement to work on the worldwide level. “What belongs to Korea,” he said, “can now belong to the world and vice versa.”

OCTOBER 21, 1974

7-Day Fast for Japanese Wives of North Korean Repatriates

Protestors hold a 7-day fast on behalf of wives in North Korea.

True Father speaks at the conclusion of the 7-day fast.

Seven hundred Unificationists fasted for seven days in front of the United Nations in New York from October 21-27, 1974, to protest the treatment of Japanese wives of North Korean repatriates. True Father initiated the fast for humanitarian and providential reasons. He noted that Korean men living in Japan who married Japanese women and then repatriated to North Korea had “cheated” the wives who were “now ill-treated and persecuted under the regime.” In this connection, the Unification Church published a volume of testimonies from these women, If I Had Wings Like a Bird, I Would Fly Across the Sea, which publicized their plight. Apart from the humanitarian issue, Unificationists undertook the fast within the context of a North Korean proposal, which had gained traction in the UN General Assembly, that called for UN forces to be removed from South Korea. True Father stated that the fast’s purpose was to “make naked the evil reality of what they are doing in North Korea and in all the communist regimes.” Unificationists’ efforts continued after the fast, and on December 9, 1974, the UN General Assembly approved a U.S.-sponsored resolution providing for maintenance of the United Nations Command in South Korea.

OCTOBER 21, 1990

Middle East Peace Summit

On August 2, 1990, forces under the command of Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein invaded and annexed the neighboring country of Kuwait. This was met with international condemnation, international sanctions and a coalition of the largest military alliance since World War II. All this was deeply troubling to True Father. Unknown to most, Unificationist organizations had cultivated contacts within the Muslim world since the early 1980s. The Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA) and the Council for the World’s Religions (CWR) had convened several conferences of high-level Muslim religious leaders, including the grand muftis of Syria and Yemen.

True Parents meet the Grand Mufti of Syria during the Middle East Peace Summit.

In response to the Gulf Crisis, True Father was confident enough of his contacts in the region to call a Middle East Peace Summit in Cairo, Egypt, at short notice, beginning on October 21, 1990. In a “Message to Islam” read to participants, he stated, “The greatest imaginable tragedy would be for war to erupt between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East.” He urged all present to “live only for one goal, and that is, to protect and safeguard this situation against the possibility of a religious war.” Unificationists were not successful in averting the first Gulf War. However, Muslim leaders were impressed with True Father’s message. The grand muftis of Syria and Yemen agreed to send core followers to New York for a 40-day Inter-Religious Leadership Seminar (IRLS), and in 1992, 42 Muslim couples took part in a Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony officiated by True Parents. True Father termed the participation of Muslims “a miracle.” In effect, it broke the tribal barrier, enabling True Parents to extend the Blessing to persons other than Unificationists.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of October 15 to 21.