List of Unification movement people

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Notable members and supporters of the Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon.

Contents

Moon family

The family of Reverend Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), founder and leader of the Unification Church, and his wife Hak Ja Han are known as the "True Family". Moon and Han are known as "True Father" and "True Mother" within the movement, and collectively as "True Parents". They were married in 1960. [1] Their children are known as the "True Children":

Unification Church members

Supporters of the Unification Church

These are some people well-known for their support of the Unification Church.

Researchers and Opponents of the Unification Church

These are the organizations and people well-known for their opposition to the Unification Church and/or their malpractices. Also people who are known for their research on the organization and their beliefs.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun Myung Moon</span> Korean religious leader (1920–2012)

Sun Myung Moon was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification Church, whose members consider him and his wife Hak Ja Han to be their "True Parents", and of its widely noted "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies. The author of the Unification Church's religious scripture, the Divine Principle, he was an anti-communist and an advocate for Korean reunification, for which he was recognized by the governments of both North and South Korea. Businesses he promoted included News World Communications, an international news media corporation known for its American subsidiary The Washington Times, and Tongil Group, a South Korean business group (chaebol), as well as other related organizations.

Massena Campus of Bard College formerly known as Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) from its founding in 1975 until July 2023 is a private Unification Church-affiliated graduate seminary headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. The seminary was granted an absolute charter from the State of New York in January 1984 and received accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in November 1996.

Bo Hi Pak was a prominent member of the Unification Church. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a major leader in the church movement, leading projects such as newspapers, schools, performing arts projects, political projects such as the anti-communist organization CAUSA International, and was president of the Unification Church International 1977–1991. He was also the president of Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unification Church</span> International new religious movement

The Unification Church (Korean: 통일교) is a new religious movement derived from Christianity, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012) began gaining followers after the Second World War. On 1 May 1954 in Seoul, South Korea, Moon formally founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC), the Unification Church's full name, until 1994, when it was officially changed to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. It has a presence in approximately 100 countries around the world. Its leaders are Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, whom their followers honor with the title "True Parents".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hak Ja Han</span> Korean religious leader (born 1943)

Hak Ja Han Moon is an international religious leader. Her late husband Sun Myung Moon was the founder of the Unification Church (UC). Han and Moon were married in April 1960 and have 10 living children and over 30 grandchildren. In 1992, she established the Women's Federation for World Peace, and traveled the world speaking on its behalf. Since her husband's death, she has assumed leadership of the Unification Church, whose followers call her "True Mother" and "Mother of Peace".

Heung Jin Moon, also referred to by members of the Unification Church (UC) as Heung Jin Nim or posthumously as Lord Heung Jin Nim, was the second son of church founders Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han. At the age of 17 he died in a vehicle accident in New York State. Three months later his parents conducted a spiritual wedding ceremony between him and Julia Pak, daughter of church leader, Bo Hi Pak. He is officially regarded by the UC to be the "king of the spirits" in heaven. After Moon's death, some church members claimed that they were channelling messages from his spirit. In 1988 a church member from Zimbabwe, named Kundioni, claimed to be the incarnation of Moon. His acts of violence against church members were a source of controversy within the church. Moon is now believed by church members to be leading workshops in the spiritual world in which spirits of deceased persons are taught UC teachings.

A cult is a group requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered deviant outside the norms of society, which is typically led by a charismatic and self-appointed leader who tightly controls its members. It is in some contexts a pejorative term, also used for new religious movements and other social groups which are defined by their unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or their common interest in a particular person, object, or goal. This sense of the term is weakly defined – having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia – and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study.

Chung Hwan Kwak, is a South Korean religious leader. He was a leadership in the Unification Church until 2009. He was appointed to many lead positions in organizations related to the Unification Church by its founder Sun Myung Moon. Since 2002, he was the chairman and president of News World Communications, which owns United Press International, and other publications, including the Middle East Times, and Tiempos del Mundo, a Spanish-language newspaper published in 16 countries throughout the Americas. He was 0palso the president of the Family Party for the Universal Peace and Unity, a South Korean political party founded by Unification Church members, one of whose main goals is the reunification of Korea. He was also the chairman of the ″Social Responsibility Committee″ for the Asian Football Confederation.

News World Communications Inc. is an American international news media corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church</span> Large-scale wedding or marriage rededication ceremony sponsored by the Unification Church

The Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony (축복결혼식), often abbreviated to Blessing, is a large-scale wedding, or a marriage rededication ceremony, sponsored by the Unification Church. It is given to married or engaged couples. Through it, members of the Unification Church believe that the couple is removed from the lineage of sinful humanity and engrafted into God's sinless lineage. As a result, the couple's marital relationship—and any children born after the Blessing—exist free from the consequences of original sin.


Since its founder's start in advocating for the Korean independence movement the Unification Church led by Sun Myung Moon has been highly politically active. The degree of involvement of the Unification Church, as well as some of its specific stances, have also been part of the reason for the movement's controversial status over the years. The belief in the establishment of a literal Kingdom of God on earth and church founder Sun Myung Moon's teaching that religion alone is not enough to bring this about provides a motivation for political involvement.

Nansook Hong, is the author of the autobiography, In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family, published in 1998 by Little, Brown and Company. It gave her account of her life up to that time, including her marriage to Hyo Jin Moon, the first son of Unification Church founder and leader Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hakja Han Moon.

Hyung Jin Moon, also known as Sean Moon, is an American pastor and, along with his wife Yeon Ah Lee Moon, founded the Pennsylvania-based World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church. The Sanctuary Church is a schismatic and militant sect of the Unification Church, which was founded by Hyung Jin Moon's father Reverend Sun Myung Moon and now led by his mother Hak Ja Han.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unification Church of the United States</span> Religious movement in the United States

The Unification Church of the United States is the branch of the Unification Church in the United States. It began in the late 1950s and early 1960s when missionaries from South Korea were sent to America by the international Unification Church's founder and leader Sun Myung Moon. It expanded in the 1970s and then became involved in controversy due to its theology, its political activism, and the lifestyle of its members. Since then, it has been involved in many areas of American society and has established businesses, news media, projects in education and the arts, as well as taking part in political and social activism, and has itself gone through substantial changes.

Daniel G. Fefferman is a church leader and activist for the freedom of religion. He is a member of the Unification Church of the United States, a branch of the international Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon in South Korea in 1954.

In Jin Moon is the former multi-millionaire president of the Unification Church of the United States and a daughter of Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han. Moon was born in South Korea in 1965 and moved with her family to the United States in 1973. She studied political science and philosophy at Columbia University and pursued her graduate studies at Harvard Divinity School. In the 1980s, Moon spoke at public rallies in support of her imprisoned father who was convicted of tax fraud by the United States government.

Dong Moon Joo is a Korean American businessman. A member of the Unification Church, he is best known as the president of the church-affiliated newspaper The Washington Times. During the presidency of George W. Bush, Joo had undertaken unofficial diplomatic missions to North Korea in an effort to improve its relationship with the United States.

The Family Peace Association is an international peace organization. It was inaugurated on December 2, 2017, in Seoul, South Korea, where it announced its mission: "To enlighten humanity by uplifting their spiritual consciousness through universal principles and values rooted in God-centered families.". The co-founders of the Family Peace Association are Hyun Jin Moon and Junsook Moon. Jinman Kwak is its president.

The National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales is a non-profit anti-cult association established in May 1987, comprising about 300 lawyers in Japan. It is specialized in providing legal assistance for victims of cult-related frauds, known as spiritual sales (霊感商法) in Japan, from religious organizations, primarily the Unification Church (UC), as well as advocating preventive measures against the malpractices.

Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, believed in a literal Kingdom of God on earth to be brought about by human effort, motivating his establishment of numerous groups, some that are not strictly religious in their purposes. Moon was not directly involved with managing the day-to-day activities of the organizations that he indirectly oversaw, yet all of them attribute the inspiration behind their work to his leadership and teachings.

References

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  2. 1 2 Blake, Mariah (12 November 2013). "The Fall of the House of Moon: Sex Rituals, foreign spies, Biden offspring, and the Unification Church's war-torn first family". The New Republic. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Staff report (March 18, 2008). Son of Unification Church founder dies. United Press International
  4. ↑ "From the Unification Church to the Unification Movement, 1994–1999: Five Years of Dramatic Changes" by Massimo Introvigne, a condensed version of material in The Unification Church, in the series "Studies in Contemporary Religion", Signature Books.
  5. ↑ Unification Church Woos A Second Generation, National Public Radio, June 23, 2010
  6. ↑ Shapira, Ian; Michelle Boorstein (November 23, 2009). "Church disunity, recession worry Moon followers and operations". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  7. ↑ Belz, Emily (November 19, 2009). "Not so unified". World Magazine. www.worldmag.com. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  8. ↑ Telegram & Gazette staff (April 11, 2000). "Neighbors target gunmaker". Telegram & Gazette . Worcester, Massachusetts.
  9. ↑ Kim, Hyung-eun (April 12, 2010). "Business engine of a global faith". Joong Ang Daily.
  10. ↑ Kirk, Donald (May 2, 2010). "Sons rise in a Moon's shadow". Forbes .
  11. ↑ "Global Peace Foundation Holds 2012 Convention, a World Peace Gathering." PRWeb. PRWeb, 14 November 2012. Web. 27 May 2015.
  12. ↑ Myungho, Moon (13 March 2015). "Inaugural Address by Sun Jin Moon, International President – FFWPU Mission Support" . Retrieved Oct 10, 2021.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Richard (July 10, 1998) The Dark Side of the Moon Family. New York Post .
  14. ↑ Sons Rise in a Moon Shadow, Forbes , April 12, 2010
  15. ↑ "Anti-LGBT cult leader calls on followers to purchase assault ifles". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  16. ↑ Nepal: The Peace Tour Visit
  17. ↑ Tucker, Ruth A. (2004). Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement. Zondervan. p. 258. ISBN   0-310-25937-1.
  18. ↑ The New York City Symphony was "purchased/rescued" by Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1973. From 1985 through 1990, the organization received the bulk of its funding in the form of an annual grant/subsidy from the International Cultural Foundation, a church-related entity. The ICF subsidy ended in 1990, and since 1991 the orchestra has received support (grants, contributions, in-kind, earned income) from a variety of sources (National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council of the Arts, NY Daily News , SONY/Columbia, New York Stock Exchange, The Turkish Embassy, Uptown Chamber of Commerce, Universal Peace Federation, e.g.)
  19. ↑ The New York Times , Review by Will Crutchfield, June 1985
  20. ↑ Yamamoto, J. Isamu; Dr Alan W Gomes (1995). Unification Church. Zondervan. p. 22. ISBN   0-310-70381-6.
  21. ↑ Vogel, Ed (January 17, 2010). "Hickey back in Assembly after 14-year hiatus". Las Vegas Review-Journal . Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  22. ↑ Hong, Nansook. (1998). In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ( ISBN   0-316-34816-3)
  23. 1 2 Lewis, James R.; Jesper Aagaard Petersen (2004). Controversial New Religions. Oxford University Press, US. pp. 45–46. ISBN   0-19-515683-8.
  24. ↑ The Bush Administration’s Secret Link to North Korea, Aram Roston, The Daily Beast , February 7, 2012
  25. ↑ Briggs, Ed (November 3, 1992). "Specialist urges religious leaders to work together". Richmond Times. Richmond, Virginia. p. B-5.
  26. ↑ J. Isamu Yamamoto, 1974, Unification Church: Zondervan guide to cults & religious movements, Zondervan, ISBN   0-310-70381-6 pages 8 and 22
  27. ↑ Isikoff, Michael (March 30, 1998). "Theological Uproar in Unification Church;Rev. Moon Recognizes Zimbabwean as His Reincarnated Son". The Washington Post . p. A1.
  28. ↑ "Unification Church's founder 'was close' to Shinzo Abe's grandfather". 20 July 2022.
  29. ↑ "Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak | Global Peace Foundation".
  30. ↑ The Washington Times, Hunting For a Bionic Editor in Chief
  31. ↑ Three top executives ousted by Washington Times, Frank Ahrens and Howard Kurtz, Washington Post , November 10, 2009
  32. ↑ Fisher, Marc; Jeff Leen (November 23, 1997). "A Church in Flux Is Flush With Cash". The Washington Post . p. A1. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  33. ↑ Toalston, Art (April 19, 1985). "The Unification Church Aims a Major Public Relations Effort at Christian Leaders". Christianity Today .
  34. ↑ Dunning, Jennifer (April 14, 1998). "A Korean Dance Troupe With a Russian Look". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  35. ↑ Messiah
  36. ↑ Enroth, Ronald M. (2005). A Guide To New Religious Movements. InterVarsity Press. p.  62. ISBN   0-8308-2381-6.
  37. ↑ West, Mark D. (2007). Secrets, Sex, and Spectacle: The Rules of Scandal in Japan and the United States. University of Chicago Press. pp. 169, 188. ISBN   978-0-226-89408-9.
  38. ↑ Stokes, Alan (February 8, 1999). "One missing from Moonstruck mass". The Australian . New South Wales, Australia: News Limited.
  39. ↑ Cummings, Judith (July 2, 1977). "51 Are in First Class to Graduate From Seminary of the Moon Sect". The New York Times . p. 14.
  40. ↑ Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne (2005). Blood on the Border. South End Press. pp.  201–202. ISBN   0-89608-741-7.
  41. ↑ Lynch, Colum (November 8, 2006). "State Department Official Picked to Run U.N. Food Program". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  42. ↑ Montagne, Renee (February 13, 2007). "Prosecutors Net Leopard-Shark Smugglers". Morning Edition . National Public Radio . Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  43. ↑ Shermer, Michael (2006). Why Darwin Matters. Times Books. p.  110. ISBN   0-8050-8121-6.
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  45. ↑ Leigh, Andrew (October 15, 1989). "Inside Moon's Washington – The private side of public relations improving the image, looking for clout". The Washington Post . p. B1.
  46. ↑ Nix, Shann (August 10, 1989). "Church seeks new image". San Francisco Chronicle . p. B3.
  47. ↑ "Unification Church funnels millions to U.S. conservatives". The Dallas Morning News . The Dallas Morning News Company. December 20, 1987. p. 4A.
  48. ↑ :: Welcome to Manila Bulletin Online ::
  49. ↑ WTimes, Bushes Hail Rev. Moon, Robert Parry, 10-2-2009
  50. ↑ OMBUOR, JOE. "Manu Chandaria gets worthwhile recognition in supporting education". The Standard. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  51. 1 2 Babington, Charles; Alan Cooperman (June 23, 2004). "The Rev. Moon Honored at Hill Reception – Lawmakers Say They Were Misled". Washington Post. pp. A01.
  52. ↑ From the Unification Church to the Unification Movement, 1994–1999: Five Years of Dramatic Changes Massimo Introvigne, Center for Studies on New Religions "The ceremony in Washington, D.C., included six "co-officiators" from other faiths, including controversial minister Louis Farrakhan from the Nation of Islam. The Blessing ceremony in Seoul on February 7, 1999 also featured seven co-officiators including Orthodox Rabbi Virgil Kranz (Chairman of the American Jewish Assembly), controversial Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo and the General Superintendent of the Church of God in Christ (a large African American Pentecostal denomination), Rev. T.L. Barrett."
  53. ↑ Families Arrive in Washington For March Called by Farrakhan, New York Times , October 16, 2000
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  62. ↑ Sun Myung Moon Changes Robes, New York Times , January 21, 1992
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  67. ↑ The Independent: "Trump gives virtual speech"
  68. ↑ TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO NEWSDAY: "Carmona, Trump call for Korean reunification"
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  75. ↑ Exploring the climate of doom Archived 2012-04-23 at the Wayback Machine , Rich Lowry, 2009-12-19 'The phrase "doomsday cult" entered our collective vocabulary after John Lofland published his 1966 study, "Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith." Lofland wrote about the Unification Church.'
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  82. 1 2 『両親の署名入り』会見中止要求は「“教団”の悪質性が如実に表れている」 鈴木エイト氏が解説 元2世信者が涙の訴え、語られた切実な思いとは [ Eito Suzuki Explains the Demands for Cancellation of the Press Conference Signed by Parents as 'Revealing the Malicious Nature of the Religious Organization': Former Follower's Tearful Plea and Profound Emotions Revealed], Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation (in Japanese), 2022-10-11, retrieved 2023-08-03
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