October 

True Father conducted four “Day of Hope” speaking tours in the United States between 1972 and 1974. The initial 7-city tour served to unite Unificationists of the several groups created by missionaries during the 1960s. The second 21-city tour began the process of catapulting the Unification Church into the public limelight. More than 400 Unificationists, including missionaries from Europe and Japan, came to New York City to publicize True Father’s talks, which began at Carnegie Hall on October 1, 1973, with “Christianity in Crisis: New Hope.” In addition to mass leafleting, the event was advertised in newspaper and magazine ads, on bus and commuter train posters, and in professionally made radio announcements.

The results were remarkable. In New York, the event attracted widespread media coverage. The New York Daily News carried a large photo and article on a Day of Hope rally on the steps of Federal Hall on Wall Street. Time, Newsweek and Christianity Today all carried stories on the campaign. A generally positive Associated Press feature story appeared in 79 newspapers throughout the United States. Two hundred and fifty prominent New Yorkers attended the inaugural “Day of Hope” banquet at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Telegrams of congratulations were read from the New York City mayor and several U.S. congressmen. Afterward, two 40-member International One World Crusade (IOWC) advance teams prepared for each of the remaining cities on the tour.

In late summer of 1980 True Father sponsored the first World Tuna Tournament in the fishing town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to stimulate interest among Americans, particularly young people, in the ocean. Then, on October 1, 1980, he established Ocean Church. He chose 24 Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) graduates and 60 Unificationists in supporting roles to pioneer 24 port cities on the East, West and Gulf coasts.

He directed them to build a foundation of sixty Unificationists, at which point they were to order ten 28-foot “Good Go” fiberglass boats from the Unification Church-owned fleet and one large stern trawler. He advised the Ocean Church pioneers to “visit the Coast Guard chief, police chief and mayor,” telling them that “your sole concern is to revive the fishing industry in America.” True Father told them that their boats “will be your churches.” Unificationists, he said, “will have a regular spiritual life” and “catch more fish than anyone else in the area, even more than people who have been fishing for many years.”

Sang-ik “Papa-san” Choi, known to Japanese Unificationists as Mr. Nishikawa, planted the seeds of the Unification movement in Japan from 1958 to 1964. Because Korea and Japan did not have diplomatic relations, he was arrested upon arrival in June 1958. Escaping confinement, he made his way to Tokyo where, after six months of struggle, he got a job as a salesman for a watch shop in the Shinjuku section. During the morning he worked, in the afternoon he witnessed. Once a week he rented the second floor of the shop to preach.

On Sunday, October 2, 1959, he conducted the first Sunday service. Originally named the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) Japan, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) Japan commemorates this as its founding day.

October 3 is a public holiday in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) as it celebrates its National Foundation Day. This national holiday, also known as “Tangun Day” and Gaecheon-jeol, commemorates the legendary founding of the Korean nation, the spiritual homeland of the Unification movement, or the creation of ancient Korea in 2333 B.C. by Tangun whereby the first Korean state was established. The Tangun legend not only reflects Korean ideals, but helped develop the pride of a people with a long history and an ancient culture. Through the centuries, Koreans have preserved this legend, which became a source of spiritual comfort in times of crisis.

True Parents proclaimed the Foundation Day for the Nation of the Unified World on October 3, 1988, immediately following the completion of the Seoul Olympic Games. True Father explained that the realization of an ideal world must be achieved through external and internal unification. According to True Father, the key to external unification was the unity between democracy and communism, symbolically realized through the 1988 Seoul Olympics. To achieve the internal unification, True Parents declared the Foundation Day for the Nation of the Unified World. True Father envisioned the end of all national divisions and boundaries, saying that one day humankind should no longer need visas.

In 2007, True Parents changed the name of the day from the “Foundation Day for the Nation of the Unified World” to the “Foundation Day for the Nation of Cosmic Unity,” which also is called the “Foundation Day for the Unified Nation of Heaven and Earth.” This indicated that the providence had advanced beyond the world to the cosmic level and that humankind could become “citizens of heaven.”

The Interreligious and International Peace Council (IIPC) was created to “improve existing methods and practices for addressing critical global problems by being the leader in the moral or spiritual conscience in leadership governance.” Three hundred and four delegates, including 52 guests from the United Nations–representing 149 nations–attended the 4-day Inaugural Assembly in New York City with the theme “Global Governance for a New Realm of Peace.” True Father appropriately spoke on the topic “The New Elimination of Boundaries and World Peace.”

On July 4, 1955, True Father and four Unification Church leaders were arrested on charges of illegal confinement and violation of military regulations, stemming from outreach efforts on Seoul’s Ewha Women’s University campus. This followed the dismissal of professors and expulsion of students who had joined the church. True Father was convicted and sent to Seodaemun Prison, a facility constructed by Japanese colonial authorities for the confinement and torture of Korean nationalists.

True Father’s conviction was overturned on appeal, and he was released after three months on October 4, 1955. According to True Father, a number of prison officials “became part of our Unification family” following his release.

True Father and four disciples founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC), or the Unification Church, in May 1954. However, the church did not obtain legal standing until October 4, 1963. In effect, it was an underground church, particularly during the Syngman Rhee presidency (1948-60). After Rhee’s resignation and exile, there was more openness, especially as a result of the church’s efforts to promote literacy among Korea’s village populations and its campaign to arm police ideologically against communism. The church continued to face opposition and harassment, but it had surmounted legal barriers to its existence and development.

A little more than two weeks after the Washington Monument Rally and on the 26th anniversary of his release from Seodaemun Prison, True Father proclaimed the Day of the Victory of Heaven before several thousand Unificationists at Belvedere. He stated that the Washington Monument rally was an “unqualified victory” and that barriers in the spirit world had been broken down. This, he said, “will be reflected in the physical world.” He predicted that the movement would “take off in leaps and bounds from now” and discussed prospects in evangelism, business and educational activities.

In fact, the Washington Monument campaign was a watershed event in the history of the Unification Church in America. It closed out the initial proclamation period of True Father’s ministry and opened the way for new initiatives in evangelism, education, interfaith relations, business, media and public life. The movement began to develop an infrastructure that greatly expanded its ability to exert influence in the United States and elsewhere.

True Mother began a lecturing tour of forty major Korean universities, starting from Dangook University, on October 4, 1993. At each university, professors, students and prominent figures filled the lecture hall. Under the title “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age,” True Mother’s lecture called the young, intelligent university students to take the lead in opening a peaceful 21st century centered on true love.

True Father graduated from Waseda Koutou Kougakko, a technical engineering school affiliated with Waseda University, in Japan on September 30, 1943. He notified his family by telegram that he would return to Korea aboard the Konron Maru ferry on October 4. However, he had a premonition of danger, even feeling his “feet stuck to the ground,” and postponed his return. En route to Pusan, the Konron Maru was sunk. The New York Times reported on October 8 that an Allied submarine had sunk the ship at 1:00 am on October 5 and that only 72 of the 616 persons on board had survived.

True Father recorded that when his mother heard the news that the ship he was scheduled to board was sunk, she “immediately ran out of the house without even thinking to put on her shoes,” running barefoot five miles to the train station and taking a train directly to Pusan. There, according to True Father’s autobiography, “She just kept calling my name, not even realizing that she had large splinters in her feet.” True Father often repeated this account as an illustration of his mother’s love.

True Father first used the term Seong Ji (Holy Ground) on January 1, 1963. He wrote the words “Holy Ground” in Chinese characters, and shared with those present his determination and plan to reclaim God’s lands symbolically, first through Holy Grounds and later by restoring the homeland. However, he did not select Holy Grounds until his first world tour in 1965. The first Holy Grounds were founded in Korea by several disciples between October 5 and 7, 1962, according to True Father’s instruction, before he himself actually established any. Four of them were founded in the north, south, east and west districts of Seoul.

From January 28 through October 10, 1965, True Father made Holy Grounds in 39 nations. He returned to Korea and created Holy Grounds in each regional district before establishing the last seven (main) Holy Grounds in Seoul, including the one at Cheongpa Dong Church. The original four Holy Grounds founded by the disciples later were established as official Holy Grounds by Father as part of the seven Holy Grounds in Seoul. True Father would finish blessing 120 Holy Grounds throughout the world on January 1, 1966.

On October 5, 1998, Koreans celebrated the holiday Chuseok, the day of the Autumn Moon Festival. On this day, True Father conducted a ceremony in São Paolo, Brazil, called the Total Liberation and Unification Day Ceremony. At that time he gave missions to certain countries to take charge of the saints in spirit world who were blessed at the June 13, 1998 Marriage Blessing Ceremony held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He also gave missions to other founders of religions. He sent Jesus to the United States, Buddha to Korea, Confucius to China, Mohammed to the Islamic world, and Joseph and Mary to South America.

Three days after True Father’s release from Seodaemun Prison, the church borrowed 2 million won to purchase an abandoned building in poor repair on a hillside in Cheongpa Dong, Seoul. It reportedly had been a small Japanese Buddhist temple during the colonial era and one of many houses categorized as “enemy property.”

This was the first property purchased by the Unification Church, which previously had occupied rented space, and served as its headquarters for the next 20 years. The Cheongpa Dong Church was the site of True Parents’ engagement and Holy Wedding ceremonies as well as the 36 and 72 Couples’ Holy Wedding ceremonies. It was also where the earliest editions of the Divine Principle were distributed and served as True Parents’ residence, where True Father planned much of the movement’s worldwide mission.

Later, while in the United States, True Father received word that members were planning to remodel the Cheongpa Dong Church. With great urgency he sent a telegram telling them to stop. True Father wrote in his autobiography,

“This church embodies an irrecoverable period in my personal history, but more important than that, it testifies directly to the history of our church. … What matters is not some beautiful exterior but the secret life of tears that dwells within that building. … When I look at a particular pillar, I am reminded of a time when I clung to that pillar and wept over a particular matter … [it] makes me weep again. To see a door frame that is a little crooked reminds me of the past. … The floor boards where I bent over in prayer and shed so many tears are gone. … I … need memories of that pain. It doesn’t matter if the external style or appearance is old. Much time has passed, and now we have many churches that are well built. But for me, I would rather go to the small house on the hill in Cheongpa Dong and pray. I feel more comfortable there.”

In 1972, True Father directed Unificationists in the United States to find a large property in New York suitable for use as an international training center. The assignment was given to New York center director Philip Burley, who found Belvedere three days after it had been put on the market. Situated on the Hudson River thirty miles north of New York City in Tarrytown, the twenty-two-acre estate was described in a brochure sent to True Father in Korea, and he said to buy it.

The Maryland church center had had success selling its own manufactured candles, and it was decided to try that as a national effort to raise money for the large down payment. For seven weeks nearly every member in every state abandoned all other activities in order to sell candles. With Anchor Hocking six-ounce brandy snifters and Amoco paraffin piled floor to ceiling, the College Park/Upper Marlboro centers reached peak production of 1,700 dozen candles a week, or about 250 dozen (3,000 candles) a day. A similar factory with a rotating crew was set up in the Denver center garage, and a third factory was operated by the Berkeley, California, center. “Express candle vans” delivered “still warm” candles, and “mobile fundraising teams” were formed for the first time.

As a result of the total mobilization and fundraising innovations, the down payment was made. At 1:00 p.m. on October 10, 1972, the caretaker of Belvedere received a call from the seller saying that, from that moment, “Belvedere is in new hands.” Later that day a group of Unificationists arrived to explore the house and grounds. Dr. Young Oon Kim asked them, “How can you describe a miracle? … Now you have seen Belvedere. Is it better than your dreams?”

True Father initiated The News World on October 10, 1976, shortly after the Washington Monument rally, when 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 “at December 31, 1976, the last day of the Bicentennial year.”

The Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP) spearheaded the Unificationist opposition to communism on college campuses from the 1960s. In the early 1980, US CARP launched an organized assault on Marxist-Leninist doctrines under the leadership of Rev. Chong Goo “Tiger” Park. Prior to this, a Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade (RCYB) had assaulted CARP members on a California campus. This was the first of innumerable confrontations between CARP and leftist campus groups over the next several years. Many of the most memorable encounters occurred in traditionally liberal or radical campus settings, such as the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

In what was one of CARP’s most memorable confrontations, “Tiger” Park led a counterdemonstration of 130 CARP members against a 250,000-strong anti-nuclear armament rally in Bonn, Germany, on October 10, 1981, barely escaping after being pursued by attackers wielding sticks, pipes and chains. This was the kickoff to a decade of activism. CARP developed a revolutionary, activist élan of its own replete with practiced chants, burnings of Soviet leaders in effigy, hard-driving rock bands with names such as Blue Tuna and Prime Force, and touring martial arts groups (these were especially helpful in protecting podiums from assaults). All this became part of the lore and allure of CARP during the Cold War era.

True Father proclaimed in 1999: “The number ten, representing the month of October and the date of October 10, 1999, signifies a new start centered upon God, and the number ten of the tenth day signifies a new start centered upon the earth. That is why I have proclaimed October 10 as Ee-Ship Jeol (Ssang-ship Jeol, Double-Ten Day).” (Excerpt from the old Cheon Seong Gyeong 304-152, 1999.10.10) –The full speech, “Proclamation of Double-Ten Day (Ssang-ship Jeol),” can be read here.

The month of October has a special meaning as the “month of liberation” in Unification history, as True Father was liberated from Heung Nam labor camp (10.14.50) and Seodaemun Prison (10.4.55) during the month. True Parents conducted the first “Cosmic Blessing Ceremony” on October 14, 2009, on the campus of Sun Moon University.  On October 10, 2010, they extended the previous year’s Holy Blessing in conducting the “10.14 Blessing Ceremony .

Based on the Completion of the Settlement of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind,” this time with more than 30,000 brides and bridegrooms and their congratulators attending on the lawn of Sun Moon University. A special feature of the Blessing this time was that people born into the Unification Church were given the freedom to select their spouse by themselves in front of True Parents.

True Father’s ministry in Pyongyang ended on February 22, 1948, when he was arrested for a second time by North Korean officials. He was tried on April 7 and sentenced to five years of hard labor. On May 20, True Father was transferred from prison in Pyongyang to a labor camp in Heungnam, an industrial city on the east coast of North Korea. There he endured a hellish existence until liberated by advancing UN forces on October 14, 1950.

True Father’s liberation by UN forces was by no means assured. As bombing of the Heungnam industrial complex became more intense, guards began executing prisoners, calling out their numbers starting with those having the longest sentences. In his autobiography, True Father notes,

“The night before my scheduled execution the bombs fell like rain in the monsoon season … so intense that it seemed all of Heungnam had been turned into a sea of fire. The high walls around the prison began to fall and the guards ran for their lives. Finally, the gate of the prison that had kept us in that place opened. At around two o’clock in the morning of the next day, I walked calmly out of Heungnam Prison with dignity.”

True Parents blessed 6,000 couples in Chamshil Gymnasium in Seoul on October 14, 1982. The precise number of couples blessed was 5,837, as True Father noted in his Blessing prayer.

The 6,000-Couple Blessing is linked with the 2,075-Couple Blessing conducted by True Parents on July 1, 1982, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. They are referred to jointly as the 8,000-Couple Holy Blessing. Both included significant numbers of international couples. The 6,000-Couple Holy Blessing, convened on 20 days’ notice, included participants from 84 nations. True Father noted that the Blessing surmounted the 6,000 years of providential history and signified an “advance into the realm of liberation.”

Parent’s Day was established as a U.S. holiday in 1994 when President Bill Clinton signed a congressional resolution into law (36 U.S.C. § 135) for “recognizing, uplifting and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.” The resolution, passed unanimously by the House and Senate, was signed by Speaker of the House Thomas Foley and President pro Tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd.

The establishment of Parents’ Day on the fourth Sunday of every July was the result of a bipartisan, multiracial and interfaith coalition of religious, civic and elected leaders who recognized the need to promote responsible parenting in our society and to uplift ideal parental role models, especially for our nation’s children. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss) made the original resolution on July 27, 1993, the day before True Mother delivered her “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age” address on Capitol Hill.

The first “Cosmic Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony” was held magnificently at the open space in front of the main building of Sun Moon University in Asan in Korea’s Chungnam province, with True Parents as the officiators on October 14, 2009. Some 25,000 participants gathered as representatives of Korea and the world. For those who could not come there, the ceremony was broadcast simultaneously to 192 nations via satellite and the Internet.

The ceremony was unique in that it was the first time that new couples and already established blessed couples received the Blessing together. Previously couples had received the Blessing on the church and worldwide levels. True Father explained that this was the third and final cosmic-level Blessing. The Blessing was also significant as it included large numbers of young Unificationists in a public venue. The participation of attractive young people attracted substantial media coverage that continued in subsequent Blessings.

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.

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.

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.”

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)

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.”

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.

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 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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)

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)

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.

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.”

Following the Holy Blessing of 36 Couples in 1961, True Parents introduced an abbreviated version of what became “My Pledge” on October 1, 1962. “My Pledge” consisted of five statements that affirmed Unification faith and commitments. It was a staple of Unification devotional life, regularly recited on Sunday mornings, the first day of the month, and on Holy Days from its introduction until 1994, when it was superseded by the “Family Pledge.”

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.

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.

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.

Women’s Federation for World Peace (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.”