KBS News 7, KBS News 5, MBC, JTBC, YTN, Seoul Shinmun, Newsis and Segye Ilbo
February 22, 2014
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification Holds a 2,500-Couple Mass Marriage Ceremony
KBS News 7
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification Holds 2,500-Couple Mass Marriage Ceremony for Devotees
KBS News 5
The Family Federation Holds the ‘Mass Marriage Ceremony’ with 2,500 Couples from 50 Countries, Live Internet Broadcast through Satellite
MBC
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, held their yearly Mass Marriage Ceremony yesterday at the Cheong Shim Peace World Center in Gapyeong- Gun, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea. About 2,500 couples from 50 countries tied the knot as couples.
Family Federation Chairman, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, was the officiator for the ceremony, which was broadcast by satellite over the Internet to 194 countries. Around 20,000 couples joined the ceremony through live Internet broadcast.
Unification Church Holds Mass Marriage Ceremony for 20,000 New Couples in 194 Countries around the World
JTBC
The brides and grooms simultaneously exchange rings and kisses. On the 12th, at Gapyeong, Gyeonggi- Do, Korea, 2,500 couples from about 50 countries attended the Mass Marriage Ceremony. Around 20,000 couples from 194 countries around the world also attended the ceremony through live Internet broadcast.
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, widow of the former Family Federation Chairman Sun Myung Moon, acted as officiator and directly matched most of the couples in attendance. Many international couples were matched in order to promote cultural exchange.
Myung Kwon Baldini, Groom (27, Brazil): “Today is the most important day of our lives. I am too happy that I got this beautiful Korean girl.”
Tanya Triggol, Bride (23, U.S.A.): “We are glad to be here to offer our marriage to God. It’s really special to us.”
The Mass Marriage Ceremonies of the Unification Church began in 1961 with 33 couples, and gained international attention in 1992 with the 30,000 couple marriage ceremony at the Jamshil Sports Complex.
Unification Church Holds Mass Marriage Ceremony for 20,000 New Couples around the World
YTN
Approximately 20,000 new couples from around the world joined in marriage at the Mass Marriage Ceremony yesterday morning, hosted by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Unification Church) at the Cheong Shim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do, Korea.
Wife of former chairman Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, acted as officiator of the event, which was attended on site by 2,500 couples from 50 countries, including newly matched international couples.
About 20,000 couples from 194 countries also attended the wedding ceremony through Internet broadcast.
Rev. Moon directly matched the couples of the Unification Church until his passing in 2012. This year, Dr. Han directly matched most of the couples herself. Many of the couples discovered the identity of their spouses just days before the ceremony.
Family Federation Holds 20,000-Couple World Mass Marriage Ceremony on the 12th at Gapyeong, First Anniversary of Foundation Day
Seoul Shinmun
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Family Federation) held the Commemorative Ceremony for the First Anniversary of Cheon Il Guk Foundation Day and the Cosmic Blessing Ceremony by the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind (Mass Marriage Ceremony) at 10:00 AM on the 12th at the Cheong Shim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea.
‘Foundation Day’ was first celebrated last year on February 22nd (January 13th by the lunar calendar). This day was proclaimed as the day when Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon inherited the will of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, to estalish a world of goodness and teach the world about the nation of God. As the Family Federation celebrates the First Anniversary of Foundation Day, they resolve to stand tall and noble as citizens of their religion.
The highlight of the First Anniversary of Foundation Day was the Cosmic Blessing Ceremony. Around 2,500 couples pledged on site the start of their new families, with 20,000 couples around the world joining them through satellite. The ceremony was broadcast to 194 countries around the world through the Internet.
Prior to this day, starting on the 7th, the Family Federation held a series of events to commemorate the First Anniversary of Foundation Day, starting with the Pure Love Seminar, held on the 7th at 2:00 PM at the Korean Press Center, 19th Floor at Taepyong-Ro, Chung-Gu, Seoul, and followed by the “Realization of an Ideal World Through Korean Religions” seminar held on the 8th at 11:00 AM at the Family Federation Headquarters at Cheongpa-Dong, Yongsan-Gu, Seoul.
On the 9th at 2 PM, at the Gapyeong Cheon Jung Goong Museum, 10 billion won in scholarships was presented to about 2,000 high school, university and Korean exchange students. The International Leadership Conference (ILC) was also held from the 9th to the 13th. On the 11th at 2:00 PM, the ‘2014 Convention for the Reunification of Korea’ commenced at the Baekbomgimgu Memorial Convention Hall at Hyochang-Dong, Yongsan-Gu, Seoul.
20,000-Couple Mass Marriage Ceremony, Officiated by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon…First Anniversary of Cheon Il Guk Foundation Day of the Family Federation
Newsis
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification held a massive wedding.
On the 12th at 10:00 AM at the Cheong Shim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-Do, 20,000 participants attended the “Commemorative Ceremony for the First Anniversary of Cheon Il Guk Foundation Day and 2014 Cosmic Blessing Ceremony by the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind.”
During the Cosmic Blessing Ceremony, 2,500 couples from 50 different countries were married on site, and were joined by 20,000 couples, through live Internet broadcast, from 194 countries around the world.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s widow, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, acted as officiator of the ceremony. The opening address was given by Korean Family Federation President Kyeong-Seuk Ryu, followed by the Holy Water Ceremony, the Marriage Vows, Benediction, Exchanging of Gifts and the Proclamation of Marriage.
The Holy Water Ceremony represents the cleansing of one’s life and being reborn anew.
When the officiator read the Marriage Vows, the brides and grooms of the 2,500 couples gathered in the World Center shouted, “Yes” in a resounding chorus. With Dr. Han’s Proclamation of Marriage, the couples took their first steps in creating blessed families who realize the ideal of true love in resemblance to the Creator, the Heavenly Parent. After representative couples presented flower bouquets to Dr. Han, Asian Continental Director Chang-Shik Yang led the audience in three cheers of Eok Mansei to conclude the event.
Chairman of the Editing Committee Young Whi Kim and Vice Chairman Jae Seuk Lee also dedicated the ‘True Parent’s Scriptures,’ one of the Cheon Il Guk Holy Scriptures, at this time.
The True Parents’ Scriptures are a collection of speeches on Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s life, and are one of the Three Holy Scriptures of the Family Federation. The other two, the Cheon Seong Gyeong and the Peace Scriptures, were published previously in June of last year. With the dedication of the True Parents’ Scriptures, the collection of the Family Federation’s representative textbooks is complete.
Dr. Han proclaimed the Cheon Il Guk Constitution.
Cheon Il Guk refers to the ideal world that God wanted to establish and that all of humankind has longed for. The Cheon Il Guk Constitution outlines the path to the ideal world.
Before the ceremony, celebratory performances were given. South American university students performed a Brazilian dance called “Festival,” and youth from South Osaka, Japan, displayed a dance drama titled, “We Are One.” A children’s’ choir also gave a musical performance titled, “Filial Piety.”
Public Proclamation of the ‘Cheon Il Guk Constitution’ of the Country of God…Setting the Foundation for a World of Peace
Family Federation Holds Great Festival of True Love and Harmony.
Full Crowd of 2,500 Couples Resolves to Create True Families.
