Around 4,000 Unification Church couples got married at a mass wedding in South Korea’s Gapyeong on Aug. 27. The massive ceremony took place at the Cheongshim Peace World Center, on the day marking the sixth death anniversary of founder and self-proclaimed messiah Sun Myung-moon.
Unification Church is a religious movement founded in South Korea by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Originally known as ‘The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity,’ the religious sect shifted into a collection of independent organizations associated with a “Unification movement.”
The movement has attracted hundreds of thousands of members in more than 100 countries, mostly in Korea, Japan, and other East Asian nations. His doctrinal views resulted in a religion based on marriage and family values that included a mix of Confucian and Christian beliefs. Moon also published “Exposition of the Divine Principle,” a reinterpretation of the Bible that his followers treat as holy scripture.
His teachings stress that true enlightenment, like that achieved by Jesus, can be achieved in part through marriage, which is often arranged to other church members. Moon’s followers, often derogatorily referred to in the media as “Moonies,” became known for their public mass weddings where often times thousands of couples were total strangers.
Moon also conducted cross-cultural marriages, arguing that there was no such things as nationality or skin color in God’s eyes and believed that they were a way to promote peace.
Moon died in 2012 at the age of 92 after suffering critical organ failure. Five years later, the church still has a strong following with around three million members worldwide.
By: Maytinee Kramer
