A Vision for Education and Victory

This week in history, January 13-19:

• 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)
• 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)
• Remembering True Mother’s Visit to Goree Island (January 19, 2018)

JANUARY 13, 1968

Founding of the International Federation for Victory over Communism

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

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

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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.

January 17, 1974

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

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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

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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”

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

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

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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 19, 2018

Remembering True Mother’s Visit to Goree Island

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After launching the first Africa World Summit in Dakar, Senegal, True Mother visited Goree Island, the largest slave-trading center on the African coast between the 15th and 19th centuries, on December 19, 2018. Her intention was to perform a solemn ceremony of liberation and resolution of resentment for all those who suffered because of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In her speech at the summit the previous day, True Mother stated, “The continent that I believe has suffered the most is the African continent.”

Arriving on a presidential boat, True Mother was welcomed by the Mayor of Goree, Austin Senghor. She then proceeded to the House of Slaves and the “Door of No Return” that opens out onto the vast Atlantic Ocean. There, Rev. Lee Gi-seong from the Cheongpyeong Training Center read a Declaration of Heaven and True Mother offered a moving prayer. True Mother then mixed earth from True Father’s gravesite at Cheon Jeong Gung, some earth from Gorée and holy water. She spread Holy Salt in the center of the House of Slaves and declared it a holy ground, eternally connected to Heaven and to the holy ground in Korea, as well as a starting point for world peace. True Mother then went inside some of the cells, especially the one used to hold children, in which she wept. She said at a victory celebration the next morning that her heart had felt like bursting in pain and agony.

At Monument Square, the Little Angels, who accompanied True Mother and other pilgrims, sang Senegal’s national anthem in the Wolof language (the native language of the majority people of Senegal). Mayor Senghor unveiled a golden plaque dedicated to her visit and presented True Mother with the Goree Pilgrim Award. The last stop was for the blessing of a boat, the Victoria, which True Mother donated to the island, so that it may be used to provide urgent care for its 1,700 people, bringing them quickly to the hospital on the mainland of Senegal.

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 13-19.