Day of Hope

This week in history, September 24 to October 1:

• The Transition of the Three Ages Realm of Oneness Unification Marriage Blessing Ceremony is held (September 24, 2000)
• Archbishop Milingo is excommunicated by the Vatican (September 26, 2006)
• True Parents introduce “My Pledge” (October 1, 1962)
• True Father kicks off the 21-city “Day of Hope” speaking tour at Carnegie Hall (October 1, 1973)
• True Father launches Ocean Church (October 1, 1980)

September 24, 2000

The Transition of the Three Ages Realm of Oneness Unification Blessing Ceremony

The Transition of the Three Ages Realm of Oneness Unification Blessing Ceremony was held at the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center on September 24, 2000. The ceremony was conducted on the last day of the third workshop for wives’ of the Unification movement. On this day True Father asked twenty-four Unificationist-born young adults—twelve men and twelve women—to line up and placed a granddaughter in front of one line and a grandson in front of the other and then gave his benediction. He said, “The spiritual and physical worlds, which divided as a result of the Fall, have become one through the victorious realm of the True Parents of Heaven and Earth. Children in the spiritual world and on earth should inherit this and achieve the Registration Blessing with the parents.” (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee)

September 26, 2006

Archbishop Milingo Excommunicated by the Vatican

Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo sparked a controversy which reached to the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church when he married Maria Sung in an Interfaith Clergy Marriage Blessing Ceremony conducted by True Parents on May 26, 2001. Upon an appeal by Pope John Paul II, he renounced the union a few months later and receded from public view for five years before resurfacing dramatically in 2006 to announce that he had rejoined his wife and was launching an independent charismatic ministry, Married Priests Now. Archbishop Milingo was given a deadline to submit a letter of repentance, which he refused to do. On September 24, 2006, he took the irrevocable step of installing four married men as bishops. Two days later, a Vatican communiqué announced that for this “public act” Archbishop Milingo had incurred automatic excommunication. A Vatican summit, convened by Pope Benedict XVI on November 16, 2006, reaffirmed the church’s position on clerical celibacy.

October 1, 1962

True Parents Introduce “My Pledge”

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 Holy Days from its introduction until 1994, when it was superseded by “Family Pledge.”

October 1, 1973

True Father Kicks Off the 21-City “Day of Hope” Speaking Tour at Carnegie Hall

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 the message “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.

October 1, 1980

True Father Launches Ocean Church

In the 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 60 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.”

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 September 24 to October 1.