Pioneers of the Culture of Heart

This week in history, October 22-28:

• The News World creates dailies in other languages (October 22, 1980)
• True Father gives an address at Foley Square (October 22, 1981)
• A Peace Week Proclamation Ceremony is held (October 22, 2011)
• The Seonghwa Student Council is established (October 23, 1955)
• The Declaration of the Day of Liberation of the Blessing for the Entire Cosmos is held (October 23, 1999)
• True Mother embarks on a North American tour (October 26-November 6, 2012)
• True Mother addresses WFWP USA at the 20^th Anniversary Convention (October 27, 2012)
• The Inaugural Peace Queen Cup Tournament is held (October 28, 2006)
• The groundbreaking ceremony for the Cheongshim Peace World Center Stadium is held (October 28, 2008)

October 22, 1980

The News World Creates Dailies in Other Languages

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.

October 22, 1981

Foley Square Address

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

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).

October 22, 2011

Peace Week Proclamation Ceremony

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

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.

October 23, 1955

Establishment of the Seonghwa Student Council

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

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)

October 23, 1999

Declaration of the Day of Liberation of the Blessing for the Entire Cosmos

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

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)

October 26-November 6, 2012

True Mother’s North American Tour

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.

October 27, 2012

True Mother Addresses WFWP USA 20^th Anniversary Convention

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 20^thAnniversary Convention in Las Vegas. Sun Jin Moon, the International President for Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) at that time, 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.”

October 28, 2006

Inaugural Peace Queen Cup Tournament

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

The Inaugural Peace Queen Cup Tournament is held in South Korea.

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.

October 28, 2008

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Cheongshim Peace World Center Stadium

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

Design plans for the Cheongshim Peace World Center.

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.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification movement, the lives of the True Parents, 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 October 22-28.