A Global Vision

This week in history: October 19-26

• Children’s Day is established
• The first World Media Conference is held
• True Father begins a journey on the Amazon River
• The 777-Couple Holy Marriage Blessing is held
• Unificationists fast for seven days at the United Nations
• The Middle East Peace Summit is held
• True Father speaks at Foley Square

October 19, 1960

Children’s Day Established

True Parents celebrate the 48th Children’s Day and cheer with their grandson.

True Father established Children’s Day at the former headquarters church at Cheongpa-dong in Seoul on October 19, 1960 (October 1 lunar). It was the second major Holy Day established by the church, following Parents’ Day, which had been declared on March 1, 1960 (lunar). Children’s Day signified the restoration of God’s direct lineage and opened the way for humanity to be engrafted into that lineage as God’s sons and daughters. Children’s Day continued to be celebrated annually according to the lunar calendar. At the 35^th Parents’ Day in 1994, True Parents directed that the word “True” be placed before the names of the four major Holy Days (God’s Day, Parents’ Day, Children’s Day and Day of All Things). Thenceforth, the day has been observed as True Children’s Day.

October 20, 1978

First World Media Conference

In its sixth year, the World Media Conference, held in Cartagena, Colombia, was the largest and most successful gathering in its history.

Having experienced the “awesome power” of the media “to create or to destroy,” True Father established the World Media Association to advance the cause of world peace by championing freedom and moral responsibility in the press. The association convened the first World Media Conference in October 1978 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, under the theme “The Future of the Free Press.” Thirty-eight journalists from sixteen countries participated. The association continued to sponsor World Media Conferences and associated “fact-finding” tours for journalists throughout the 1980s. The sixth conference, held in Cartagena, Colombia, in September 1983, brought together six hundred media representatives from ninety-two countries. The conferences culminated in the 11^th World Media Conference, which was held from April 9 to 13, 1990, in Moscow. The conference, jointly sponsored with the Soviet Union’s Novosti news agency, resulted in True Parents’ private audience with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

October 20, 1997

True Father Begins Journey on Amazon River

True Parents made South America a focal point of their work during the mid- and late 1990s. During a speaking tour of twenty-three Latin American nations in 1995 True Father emphasized the region’s “stunning and abundant potential,” noting that its “mountains, rivers and jungles hark back to the original state of creation.” Having purchased land in the Brazilian outback that would become New Hope Farms, True Father began exploring the Paraguay and Amazon Rivers in 1997. He pointed out that the Paraguay River divides the continent east and west and the Amazon divides it north and south, but that their sources were only four kilometers apart. He envisioned that area being preserved as a “place of encounter where God, people and all things meet in a New Eden.” He also envisioned representatives of the nations settling along the banks of the two rivers. In pursuit of this, True Father set out by boat on the Paraguay River in mid-summer. According to a travel companion: “Every 50 kilometers we set out a sign numbered on a stick. … It was not easy to do that, because it is swampy ground covered with growth, and we had to clear the area; walking through the water and getting bitten by bees and ants. We set 63 signposts along the Paraguay River.”

True Father speaks at New Hope Farm in Uruguay.

True Father did the same along the Amazon, beginning October 20, although given the vast stretches of river to be covered, he adopted a different strategy: flying to different sites and then renting boats in which to explore the river. True Father expressed admiration for the small villages and villagers whom he viewed as “pristine Adamic families.” The same companion noted that it was so hot and steamy” and “we all got blisters on our mouths” but that despite his exhaustion and the unbearable heat, True Father “continued to push us, saying that this is where we can build the Garden of Eden.” Following the stake-setting expeditions, the church began purchasing property along the Paraguay River for future development.

October 21, 1970

777 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony

Rehearsal of the International Wedding Ceremony of 777 couples at Sutaek-Ri.

True Parents presided over the first truly international Holy Marriage Blessing when they blessed 777 couples on October 21, 1970. As part of the 430 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing in 1968, True Parents blessed 43 non-Korean couples overseas in 1969. For the 777 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing, participants came from 10 nations to Korea. The Marriage Blessing was conducted at Seoul’s Changchung (Metropolitan) Gymnasium in the presence of over 15,000. True Father stated that this was the last Marriage Blessing that he would conduct “before globalizing my mission.” He noted that the 777 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing was the seventh following True Parents’ Holy Wedding. This Marriage Blessing lay the foundation for the Unification Church to work on the worldwide level. “What belongs to Korea,” he said, “can now belong to the world and vice versa.”

October 21, 1974

7-Day Fast for Japanese Wives of North Korean Repatriates

Protestors hold a 7-day fast on behalf of wives in North Korea.

True Father speaks at the conclusion of the 7-day fast.

Seven hundred Unificationists fasted for seven days in front of the United Nations in New York from October 21 to 27, 1974, to protest the treatment of Japanese wives of North Korean repatriates. True Father initiated the fast for humanitarian and providential reasons. He noted that Korean men living in Japan who married Japanese women and then repatriated to North Korea had “cheated” the wives who were “now ill-treated and persecuted under the regime.” In this connection, the Unification Church published a volume of testimonies from these women, If I Had Wings Like a Bird, I Would Fly Across the Sea, which publicized their plight. Apart from the humanitarian issue, Unificationists undertook the fast within the context of a North Korean proposal, which had gained traction in the UN General Assembly, that called for UN forces to be removed from South Korea. True Father stated that the fast’s purpose was to “make naked the evil reality of what they are doing in North Korea and in all the communist regimes.” Unificationists’ efforts continued after the fast, and on December 9, 1974, the UN General Assembly approved a U.S.-sponsored resolution providing for maintenance of the United Nations Command in South Korea.

October 21, 1990

Middle East Peace Summit

On August 2, 1990, forces under the command of Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein invaded and annexed the neighboring country of Kuwait. This was met with international condemnation, international sanctions and a coalition of the largest military alliance since World War II. All this was deeply troubling to True Father. Unknown to most, Unificationist organizations had cultivated contacts within the Muslim world since the early 1980s. The Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA) and the Council for the World’s Religions (CWR) had convened several conferences of high-level Muslim religious leaders, including the grand muftis of Syria and Yemen.

True Parents meet the Grand Mufti of Syria during the Middle East Peace Summit.

In response to the Gulf Crisis, True Father was confident enough of his contacts in the region to call a Middle East Peace Summit in Cairo, Egypt, at short notice, beginning on October 21, 1990. In a “Message to Islam” read to participants, he stated, “The greatest imaginable tragedy would be for war to erupt between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East.” He urged all present to “live only for one goal, and that is, to protect and safeguard this situation against the possibility of a religious war.” Unificationists were not successful in averting the first Gulf War. However, Muslim leaders were impressed with True Father’s message. The grand muftis of Syria and Yemen agreed to send core followers to New York for a 40-day Inter-Religious Leadership Seminar (IRLS), and in 1992, 42 Muslim couples took part in a Holy Marriage Blessing officiated by True Parents. True Father termed the participation of Muslims “a miracle.” In effect, it broke the tribal barrier, enabling True Parents to extend the Blessing to persons other than Unificationists.

October 22, 1981

Foley Square Address

True Father speaks at the Foley Square Rally.

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 court appearance 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 church subsequently published the text of True Father’s Foley Square Address in The New York Times. It also provided an initial endowment of $2 million for the creation of a Minorities Alliance International (MAI).

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 October 19-26.