A National Legacy of Peace
This week in history, July 26-August 1:
- The fifth phase of the 400,000 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing takes place (July 26, 2004)
- National Parents’ Day is proclaimed (July 27, 1993)
- A Holy Ground consecration and dedication ceremony takes place (July 27, 1999)
- True Mother speaks on Capitol Hill (July 28, 1993)
- The Family Federation for World Peace is established (July 30, 1996)
- The first National Messiah workshop is held (August 1, 1996)
July 26, 2004
5th Phase 400,000 Couples Holy Blessing
At an indoor stadium not far from Sun Moon University in Asan City, near the city of Cheonan, about an hour’s drive south of Seoul, the 5th Phase 400,000 Couples Holy Blessing of marriage was held on July 26, 2004, for thousands of couples. The Blessing took on an added significance, as it culminated the 10th World Culture and Sports Festival (WCSF). Prominent religious leaders representing various faiths of the world added their blessings to the couples. Some 300 prestigious participants of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) Assembly 2004 conference, representing 120 nations, including several former presidents, prime ministers and current heads of state, joined not only to observe but support the effort to strengthen families. Stanislaw Shushkevich, the leader of Belarus from 1991 to 1994, said in his congratulatory remarks, “All the events in the WCSF have as their goal the realization of world peace. However, it is clear that the creation of good families is the foundation for a culture of peace.”
July 27, 1993
National Parents’ Day Proclaimed
On July 27, 1993, the day before True Mother delivered her “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age” address on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution introduced by Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) which designated July 28 as “National Parents’ Day.” The following year, President Bill Clinton signed the Congressional Resolution into law, authorizing that the last Sunday in July be recognized as “National Parents’ Day” for the purpose of “recognizing, uplifting and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.”
July 27, 1999
Original Holy Ground, Root Holy Ground, Victory Holy Ground Consecration and Dedication Ceremony
On July 27, 1999, at 4:18 a.m., at Hotel Americano in Brazil’s Pantanal region, True Parents led a dedication and offering ceremony of Hotel Americano as “the Original Holy Ground, Root Holy Ground and Victory Holy Ground.” In offering the space to God, True Father prayed, “We wish You to see the era of all-transcendence, omnipresence, full authority and omnipotence that can bring the voluntary surrender of the enemy, Satan, and establish the realm of Your autonomy in the universe!” In a speech ten days later, he said, “Finally we built the site that can become the Origin of Heaven.” In addition to the Jardim Training Center, he envisioned building “an airfield, a railway and a marina” so that “this place … will become a flourishing city,” greater than Venice. He described the site as being located “at the end of the earth, the very end of the earth” and called on Unificationists to visit it every four years.
July 28, 1993
True Mother Speaks on Capitol Hill
Culminating True Parents’ speaking tour of 33 U.S. cities under the theme of “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age,” True Mother spoke before an audience of U.S. senators, congressmen, their aides and other dignitaries on Capitol Hill in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 28, 1993. She was introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who acknowledged True Parents’ long suffering and personal sacrifice, commended their investment in The Washington Times, and referred to True Mother as “my friend.” In her speech, True Mother declared “the dawn of the Completed Testament Age” and “the establishment of the first True Family.”
July 30, 1996
Establishment of the Family Federation for World Peace
The inauguration of the Family Federation for Unification and World Peace took place in Washington, D.C.
True Parents convened the Inaugural World Convention of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) before 400 delegates and over a thousand participants at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., from July 30 to August 1, 1996. This was the Unification movement’s most spectacular federation launch and included an astounding list of dignitaries: two former U.S. presidents of the United States, Gerald Ford and George Bush; former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias; former Prime Ministers Edward Heath of Great Britain and Brian Mulroney of Canada; thirty-six one-time heads of state or governments; university presidents including Boston University’s John Silber; Christian television personality Robert Schuller; Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed; Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr.; Maureen Reagan, the daughter of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan; well-known comedian Bill Cosby; and Christian singer-actor Pat Boone. In addition, the main proceedings were covered live by C-SPAN television network.
True Mother delivered an opening plenary speech on the “View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation,” and True Father spoke on “In Search of the Origin of the Universe” at the convention’s closing banquet. Externally, FFWPU was a high-level forum for world leaders and scholars to address issues related to the family. Internally, it marked a further stage in the movement’s development beyond salvation of the individual to salvation of the family.
August 1, 1996
First National Messiah Workshop
In 1996, True Father announced his intention of sending “national messiahs” to world mission. The condition to be appointed a national messiah was that both husband and wife complete a 40-day workshop at Cheongpyeong Training Center in Korea. The first 40-day workshops were for senior Korean members and missionaries who had served in Unification Church overseas missions for 21 years. The first National Messiah Workshop for the movement’s general membership (blessed couples and tribal messiahs) began at Cheongpyeong on August 1, 1996 and concluded on September 9. Over 300 national messiah candidates attended. In the end, almost 200 couples or spouses participated in a lottery to receive one of the 183 nations to which True Parents would send national messiahs. From “Abel” nations — the United States, Canada, England and France — 121 couples received nations in the lottery, whereas from “Cain” nations — Germany, Italy and Austria — 76 couples were given nations. Nations were to be assigned an “Adam” National Messiah couple from Korea, an “Eve” National Messiah couple from Japan, in addition to the Western “Abel” and “Cain” National Messiah couples. True Father directed that National Messiahs should be prepared to invest three generations of their family in their assigned country.
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 July 26 to August 1.