A Spiritual Revolution
This week in history, November 15-21:
- True Father is awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of La Plata (November 15, 1984)
- The First Assembly of the World’s Religions is held (November 15, 1985)
- True Father proclaims Cheon Il Guk (November 15, 2001)
- Lady Dr. Kim ascends to the spirit world (November 16, 2004)
- The 11.16 Marriage Blessing Ceremony is held (November 16, 2009)
- A Soviet journalist interviews True Father (November 17, 1989)
- The 1,000th Cheongshim baby is born (November 19, 2007)
- True Mother proclaims the Feminine Logic of Love (November 20, 1991)
- True Father is released from Pyongyang Jail (November 21, 1946)
- Young Oon Kim relocates to San Francisco (November 21, 1960)
- UTS is granted a provisional charter by the state of New York (November 21, 1986)
November 15, 1984
True Father Awarded Honorary Doctorate by the University of La Plata
More than 500 people filled the United Nations Delegates’ Dining Room on November 15, 1984, when True Father and Dr. Bo Hi Pak were awarded honorary degrees of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Catholic University of La Plata, Argentina. True Mother received the degree on behalf of True Father, who at the time was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut. Monsignor Antonio Jose Plaza, archbishop of La Plata and chancellor of the university, traveled to New York to bestow the award despite objections from the Vatican. True Mother thanked the chancellor and university for their “courageous stand … in recognizing and honoring my husband at this difficult time.” True Father previously had received an honorary doctorate in law from Ricker College, Maine, in 1975. During his time in Danbury, he received four additional honorary doctorates. The first was awarded by La Plata University, also in Argentina. The second, on May 11, 1985, was conferred by the Shaw University Divinity School, affiliated with the Methodist Church. The third, on May 28, 1985, was from the Bible Theological Seminary of the State of Florida, and the final one was awarded by Vennard College on August 15, 1985.
November 15, 1985
The First Assembly of the World’s Religions
Dr. Huston Smith, author on world religions, greets True Father at the assembly.
More than 600 spiritual leaders, clergy, professors, artists, students and professionals from 85 nations gathered at the Americana Great Gorge resort, in McAfee, New Jersey, for the first Assembly of the World’s Religions from November 15 to 21, 1985. Sponsored by the International Religious Foundation (IRF), it was envisioned as the first of three assemblies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. The theme of Assembly One was “Recovering the Classical Heritage.” Stylistic banners representing the world faith traditions were created for the occasion by the famed banner-maker Norman Laliberte. Participants gathered daily for meditations, plenary talks, discussion groups, and informal presentations of song and storytelling. A practical outcome of the assembly was the launch of the Religious Youth Service (RYS).
In his Founder’s Address, titled “Dialogue and Alliance,” True Father memorably stated, “As far as I know, God is not sectarian. He is not obsessed with minor details of doctrine. We should quickly liberate ourselves from theological conflict, which results from blind attachment to doctrines and rituals, and instead focus on living communication with God.” He contended, “Only through a religious and spiritual revolution bringing great harmony, love and compassion will we finally realize the ideal world of peace.” He also expressed three goals for the assembly:
First, that the world’s religious traditions respect each other and at least work to keep in check any inter-religious conflicts and wars. Second, that the assembly serve the world by becoming a cooperative community of religions … calling religious people to practical action, encouraging all people to live by God-centered values, and fostering the development of human minds and spirits. Third, that the assembly develop into an organization in which the major leadership of all religions participate.
November 15, 2001
True Father Proclaims Cheon Il Guk
True Father proclaimed Cheonju Pyeonghwa Tongil Guk (the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity), abbreviated as Cheon Il Guk (CIG), on November 15, 2001. Cheon Il Guk is the Unification equivalent of the Kingdom of Heaven and the culmination of True Father’s ministry. Previously True Father declared a fundamental shift in the order of salvation from the individual to the family. Cheon Il Guk advanced beyond the family to the creation of a heavenly nation. True Father defined the Cheon Il Guk “era” as the period during which the foundation of Cheon Il Guk was to be established. He said the movement was on a “tight schedule” of twelve years, extending until 2013. True Father’s proclamation of Cheon Il Guk energized the Unification movement and marked a new stage in its development.
November 16, 2004
Lady Dr. Kim Ascends
Mrs. Shin Wook “Lady Dr.” Kim ascended on November 16, 2004, at age 90. She converted to the Holy Spirit Association from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1956 and was an obstetrician and gynecologist, having delivered more than 5,000 babies, including five of True Parents’ children. She also was a “spiritual doctor,” and that was the title and mission True Father assigned to her in America. She immigrated in 1971 and was well known among early American members for her wise and warm counsel. Prior to the Cheongpyeong providence, she also played a major role on issues related to ancestors and the spiritual world. During the Washington Monument campaign, she conducted an important ceremony to sanctify the grounds and protect True Father’s life.
November 16, 2009
11.16 Blessing Ceremony for Unificationist-born Couples
On November 16, 2009, 173 Unificationist-born couples from 28 nations took part in a Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony before 1,200 parents and others at Cheonseong Wanglim Palace, Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center. All participants met the Cheon Il Guk matching standard of purity, never having kissed, dated, had any physical relationship or made any exclusive romantic commitment. They also met the standard of openness to form an international or intercultural couple. On that foundation, True Parents matched the couples individually.
November 17, 1989
Soviet Journalist Interviews True Father
The Soviet interview with True Father was reprinted in major U.S. newspapers.
In a sign of things to come, True Father granted his first interview in 13 years to Za Rubezhom (“Abroad”), a Soviet newsweekly with a circulation of over 1 million that was read by intellectuals and policy leaders throughout the Soviet Union. Za Rubezhom titled the interview “A Spiritual Revolution Is Needed” and published it the week of November 17-25 in its “Religion and Society” section. The interview was translated into English and published in advertisements in major newspapers around the United States under the banner head “Rev. Moon Breaks His Silence.”
True Father spoke about his daughter-in-law Hoon Sook (Julia) Moon’s dance performance on the stage of the Kirov Theatre and his respect for Russian artistic traditions; President Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts to launch glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”); and the need for the Soviet Union to support religious freedom and develop “a wider-based individual incentive system” for its commerce. He said that he welcomed the “lessening of tensions among the nations of the world” but that lasting peace would come only when we “settle our peace with God.”
“What our world most needs,” True Father stated, is “a spiritual revolution. Then we can successfully solve our economic and social problems.” True Father’s interview with Za Rubezhom culminated a decade of groundwork by the World Media Association in cultivating contacts among Soviet journalists and was a steppingstone to the 11th World Media Conference in Moscow and True Parents’ meeting with President Gorbachev in April 1990.
November 19, 2007
1,000th Cheongshim Baby Born
The parents of the 1000th Chungshim Baby, Yeong-cheol Pak (right) and Mayumi Okawa, November 19, 2007, Chungshim International Hospital.
On November 19, 2007, at 6:47 pm, the 1,000th Cheongshim baby was born in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Cheongshim International Medical Center. The newborn was the eldest son (2.98 kg) of Yeong-cheol Pak and Mayumi Okawa (a 360,000 blessed couple, South Korea). The obstetrics and gynecology department of Cheongshim International Medical Center reportedly had the highest percentages for natural delivery and breastfeeding in all Korea, combining Western and Oriental approaches to medicine.
November 20, 1991
True Mother Proclaims the “Feminine Logic of Love”
On November 20, 1991, True Mother spoke before a gathering of 15,000 Women’s Federation for Peace in Asia members at Seoul’s Jamsil Stadium. At the event she stated, “In history, the ‘logic of power’ has been dominant,” but said that the present age demanded the “feminine ‘logic of love’ to solve … problems and lead history in a proper way.” True Mother’s admonition was taken up by the Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP), which was founded the following year.
November 21, 1946
True Father Released from Pyongyang Jail
True Father undertook mission work in North Korea beginning in June 1946. Some two months later, on August 11, 1946, he was arrested by police in Taedong, a district of Pyongyang. In jail, he met members of the “Inside-Belly” Church whose leader also had been arrested. That church had been preparing clothes and food for the Lord’s Second Coming. On September 18, 1946, True Father passed a message to its leader, Mrs. Hyo Bin Heo, which stated. “The writer of this note has a mission from heaven. Pray to find out who he is. … ” The note was discovered and True Father was subjected to severe torture which included sleep deprivation and savage beatings. On November 21, a Soviet interrogator determined that True Father was not a spy from the South, and authorities notified followers that they should come and get him. According to one account, True Father was thrown out into the yard, half dead from the beatings, his clothes stuck to his body by clotted blood. He vomited blood, and those helping him thought he might die. However, after three weeks he began to improve. True Father wrote in his autobiography, “Once I recovered, I resumed my evangelical work.” Mrs. Hyo Bin Heo perished in prison.
November 21, 1960
Young Oon Kim Relocates to San Francisco
Young Oon Kim with early members gathered at Oak Hill.
Young Oon Kim, “Miss Kim” to early American members, was the first Unification Church missionary to the United States. A former professor at Ehwa University in Seoul, she came to Eugene, Oregon, as an exchange student at the University of Oregon in January 1959. There she witnessed and gathered a small community who resided in Oakhill, a rural settlement outside Eugene. The group dedicated themselves to outreach and production of Miss Kim’s English translation of the Divine Principle text. In September 1960, two female members fled Oakhill due to persecution from their husbands. They went first to Fresno, California, then to San Francisco. In part, because their husbands continued to harass the group, mainly by target shooting in the field across from where Miss Kim lived, she and three of her core members decided to relocate. Miss Kim wrote:
Eugene was a small, conservative city, where I went not by choice, but to follow my scholarship. Next I went to Oakhill, which was only a small settlement in the countryside. There I spent time raising those who had accepted and deepening their understanding of the Principle, as well as teaching the Principle in Lebanon, Salem, Albany, and Portland. … I found Oregon quite provincial on the whole, though, and was not reluctant to leave. I yearned to launch my work in a cosmopolitan city. I now had a textbook for wider work. … It seemed like this was where Father was leading me.
Miss Kim’s group severed ties irrevocably with the Northwest and began a new chapter of Unification Church history in the San Francisco Bay Area.
November 21, 1986
UTS Granted “Provisional Charter” by the State of New York
An aerial view of UTS.
Unification Theological Seminary obtained a “provisional charter” to grant academic degrees on November 21, 1986. By a 12-2 vote, the New York State Board of Regents approved the Seminary’s provisional charter and master plan. UTS graduates would now receive master’s degrees in either Religious Education (M.R.E.) or Divinity (M.Div.). This action marked the end of a 10-year battle to attain recognition. A previous attempt to gain a provisional charter, submitted in 1976, 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. Some 450 students who had attended UTS prior to 1986 graduated with “certificates” rather than degrees. It would be another four years before the State of New York granted UTS its “Absolute Charter,” some 15 years after its initial application.