Interfaith and International Peace
This Week in History, September 21-27
- The Mongolian Peoples’ Federation for World Peace is created
- Following 9/11, an interfaith day of prayer and healing brings together more than 1,000 clergy
- True Father launches the “Substantial” Abel UN
September 21, 2004
Inauguration of Mongolian Peoples’ Federation
True Father speaks at the International Peace Conference for Mongolian Leaders from Around the World.
True Father established numerous Federations for World Peace following the end of the Cold War and into the new millennium. From September 21 to 24, 2004, the first International Peace Conference for Mongolian Leaders from Around the World took place in Seoul. This conference led to the creation of the Mongolian Peoples’ Federation for World Peace (MPFWP). True Father defined Mongolian peoples as those born with the Mongolian birthmark, a bluish mark usually seen on the backside. He asserted that nearly three-quarters of the world’s population is linked to Mongolian roots and that the Mongolian birthmark appears not only in persons of the yellow race but also among many black and white people. He maintained that values preserved among Mongolian peoples, such as faith in absolute values, an understanding of human spirituality, belief in the existence of the spirit world, an emphasis on family tradition and the importance of lineage would play a significant role in bringing about the realization of a world of peace. The initial conference brought together 300 participants from Mongolia, Korea, Japan, China and 34 other nations. The Mongolian Federation convened subsequent meetings under the auspices of the Universal Peace Federation.
September 22, 2001
Interfaith Day of Prayer and Healing
More than 1,000 clergy from all faiths attended an Interfaith Prayer Breakfast and Day of Prayer and Healing to offer prayers for the victims of the 9/11 tragedy in New York and Washington, D.C.
True Father had called for a 12,000-couple World Clergy Blessing to take place in New York’s Madison Square Garden on September 22, 2001. It was intended to build upon the Interfaith Marriage Blessing of 60 clergy couples the previous May in which Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was blessed with Korean Unificationist Maria Sung. The tragic events of 9/11 intervened and the clergy Blessing was postponed. In lieu of the Blessing, an Interfaith Prayer Breakfast brought together more than 1,000 clergy and guests in the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center and an outdoor Day of Prayer and Healing rally took place at the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building in Harlem. The rally attracted some 3,000 participants as well as coverage on CNN, CBS and other media outlets. Forty American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) ministers had counseled police and firefighters at Ground Zero the night before the prayer breakfast and rally and continued to do so in the days that followed.
September 23, 2007
True Father Launches the “Substantial” Abel UN
True Father launched the “Substantial” Abel UN at the Manhattan Center.
In 2000, True Father’s proposal to renew the United Nations through incorporating an interreligious peace council launched the UN providence. The following year, True Father began the Ambassador for Peace program. In 2003, he established the Interreligious and International Peace Council (IIPC) and in 2005, on the occasion of the UN’s 60th anniversary, he founded the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), whose core objective was “to work cooperatively with the United Nations and to serve and support that institution as it seeks to fulfill its own global mission.” Two years later, on September 23, 2007, True Father launched what he termed the “Substantial” Abel UN.
Conducted at the Manhattan Center, the inauguration brought together representatives from 192 nations seated at UN-styled conference tables. Flags and regalia added to the atmosphere. In his three-hour keynote address, augmented by extemporaneous comments, True Father referred to UPF as “an Abel-type counterpart to the UN” and to the new initiative as the “Peace UN.” He expressed hope that it would “lead the way for millions of Ambassadors for Peace throughout the world … to fulfill the heavenly will of creating ‘One Family under God.’” Finishing at 11:00 p.m., True Father penned an approximately thirty-foot calligraphic message that read in Chinese characters, “May the Sovereignty of the God of True Love, the Sacred Reign of Peace, Last Forever.” He then struck a giant gong, sealing the evening’s proceedings.
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 21-27.