The Month of Liberation

This week in history, October 4-10:

• True Father is released from Seodaemun Prison (October 4, 1955)
• The Unification Church obtains legal standing in Korea (October 4, 1963)
• The Day of the Victory of Heaven is proclaimed (October 4, 1976)
• True Mother goes on a lecture tour of 40 universities in Korea (October 4, 1993)
• The Konron Maru Ferryboat is sunk (October 5, 1943)
• The first Holy Grounds are selected (October 5-7, 1962)
• True Father proclaims total liberation and unification between the physical and spiritual world (October 5, 1998)
• The Cheongpa-dong Church is purchased (October 7, 1955)
• The Belvedere Estate is purchased (October 10, 1972)
• True Father initiates The News World (October 10, 1976)
• CARP confronts massive leftist demonstration in West Germany (October 10, 1981)
• The Double-Ten Day is proclaimed (Ssang-ship Jeol) (October 10, 1999)
• The “10.14” Holy Blessing Ceremony is held (October 10, 2010)

October 4, 1955

True Father Is Released from Seodaemun Prison

On July 4, 1955, True Father and four Unification Church leaders were arrested on charges of illegal confinement and violation of military regulations, stemming from work on Seoul’s Ewha Women’s University campus. This followed the dismissal of professors and expulsion of students who had joined the church. True Father was convicted and sent to Seodaemun Prison, a facility constructed by Japanese colonial authorities for the confinement and torture of Korean nationalists. True Father’s conviction was overturned on appeal, and he was released after three months on October 4, 1955. According to True Father, a number of prison officials “became part of our Unification family” following his release.

October 4, 1963

Unification Church Obtains Legal Standing in Korea

True Father and four disciples founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC), or Unification Church, in May 1954. However, the church did not obtain legal standing until October 4, 1963. In effect, it was an underground church, particularly during the Syngman Rhee presidency (1948-60). After Rhee’s ouster, there was more openness, especially as a result of the church’s efforts to promote literacy among Korea’s village population and its campaign to arm police ideologically against communism. The church continued to face opposition and harassment, but it had surmounted legal barriers to its existence and development.

October 4, 1976

The Day of the Victory of Heaven

A little more than two weeks after the Washington Monument Rally and on the 26^th anniversary of his release from Seodaemun Prison, True Father proclaimed the Day of the Victory of Heaven before several thousand Unificationists at Belvedere. He stated that the Washington Monument rally was an “unqualified victory” and that barriers in the spirit world had been broken down. This, he said, “will be reflected in the physical world.” He predicted that the movement would “take off in leaps and bounds from now” and discussed prospects in evangelism, business and educational activities. In fact, the Washington Monument campaign was a watershed event in the history of the Unification Church in America. It closed out the initial proclamation period of True Father’s ministry and opened the way for new initiatives in evangelism, education, interfaith relations, business, media and public life. The movement began to develop an infrastructure that greatly expanded its ability to exert influence in the United States and elsewhere.

October 4, 1993

True Mother’s Lecture Tour of Forty Universities in Korea

True Mother began a lecturing tour of forty major Korean universities, starting from Dangook University, on October 4, 1993. At each university, professors, students and prominent figures filled the lecture hall. Under the title “True Parents and the Completed Testament Age,” True Mother’s lecture called the young, intelligent university students to take the lead in opening a peaceful twenty-first century centered on true love.

October 5, 1943

Konron Maru Ferryboat Is Sunk

True Father graduated from Waseda Koutou Kougakko, a technical engineering school affiliated with Waseda University, in Japan on September 30, 1943. He notified his family by telegram that he would return to Korea aboard the Konron Maru ferry. However, he had a premonition of danger, even feeling his “feet stuck to the ground,” and postponed his return. He would have boarded the Konron Maru on October 4. En route to Pusan, the Konron Maru was sunk. The New York Times reported on October 8 that an Allied submarine had sunk the ship at 1:00 am on October 5 and that only 72 of the 616 persons on board had survived. True Father recorded that when his mother heard the news that the ship he was scheduled to board was sunk, she “immediately ran out of the house without even thinking to put on her shoes,” running barefoot five miles to the train station and taking a train directly to Pusan. There, according to True Father’s autobiography, “She just kept calling my name, not even realizing that she had large splinters in her feet.” True Father often repeated this account as an illustration of his mother’s love.

October 5-7, 1962

First Holy Grounds Selected

True Father used the term Seong Ji (Holy Ground) on January 1, 1963. He wrote the words “Holy Ground” in Chinese characters, and shared with those present his determination and plan to reclaim God’s lands symbolically, first through Holy Grounds and later by restoring the homeland. However, he did not select Holy Grounds until his first world tour in 1965. The first Holy Grounds were founded in Korea by several disciples between October 5 and 7, 1962, according to True Father’s instruction, before he himself actually established any. Four of them were founded in the north, south, east and west districts of Seoul.  From January 28, 1965, through October 10, 1965, True Father made Holy Grounds in 39 nations. He returned to Korea and created Holy Grounds in each regional district before establishing the last seven (main) Holy Grounds in Seoul, including the one at Chungpa-dong Church. The Holy Grounds listed above founded by the disciples later were established as official Holy Grounds by Father as part of these seven Holy Grounds. He finished blessing 120 Holy Grounds throughout the world on January 1, 1966.

October 5, 1998

True Father Proclaims Total Liberation and Unification between the Physical World and the Spiritual World

On October 5, 1998, Koreans celebrated the holiday Chuseok, the day of the Autumn Moon Festival. On this day, True Father conducted a ceremony in São Paolo, Brazil, called The Total Liberation and Unification Day ceremony. At that time he gave missions to certain countries to take charge of the saints in spirit world who were blessed at the June 13, 1998, Blessing at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He also gave missions to other founders of religions. He sent Jesus to the United States, Buddha to Korea, Confucius to China, Mohammed to the Islamic world, and Joseph and Mary to South America.

October 7, 1955

Cheongpa Dong Church Purchased

The old Cheongpa Dong church, formerly a Japanese temple, with its clay tile roof.

True Father teaching at Cheongpa Dong.

Three days after True Father’s release from Seodaemun Prison, the church borrowed 2 million won to purchase an abandoned building in poor repair on a hillside in Cheongpa Dong, Seoul. It reportedly had been a small Japanese Buddhist temple during the colonial era and one of many houses categorized as “enemy property.” This was the first property purchased by the Unification Church, which previously had occupied rented space, and was its headquarters building for the next 20 years. It was the site of True Parents’ engagement and Holy Wedding as well as the 36 and 72 Couples Holy Weddings. It was where the earliest editions of the Divine Principle were distributed. It served as True Parents’ residence and was where True Father planned the church’s world mission.

Later, while in the United States, True Father received word that members were planning to remodel the Cheongpa Dong Church. With great urgency he sent a telegram telling them to stop. True Father wrote in his autobiography, “This church embodies an irrecoverable period in my personal history, but more important than that, it testifies directly to the history of our church. … What matters is not some beautiful exterior but the secret life of tears that dwells within that building. … When I look at a particular pillar, I am reminded of a time when I clung to that pillar and wept over a particular matter … [it] makes me weep again. To see a door frame that is a little crooked reminds me of the past. … The floor boards where I bent over in prayer and shed so many tears are gone. … I … need memories of that pain. It doesn’t matter if the external style or appearance is old. Much time has passed, and now we have many churches that are well built. But for me, I would rather go to the small house on the hill in Cheongpa Dong and pray. I feel more comfortable there.”

October 10, 1972

Belvedere Estate Purchased

In 1972, True Father directed Unificationists in the United States to find a large property in New York suitable for use as an international training center. The assignment was given to New York center director Philip Burley, who found Belvedere three days after it had been put on the market. Situated on the Hudson River thirty miles north of New York City in Tarrytown, the twenty-two-acre estate was described in a brochure sent to True Father in Korea, and he said to buy it.

The Maryland church center had had success selling its own manufactured candles, and it was decided to try that as a national effort to raise money for the large down payment. For seven weeks nearly every member in every state abandoned all other activities in order to sell candles.

With Anchor Hocking six-ounce brandy snifters and Amoco paraffin piled floor to ceiling, the College Park/Upper Marlboro centers reached peak production of 1,700 dozen candles a week, or about 250 dozen (3,000 candles) a day. A similar factory with a rotating crew was set up in the Denver center garage, and a third factory was operated by the Berkeley, California, center. “Express candle vans” delivered “still warm” candles, and “mobile fundraising teams” were formed for the first time. As a result of the total mobilization and fundraising innovations, the down payment was made. At 1:00 p.m. on October 10, 1972, the caretaker of Belvedere received a call from the seller saying that, from that moment, “Belvedere is in new hands.” Later that day a group of Unificationists arrived to explore the house and grounds. Dr. Young Oon Kim asked them, “How can you describe a miracle? … Now you have seen Belvedere. Is it better than your dreams?”

October 10, 1976

True Father Initiated The News World

True Father initiated The News World on October 10, 1976, shortly after the Washington Monument rally, when he assembled a dozen or so Unificationists with journalism degrees and “set the deadline” for producing the first issue of a new daily newspaper in New York City “at December 31, 1976, the last day of the Bicentennial year.”

October 10, 1981

CARP Confronts Massive Leftist Demonstration in West Germany

The Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP) spearheaded the Unificationist opposition to communism on college campuses from the 1960s. In the early 1980, US CARP launched an organized assault on Marxist-Leninist doctrines under the leadership of Rev. Chong Goo “Tiger” Park. Prior to this, a Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade (RCYB) had assaulted CARP members on a California campus. This was the first of innumerable confrontations between CARP and leftist campus groups over the next several years. Many of the most memorable encounters occurred in traditionally liberal or radical campus settings, such as the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

In what was one of CARP’s most memorable confrontations, “Tiger” Park led a counterdemonstration of 130 CARP members against a 250,000-strong anti-nuclear armament rally in Bonn, Germany, on October 10, 1981, barely escaping after being pursued by attackers wielding sticks, pipes and chains. This was the kickoff to a decade of activism. CARP developed a revolutionary, activist élan of its own replete with practiced chants, burnings of Soviet leaders in effigy, hard-driving rock bands with names such as Blue Tuna and Prime Force, and touring martial arts groups (these were especially helpful in protecting podiums from assaults). All this became part of the lore and allure of CARP during the Cold War era.

October 10, 1999

Proclamation of Double-Ten Day (Ssang-ship Jeol)

True Father proclaimed in 1999: “The number ten, representing the month of October and the date of October 10, 1999, signifies a new start centered upon God, and the number ten of the tenth day signifies a new start centered upon the earth. That is why I have proclaimed October 10 as Ee-Ship Jeol (Ssang-ship Jeol, Double-Ten Day).” (Excerpt from the old Cheon Seong Gyeong 304-152, 1999.10.10) –The full speech, “Proclamation of Double-Ten Day (Ssang-ship Jeol),” can be read here.

October 10, 2010

“10.14” Holy Blessing Ceremony

The month of October has a special meaning as the “month of liberation” in Unification history, as True Father was liberated from Heung Nam labor camp (10.14.50) and Seodaemun Prison (10.4.55) during the month. True Parents conducted the first “Cosmic Blessing Ceremony” on October 14, 2009, on the campus of Sun Moon University.  On October 10, 2010, they extended the previous year’s Holy Blessing in conducting the “10.14 Blessing Ceremony Based on the Completion of the Settlement of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind,” this time with more than 30,000 brides and bridegrooms and their congratulators attending on the lawn of Sun Moon University. A special feature of the Blessing this time was that people born into the Unification Church were given the freedom to select their spouse by themselves in front of True Parents.