Our Common Content is True Love

This week in history, May 24-30:

• The Universal Ballet Company is established (May 24, 1984)
• A Middle Peace Initiative takes place (May 24, 2004)
• Interfaith clergy receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (May 27, 2001)
• The Rally to Globalize True Families takes place (May 29, 1999)
• The Rally for Religious Freedom takes place (May 30, 1984)
• PWPA rescues the University of Bridgeport (May 30, 1992)

May 24, 1984

Universal Ballet Company Established

The Universal Ballet was established by True Parents in May 1984 as the first private ballet company of Korea. It began in a practice room in the back of the Sunhwa (Little Angels) Arts School. At that time, male ballet dancers in Korea were so rare that the company had employees from the print shop dancing on stage. However, under the direction of Adrienne Dellas, Kirov Ballet Director Oleg Vinogradov and prima ballerina Julia (Hoon Sook) Moon, the company developed a national and international reputation. Julia Moon noted: “We pioneered ballet in Korea when it was very primitive. … We were the first to bring choreographers, teachers, costume and set designers and dancers from the West to Korea. We have been and still are a leader in the field of ballet in Korea.” True Father gave the motto Ye Cheon Mi Ji (Heavenly Art Creating a World of Beauty). He said, “Ballet is truly a heavenly art form. The dancers stretch themselves upward to the ultimate degree to reach God in heaven. Ballet uses the entire body as an instrument to express humans’ aspiration toward God. In this sense, it is the ultimate expression of artistic beauty.”

May 24, 2004

Middle East Peace Initiative

The Middle East Peace Initiative by woman leaders covered four days in Jerusalem, Israel, beginning from May 24, 2005. The Women’s Federation for World Peace International, and the Interreligious and International Peace Council co-hosted the programs, which included a seminar on religious harmony, followed by a ceremony to bring harmony and peace in the Middle East and a peace march. The participating women have maintained connections with one another through continuous meetings. 

May 27, 2001

Interfaith Clergy Blessing

The American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) was born in May 2000 when 120 clergy from 17 denominations traveled to Korea for the inaugural meeting. With ACLC support, True Father undertook a 50-state “We Will Stand in Oneness” revival tour in early 2001. During that tour, which emphasized the sanctity of marriage, individual clergy began to seek True Parents’ blessing on their marriages. This snowballed and, in the end, more than 60 “ministers, imams, and clerics: Pentecostals and Baptists, Lutherans and Muslims, Native Americans, Sufis, and more” participated in an Interfaith Clergy Blessing in the Cotillion Room of the Hilton Hotel in New York City on May 27, 2001. The Blessing included a “providential participant,” Zambian Roman Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, 71, who wed Maria Sung, 43, a Korean acupuncturist. While acknowledging that “the priestly vow of celibacy has a profound meaning in the providence of God,” he stated, “the sacrifice of celibate life has fulfilled its purpose.” He insisted he had not changed his faith but affirmed True Parents’ “special ministry to build loving, God-centered families amongst people of all faiths, in the capacity of True Parents.” This sparked worldwide publicity, surfacing the issue of clerical celibacy at the highest levels of the Vatican hierarchy.

May 29, 1999

Rally to Globalize True Families

On May 29, 1999, True Mother held the Rally to Globalize True Families at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. Her speech that day was titled, “The Path of Life for All Humankind.” In it, she said, “There must be some common content that will be pleasing to God, to the angels, to the rest of creation and to human beings themselves.” She went on to say that this common content is “true love.” This was the final rally that True Mother held in her 32-nation speaking tour, which had begun on April 12. 

May 30, 1984

Rally for Religious Freedom

The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal on May 14, 1984, to review True Father’s petition to overturn his conviction on tax evasion charges set off a series of “Rallies for Religious Freedom.” The first of these, in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 1984, brought together more than 300 clergy from over 60 denominations and some 200 laypersons, including civil liberties leaders and political figures, to denounce the threat to religious liberties posed by True Father’s conviction. The event was organized by the co-chairmen of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Freedom, Dr. Timothy LaHaye, chairman of the Moral Majority of California, and Dr. Joseph Lowery, chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The rally ended with Dr. La Haye challenging all present to stand with him and “say, as one individual, ‘I believe in religious freedom so much I am willing, if necessary and allowed, to spend one week of those eighteen months with Reverend Moon.’” Participants afterward signed a Religious Liberty Proclamation, and on the back of the document signed their commitment to go to prison with True Father. 

May 30, 1992

PWPA Rescues the University of Bridgeport

On May 30, 1992, the Board of Trustees of the University of Bridgeport reached an agreement with the Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA) whereby PWPA donated $50.5 million to the university, enabling it to stay open and maintain its accreditation. In exchange, PWPA had the right to nominate 60 percent of candidates for Board of Trustees vacancies and the university agreed to adopt an educational philosophy based on an international perspective. Including the initial loan, PWPA provided $110 million to the university over the next ten years. The UB-PWPA partnership was controversial because of PWPA’s ties to True Father and the Unification Church. However, the university prospered in subsequent years. In 2003, UB declared its financial independence and from that point on has been self-supporting, ending each year in the black, maintaining its accreditation and non-sectarian charter.

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  May 24-30.

Contributed by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee and Dr. Michael Mickler, professor of church history at Unification Theological Seminary.