Going Global: A Message of Peace

This week in history, February 1-7:

• True Father is released from his first imprisonment (February 1, 1945)
• True Father meets with President Nixon (February 1, 1974)
• Segye Times published its first edition (February 1, 1989)
• True Father celebrates his 70^th birthday (February 1, 1990)
• True Parents begin the Second World Tour (February 2, 1969)
• True Father receives a Lifetime Achievement Award (February 2, 2000)
• The Day of Hope tour begins (February 3, 1972)
• The Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth opening the gate of Cheon Il Guk is held (February 6, 2003)
• 360 million couples receive the Holy Marriage Blessing (February 7, 1999)

True Father spoke on February 4, 1972 at the Lincoln Center in New York City during the Seven-City Speaking tour in the United States.

Download speech mp3

February 1, 1945

True Father Released from His First Imprisonment

True Father had been a student leader in Korean independence activities while studying in Japan from 1941 to 1943. He was interrogated numerous times and placed on a watch list. On returning to Korea, True Father took employment at the Kyeongsung branch of the Kashima Gumi Construction Company in Seoul’s Yongsan District while continuing his religious and independence activities. In October 1944, Japanese police stormed into True Father’s lodgings because one of his friends who had been arrested for being a communist had mentioned his name to interrogators. Once arrested and incarcerated at the Gyeonggi Province Police Station, True Father was subjected to brutal torture in an unsuccessful effort to have him reveal names of people who had worked with him while in Japan. In A Peace-Loving Global Citizen, True Father details the several types of torture. Police broke all four legs of a table against his body, stomped on him “mercilessly with their spiked boots,” beat him while he was being hung from the ceiling, and forced water down his esophagus. With the war winding down and unable to obtain information, the police released True Father on February 1, 1945. True Father noted, “My body did not recover easily from the torture.”

February 1, 1974

True Father’s Meeting with President Nixon

The “Watergate Crisis” gripped the United States following exposure of White House involvement with a break-in at the Democratic Party’s campaign headquarters during the 1972 presidential election. True Father was concerned that the crisis was weakening America in the face of communist aggression and issued an “Answer to Watergate” statement on November 30, 1973, which called upon Americans to “Forgive, Love and Unite.” True Father then launched a forty-day National Prayer and Fast for the Watergate Crisis (NPFWC). Unificationists conducted vigils, rallies, letter-writing and leafleting in all fifty states. At the National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C., in 1973, 1,200 pennant-waving, banner-carrying Unificationists from all over the country demonstrated in support of the president and garnered national attention. President Richard Nixon emerged from the White House later that evening to personally thank the Unificationists who were holding a candlelight vigil across the street at Lafayette Square. True Father subsequently was invited to the annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton Hotel on January 31, 1974. The next day, February 1, 1974, True Father had a twenty-minute meeting with President Nixon in the Oval Office of the White House. He reportedly told the president, “Don’t knuckle under to pressure. Stand up for your convictions.”

February 1, 1989

Segye Times Publishes Its First Edition

True Father founded the Segye (“universal”) Times to be the “window on the world” for the Korean people.

In 1988, following South Korean President Roh Tae-woo’s declaration of greater freedom and the Seoul Olympics, the number of newspapers in Korea doubled. True Father founded the Segye (“universal”) Times. He intended it to be the “window on the world” for the Korean people. According to True Father:

The last part of the 20th century is an age when the world is governed by the media. The power and responsibility of the media are becoming stronger than those of an atomic warhead or any military might. Accordingly, when the media put forward sound arguments based on a consistently true viewpoint about values, the media will become the standard-bearers of world peace. When they blind people with irresponsibility, wrong guidance and exhortations, the media will become a tool for the destruction of world peace.

Most of the established newspapers in South Korea increased their page numbers to make things difficult for the newly established papers. Due to the efforts of Unificationists, many from overseas, in newspaper distribution and the commitment of True Father, the Segye Times flourished. ROK President Kim Dae-jung participated in the paper’s 10^th anniversary celebration in 1999, saying, “I set a high value on the Segye Times’ decade of efforts of capable journalism, and I hope it becomes prosperous as a worldwide newspaper, as its name implies.” It has since become one of Korea’s leading newspapers.

February 1, 1990

True Father’s 70th Birthday Celebration

True Father gives a speech about his 70 years of life.

True Father’s 70^th birthday celebration was auspicious as it occurred when communism was crumbling. Ten years previously, in 1980, True Father refused to celebrate his 60^th birthday as communism was on the march, especially in Latin America. Instead, he founded CAUSA International and engaged in an all-out campaign during the 1980s to halt its spread. By 1990, the Berlin Wall was open and the Soviet Empire was collapsing. True Father commented:

I am well known around the world as a leader in the anticommunist and victory-over-communism movements. The purpose for which I conduct a movement for victory over communism is not to kill communists but to liberate them with truth and true love so that they may live. This is the reason I am working to help the communist world today and rescue it from its current distress. For that reason, I have been welcomed even in the Soviet Union and China. Even Kim Il Sung in North Korea cannot be my enemy.

True Father celebrated his 70^th birthday in the context of the Second Summit Council for World Peace and the Eighth International Conference of AULA (Association for the Unity of Latin America) held in Seoul. Twelve former heads of state and prime ministers, and 56 dignitaries including ambassadors, legislators, royalty and nobility from 20 nations, took part in a congratulatory banquet attended by 2,000 VIPs in all. In his banquet speech True Father said, “Never during my life did I even dream that someday when I lived to be seventy, there would be such a large banquet and so many distinguished guests would gather to congratulate me.” Two months later, the 3rd Summit Council and the 9th AULA International Conference would convene in Moscow simultaneously with the 11th World Media Conference. There True Parents met Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. This paved the way for expanded activities of the Unification Church there and, as some contended, the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union (later the Commonwealth of Independent States) and the Republic of Korea.

February 2, 1969

True Parents Begin the Second World Tour

True Parents began the Second World Tour on February 2, 1969. It would take them to 21 nations over a three-month period until May 2. The First World Tour in 1965 had the purpose of blessing Holy Grounds worldwide. The Second World Tour had as its major purpose giving the Holy Marriage Blessing to overseas members. This included 13 American couples, 8 couples in Germany and 22 couples in Japan, 43 couples in all. Their Blessing was connected with the 430 Couple Blessing in Korea the previous year. In addition to the Blessing, American Unificationists learned of “Victory over Communism” and CARP activities in Korea and Japan as well as economic enterprises. This had the effect of broadening the scope of activity in the United States. The tour also broadened the mindset of Unificationists in Korea. On March 15, just before departing the United States, True Father sent a widely circulated letter to members in Korea, conveying “something of what I have felt in America during the tour.” After detailing “many complicated problems” over which “America is in agony,” he wrote:

Contrasting American and Korean members, both have relative merits and demerits. I feel that Oriental customs are conservative, but that they do not break new ground, whereas the West is open, realistic and sociable.

From this, it is possible to say that the former is internal and passive, the latter, external and positive. There is no racial discrimination among Unification Church members. They are noticeably different from other groups. I think the intimate relationship that exists among members is unprecedented in history. It truly shows we are all brothers and sisters with one heart.

When we compare the American membership, comprising several different races, with the Korean membership consisting of one race, the former seem to have very promising prospects.

In saying that, I do not mean that only the West is good. I just think the reason is that America offers its citizens an environment through which they encounter many nations and cultures, and experience much more. Therefore, I hope that the Oriental members will go abroad and keep in frequent contact with other nations in the future.

True Mother was pregnant during the tour and gave birth to Hyun Jin Moon on May 10, 1969, eight days after returning.

February 2, 2000

American Century Awards

Under the auspices of The Washington Times, numerous dignitaries, including U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Congressmen Henry Hyde, Danny Davis and A.C. Watts joined 200 civic and political leaders to present True Father with a Lifetime Achievement Award for “Freedom, Faith and Family” on February 2, 2000. This followed the “America Honors Rev. Sun Myung Moon on his 80^th Birthday” celebration on January 22, which was attended by numerous religious leaders. Unificationists understood that the two events “restored” the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus 2,000 years ago by religious and secular leaders. In his speech, “The Cosmos Is Our Hometown and Fatherland,” True Father said, “Our fatherland is wherever God can be found.” He further stated, “We no longer live in an age dominated by nationalism, or even in an age of globalism. These have already passed. National purpose and global concerns still exist, of course, but we now live in an age when the universe is to be united with one God.” Heaven and earth, he said, “should become a ‘house’ of true love.” Planet Earth, he concluded, “is the hometown of all humankind, and the spirit world is the eternal fatherland where all humanity will eventually arrive.”

February 3, 1972

Day of Hope Speaking Tour Begins at New York’s Lincoln Center

True Parents began their Third World Tour on December 5, 1971, visiting 15 countries in 156 days, returning to Korea on May 8, 1972. The main purpose of the Third World Tour was to initiate the public declaration of True Parents’ teachings. During a training program for American Unificationists from December 31, 1971, to January 3, 1972, True Father made known his intention of holding “revival meetings” in seven major cities: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley. Both East and West Coast centers were to select members, 72 in all, who were to come to New York for a two-week training session. From there, they would travel from city to city to hold the revival meetings.

True Father rented the Alice Tully Hall in New York City’s Lincoln Center for three nights (February 3, 4 and 6, 1972) and charged the local center with making plans for the first of the seven revival meetings. By January 8, the New York center had chosen its theme, “The Day of Hope: The Day of the True Family,” and designed what would be the tour’s official poster. On January 14, the 72 pioneers arrived. For nearly three weeks, they hit the mid-winter streets of New York, selling revival tickets at $6.00 each ($18.00 for three nights) to hear an unknown evangelist. True Father’s topics were “One God, One World Religion,” “Ideal World for God and Man” and “The New Messiah and the Formula of God in History.”

The tour was a constant battle against anonymity and, in the Eastern cities, against the elements. In New York City bitter weather limited attendance to between 350 and 450 people for the three nights, even though many more tickets had been sold. In Washington, a blizzard not only hindered the turnout but stranded pioneers in Frederick, Maryland. Nonetheless, by Berkeley, each night was a full house. The initial 7-city Day of Hope Tour was followed by 21-, 32- and 8-city tours, culminating in True Father’s New York speech in 1974 when as many as thirty-five thousand ticket-holders were turned away from the already filled-to-capacity Madison Square Garden. Barely thirty-two months after his initial Lincoln Center speeches, True Father had become a household name in America.

February 6, 2003

Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth Opening the Gate of Cheon Il Guk

The Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth Opening the Gate of Cheon Il Guk.

True Father proclaimed Cheon Il Guk (“the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity”) on November 15, 2001. This was the Unificationist equivalent of the Kingdom of Heaven and the culmination of his ministry. In 1993, he had announced the transition to the Completed Testament Era, which was understood to mark a 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. For the next twelve years, True Parents set numerous conditions for the establishment of Cheon Il Guk. One of the most important of these was the Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony for the Parents of Heaven and Earth Opening the Gate of Cheon Il Guk on February 6, 2003. Its centerpiece was the marriage of True Parents on the foundation of Cheon Il Guk. Their Blessing was to supersede church-level and national-level Blessings. It was followed by the “Coronation of the King of the Blessed Families” to substantiate the original Heavenly Kingship. Both ceremonies were conducted at Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center before more than 10,000 guests including 200 dignitaries from the World Summit on Leadership and Governance. Brazilian soccer legend Pele presented True Parents with a specially engraved plaque.

February 7, 1999

Holy Blessing of 360 Million Couples

True Parents Bless 360 million couples in marriage.

True Parents blessed couples on a mass level during the 1990s. This was referred to as the “globalization” of the Holy Marriage Blessing and focused largely on previously married couples. Unificationists worldwide conducted marriage rededications, which then were sanctified by True Parents at International Marriage Blessings broadcast globally by satellite. On February 7, 1999, True Parents conducted the largest Blessing to date for 360 million couples. The main venue was Seoul Olympic Stadium which was packed with 100,000 participants, many of whom had been brought by 3,000 buses. Although conducted in mid-winter, the weather cooperated and conditions on the day of the ceremony were quite good. What was known as “Blessing 99” penetrated Korean society more powerfully than previous ceremonies, in part due to Korean President Kim Dae-jung’s presence at the Segye Times’ 10^th anniversary six days prior to the event. He shared the podium with True Parents and participated in an anniversary cake cutting. Gen. Alexander Haig, former U.S. secretary of state under Ronald Reagan and White House chief of staff under Richard Nixon, participated in a conference preceding the Blessing and provided another focal point. In an introduction to True Father, Gen. Haig described how their lives first intersected during the Korean War, praised True Father for his conciliatory approach to President Nixon during the Watergate Crisis, and again praised him for his role in the downfall of communism.  At a well-attended press briefing, Gen. Haig said opposing the values espoused at the conference “would be like being against motherhood.”

Read Congratulatory Message

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 February 1–7.