We Will Stand in Oneness

This week in history, February 22-28:

• True Father is arrested for a second time in Korea (February 22, 1948)
• The Holy Marriage Blessing for 430 couples is held (February 22, 1968)
• Unification News begins publication (February 22, 1982)
• Foundation Day (February 22, 2013)
• True Father begins “We Will Stand in Oneness” speaking tour (February 25, 2001)
• A Holy Marriage Blessing of 13 American couples is held (February 28, 1969)
• One World Crusade is established (February 28, 1972)

February 22, 1948

True Father Arrested a Second Time in North Korea

True Father received a revelation in 1946 which said, “Go across the 38^th Parallel! Find the people of God who are in the North.” He immediately responded and arrived in Pyongyang on June 6. He began evangelical work but was arrested by communist police on August 11 and accused of being a spy from the South. He was brutally tortured and finally released on November 21. After recovering, he resumed evangelical work, and within a year his congregation had become quite large. Some 80 ministers of established churches whose members had begun attending the new congregation’s services wrote letters of complaint, and True Father was arrested a second time by communist authorities on February 22, 1948. This time, in addition to accusations of espionage, he was charged with “disturbing public order.” True Father again was severely tortured, tried on April 7, convicted, sentenced to 5 years’ labor, and transported to Heungnam Prison on May 20, 1948.

February 22, 1968

Holy Blessing of 430 Couples

True Parents gave the Holy Marriage Blessing to 430 couples (436 technically) on February 22, 1968. True Father noted that 1967 marked 4,300 years of Korean history (the Dangun era). He stated that the 430 Couples corresponded to the 4,300 years of Korean history and that the Holy Marriage Blessing connected Korea to the Unification Church. True Father also noted that it took the Israelites 430 years to return to Canaan from Egypt and that “we too have set out to restore the world, which is our Canaan.” The following year, True Parents conducted their second world tour and blessed 43 couples worldwide, which connected to the 430 Couple Holy Blessing internationally. The 430 Couple Holy Blessing included the first non-Korean couple, Osami and Tetsuko Kuboki from Japan. Their Blessing connected Korea and Japan. True Father later stated, “The Blessing … is not just for Koreans. The fact that I connected the 430 Couples to the 43 Couples on the foundation of the family on the world level signifies the birth of a new race transcending ethnicity and nationality. That is how I see it.”

February 22, 1982

Unification News Begins Publication

Volume 1, Number 1 of Unification News was published on February 22, 1982. The lead story was “New Day for Civil Rights,” which covered True Father’s support for the Minority Alliance International (MAI) and its first awards banquet. For nearly 30 years, until December 2011, Unification News was the monthly voice of American Unificationism. For most of that time, “The Newspaper of the Unification Community” was edited by Richard Lewis. In a 2010 interview, he noted that it was established at the same time as The Washington Times. He recalled that True Father spent two hours on a cold Sunday morning at Belvedere in February talking “about the fall of communism and how important The Washington Times was going to be.” Then, right at the end, almost as an afterthought, he said, “Oh, Dr. Pak. I want you to create a second newspaper at the same time so that we’re never tempted to use The Washington Times as our church newspaper.” He then “held up two dummies, one of the Unification News and one of The Washington Times.” As the newspaper of record for the American Unification community, it covered True Parents’ momentous work over the course of three decades, regional and local Unification news, and commentary. Its mission is now carried on by the Family Federation for World Peace through its online website and newsletter.

February 22, 2013

Foundation Day

True Father proclaimed Cheonju Pyeonghwa Tongil Guk (“the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity”), abbreviated as Cheon Il Guk (CIG), on November 15, 2001. It is the Unification equivalent to the Kingdom of Heaven and represents an extension in the order of salvation from the individual and family to the creation of a heavenly nation. The Cheon Il Guk era refers to the time period during which the foundation of Cheon Il Guk was to be established. According to True Father, the movement was on a “tight schedule” of twelve years, extending until Foundation Day (the thirteenth day of the first month by the Heavenly Calendar), when the necessary conditions for the start of Cheon Il Guk would be fulfilled. The most important of these was the “marriage” of the “God of Night” (the eternal Godhead, transcendent of time and space, the creator God) and the “God of Day” (perfected Adam and Eve, the “Parents of Heaven Earth and Humankind”). “God’s Holy Wedding” was consummated on Foundation Day, and on that basis Unificationists worldwide renewed their Marriage Blessings. The Cheon Il Guk Coronation Ceremony of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind, also conducted on Foundation Day, marked the first year of Cheon Il Guk and expressed the church’s commitment to “peace and harmony for humanity.”

February 25, 2001

“We Will Stand in Oneness” Speaking Tour Begins

In May 2000, True Father invited 120 clergy from seventeen denominations to Seoul, Korea, for the inaugural American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC). The clergy had deep experiences at the 38^th Parallel, where they released doves of peace, and at the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center, where several of them experienced healings. At the end of the year True Father asked ACLC’s Executive Committee to organize a 50-state revival tour. The tour, titled “We Will Stand in Oneness,” featured True Father as keynote speaker and covered 52 American cities (in all 50 states) in 52 days between February 25 and April 17, 2001. ACLC clergy and Unificationists nationwide supported the tour.

True Father’s informal remarks preceded each speech and often ran for an hour or more. He emphasized the sanctity of marriage, particularly marital fidelity, stating that husband and wife were “owners” of one another’s “love organs” and each possessed “only one key.” He typically elicited laughter with his exclamation, “No spare keys!” True Father’s keynote address, “The Path for America and Humanity in the New Millennium,” highlighted God’s suffering, the Last Days, True Parents, the significance of the Korean Peninsula, the Holy Blessing ceremony, and America’s providential role. The tour helped transform ACLC into an organization with a national network. An unexpected result was that a number of clergy requested True Parents’ blessing on their marriages. This led to an Interfaith Marriage Blessing on May 27, 2001, which included the participation of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, among others.

February 28, 1969

Holy Marriage Blessing of 13 American Couples

True Parents after officiating the 13 Couple Holy Marriage Blessing.

On February 28, 1969, at the historic Upshur House in Washington, D.C., True Parents blessed 13 American couples, who according to some interpretations represented the original 13 colonies. This was the first Holy Marriage Blessing outside Korea and the first of three that together came to be known as the 43 Couple Blessing. True Parents held a Marriage Blessing of 8 couples in Essen, Germany, on March 28, 1969, and a Marriage Blessing of 22 couples in Tokyo, Japan, on May 1, 1969. The 43 Couple Blessing was conducted on the foundation of the 430 Couple Holy Blessing conducted by True Parents in Korea the previous year and was intended to signify expansion to the worldwide level. True Parents celebrated the Blessing on the 20^th day of their visit to the United States as part of their 1969 World Tour. Miss Young Oon Kim, who directed HSA-UWC America, stated that the Blessing of 13 couples (26 people) “was probably the largest wedding ever celebrated in America.” Those numbers would be eclipsed many times over in subsequent years.

February 28, 1972

One World Crusade (OWC) Established

A One World Crusade tour bus.

In January 1972, True Father gathered 72 “pioneers” from Unification Church missionary groups in New York City to prepare for the inaugural 7-City Day of Hope speaking tour. In Los Angeles, the sixth city on the tour, True Father formed the One World Crusade (OWC). It would be the official name of the mobile units comprising the 72 trainees from New York. True Father said the new organization was formed to evangelize the United States and, further, the whole world. Mr. David S.C. Kim, who was present, wrote, “Two probable names were suggested – ‘World Unification Crusade’ and ‘One World Crusade.’ After heated discussion, finally ‘One World Crusade’ was born by our Master’s decision.”

After the first Day of Hope Tour, OWC bus teams continued to campaign across the United States assisting newly appointed state representatives (SRs). They expanded from two to three teams, then to ten. Following the arrival of international members as a “New Pilgrim Movement” and the first 100-Day Training programs, True Father created 40 International One World Crusade (IOWC) units so that there would be one for every state. The IOWC teams brought success to later 21-, 32-, and 8-city Day of Hope tours. In early 1975, a large IOWC contingent boarded a jumbo jet for Japan and eventually Korea, where they supported massive Day of Hope rallies modeled after what had been accomplished in the United States.

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 22–28.