Ringing in the Holidays with Interfaith Dialogue

This week in history, December 14-20:

• Unificationists gather at President Nixon’s National Christmas Tree Lighting, December 14, 1973
• True Father launches CAUSA International, December 15, 1980
• True Parents arrive in Washington, D.C., December 18, 1971
• The Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace sponsors an interfaith conference, December 18, 1998
• A World Summit of Muslim leaders is held, December 20, 2001

December 14, 1973

National Christmas Tree Lighting

A flyer for the national prayer on December 19, 1973.

True Father issued his “Answer to Watergate” on November 30, 1973. He then organized the  National Prayer and Fast for the Watergate Crisis Committee (NPFWC), which organized vigils, rallies, letter-writing and leafleting in all 50 states in accordance with its “Forgive, Love, Unite” theme. A highlight was the December 1973 National Christmas Tree Lighting at which President Richard Nixon turned on the lights of a new permanent national Christmas tree near the White House. According to one press account, the president “was greeted by several thousand wildly cheering young supporters who carried signs that read ‘God Loves America. God Loves Nixon. Support the President.’” Unificationists gathered later that evening at Lafayette Park across from the White House for a candlelight rally during which President Nixon emerged from the White House and crossed over to the park with a security escort to greet and thank them. NPFWC President Neil Salonen presented the president with a poster-size Christmas card and a huge candle which he told the president was big enough to burn for the duration of his term.

December 15, 1980

The CAUSA Providence Begins

Shortly after its launch, CAUSA holds a workshop for students in Bolivia.

True Father launched CAUSA International in 1980, when he asked Dr. Bo Hi Pak to visit political leaders of countries in South America and offer a unique form of assistance both in the defense against communism and in bringing about a renaissance of morality and virtue. At the same time, True Father selected a group of graduates of the Unification Theological Seminary—including Thomas Ward, William Selig, Beatriz Gonzalez, Juan Sanchis, Jean Jonet and Paul Perry—to study intensively with Dr. Sang Hun Lee in preparation for offering programs patterned after Dr. Lee’s Victory over Communism presentations. The threat of further communist inroads into the Americas, following the fall of Nicaragua to the Sandinistas in 1979, was a driving force behind the development of CAUSA. True Father took this situation seriously enough to cancel his 60^th birthday celebration—normally an important occasion in Oriental tradition—in favor of CAUSA preparation.

The first country to request onsite CAUSA training was Bolivia. On December 15, 1980, U.S.-based CAUSA lecturers traveled to a tiny hamlet in the mountains of Bolivia to lecture to 45 students who previously had been indoctrinated in Marxist theory. Prior to their departure, True Father guided the lecturers, telling them:

The CAUSA movement is an ideological movement, not an academic one. If you don’t bring about a revolution in people’s heart and character, you will have failed. To bring the revolution, you have to move their hearts. Don’t just lecture but revive people’s souls. Prepare for a two-hour talk by praying for six hours. What I’m saying is, use spiritual power to bring about a reformation in the people. You should take leftist sympathizers and make brave VOC fighters out of them.

The overwhelming success of the 10-day program led to seminars in Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. The CAUSA providence greatly expanded in the years ahead to the remainder of South America, Central America and the United States.

December 18, 1971

True Parents Arrive in Washington, D.C.

The Kennedy Center is where the Little Angels played the day they greeted True Father in Washington, D.C.

Having been denied visas on arriving in Los Angeles on December 11, 1971, because of alleged “communist affiliations,” True Parents traveled to Toronto, Canada. There, due to the intervention of U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC), who was familiar with True Father’s Victory over Communism work, their situation was clarified and they arrived in Washington, D.C., on December 18. Dr. Bo Hi Pak, who welcomed True Parents, stated that it “pained” him that he and others had not made “the necessary social and political preparations” for True Parents. However, it comforted him that the Little Angels were scheduled to perform that very night at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and they were all at the airport to greet True Parents. True Father, he said, “was extremely pleased with this unexpected welcome.”

That night, True Parents’ party sat in the VIP section of the balcony at the Kennedy Center. Dr. Pak noted, “More than a hundred senators, congressmen and other notables were there with their families, including Sen. J.W. Fulbright [D-Ark], Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird, and several other Cabinet-level officials.” There were ambassadors from around a hundred countries, he said, with more than 2,200 people in the sold-out crowd. Dr. Pak commented, “In a symbolic sense, the Little Angels’ invitational performance was a welcoming banquet held in celebration of Reverend Moon’s arrival in America that day. … It could also be said that Reverend Moon was the real host of that performance.” At the conclusion, Dr. Pak introduced True Father as the Little Angels’ founder and invited everyone to welcome him with a round of applause. According to Dr. Pak, “the leading figures from all walks of life in the United States were receiving the Lord for the first time and, symbolically, were giving him an enthusiastic welcome.”

December 18, 1998

Realizing the Interfaith Ideal: Action beyond Dialogue

True Father speaks at the IRFWP conference.

The Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace (IRFWP) sponsored an important conference, “Realizing the Interfaith Ideal: Action beyond Dialogue,” in Washington, D.C., from December 18 to 20, 1998. The “concept for the conference,” according to its coordinator, Dr. Frank Kaufmann, “revolved around an initiative for religious leaders to work formally with the United Nations.” Dr. Kaufmann described the response of UN representatives present as “gratifying” in that they acknowledged the conference initiative to be “inspired, timely, necessary and doable.” True Father’s banquet address at The Washington Times expanded on the UN theme. He stated, “The path to world peace will be incomplete if we rely merely on the political, economic and military functions of the United Nations. … The more internal and spiritual aspects can be reached only through religious teaching and through the unity and united actions of the world’s religions.” The conference was significant in that it planted the seed for True Father’s call for “a religious assembly, or council of religious representatives, within the structure of the United Nations” less than two years later at Assembly 2000.

December 20, 2001

World Summit of Muslim Leaders

Former President of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, met with True Father at the World Summit of Muslim Leaders.

A little more than a month after the tragic events of 9/11, True Father hosted Assembly 2001, “Global Violence: Crisis and Hope,” in New York City from October 19 to 22, 2001. It convened 380 political and religious leaders from 101 nations. During the conference, True Father met with Abdurrahman Wahid, the former president of Indonesia and longtime head of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest independent Muslim organization in the world. True Father also met with Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan and urged the two to work together. A month later at a breakfast meeting with Unificationist leaders, True Father suddenly insisted, “Muslims should hold a peace meeting before the end of the year. Ask H.E. Wahid and Minister Farrakhan if they will convene such a conference. I will help if needed.” Dr. Frank Kaufmann reported, “Within 22 days, 180 Muslim leaders from 51 countries sat in the ballroom of the newly opened JW Marriott Jakarta to welcome speakers for the opening plenary of the World Summit of Muslim Leaders discussing Islam and a future world of peace.” Minister Farrakhan and H.E. Wahid acted as co-conveners ably supported by IRFWP staff. Amid the confusion and retaliatory “war on terror,” True Father was constant in his emphasis on interreligious and international cooperation. This was evident in the Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) organized by the Universal Peace Federation and associated peace efforts in the post 9/11 era.

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 December 14 – 20.