Unification Church: 10,000 Couples in Mass Wedding

by Jordan Yerman | October 14, 2009 at 08:46 am

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10,000 couples got married in a mass wedding ceremony held by the Unification Church. Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the Unification Church's leader, presided over the ceremony, but his son, Moon Hyung-jin, performed most of the ceremony. The 20,000 people who took part in the Unification Church mass wedding at Sun Moon University did so in conjunction with other mass wedding ceremonies, connected by video link from all over the world. This may be the last mass wedding which Sun Myng Moon will hold before he retires, as his eldest son is set to take over control of the organization.

His Harvard-educated youngest son, the Rev. Moon Hyung-jin, did most of the sermonizing in the two-hour service, talking about the good works of his "true parents" – the phrase by which all church members are taught to view the founder and his wife.

The Unification Church, often referred to as "the Moonies", is actually quite a large business venture:

The Tongil Group – tongil means unification in Korean – counts as a chaebol, or conglomerate. Global interests range from fishing to ranching to the manufacture of arms to the operation of North Korea's only motor-vehicle plant, which assembles small sedans with parts made by Fiat. The church also owns newspapers, including the Washington Times and dailies in Japan and Korea.