Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, believed in a literal Kingdom of God on Earth to be brought about by human effort, motivating his establishment of numerous groups, some that are not strictly religious in their purposes.
[1][2] Moon was not directly involved with managing the day-to-day activities of the organizations that he indirectly oversaw, yet all of them attribute the inspiration behind their work to his leadership and teachings.
"[8] Universal Peace Federation [ko] (천주평화연합,UPF) is an international and interreligious civil society organization that was founded in 2005 which promotes religious freedom.
[16][17][18] Prior to the audience, UPF had already been active in programs organized by the Vatican, such as consultations on the Syrian crisis in 2014 and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the papal encyclical in honor of Nostra aetete.
[19][20][21] The Women's Federation for World Peace(세계평화여성연합,WFWP) was founded in 1992 by Hak Ja Han, the wife of Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon.
This was reported in the United States news media as an example of closer relationships between the Unification Church and conservative Christian congregations.
[29] That same year former United States president George H. W. Bush spoke at several WFWP meetings in Japan,[30][31] and at a related conference in Washington, D.C.
There he was quoted by The New York Times as saying: "If as president I could have done one thing to have helped the country more it would have been to do a better job in finding a way, either through speaking out or through raising a moral standard, to strengthen the American family.
"[32] The events in Japan drew protests from Japanese people who were wary of unorthodox religious groups, including the Unification Church.
Bush's spokesperson Jane Becker stated "We were satisfied that there was not a connection with the Unification Church, and based on the information we were given we felt comfortable speaking to this group.
[35] Han spoke after Bush's speech and praised Moon, crediting him for the decline of communism and saying that he must save America from "the destruction of the family and moral decay".
[45] Participants in one or more of the conferences included Nobel laureates John Eccles (Physiology or Medicine 1963, who chaired the 1976 conference),[44] Eugene Wigner (Physics 1963),[46] economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek,[47] ecologist Kenneth Mellanby, Frederick Seitz, pioneer of solid state physics, Ninian Smart, President of the American Academy of Religion,[48] and Holocaust theologian Richard Rubenstein.
[2] American news media have suggested that the conferences were also an attempt to improve the often controversial Unification Church's public image.
[51][52] The last two editions of the conference have focused on environmental issues, such as rising sea levels and water temperatures, food scarcity, renewable energy, and waste management.
In 1997 David Bromley, a sociologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, said: "The corporate section is understood to be the engine that funds the mission of the church.
"[178] The lines between the Unification Church's charities, businesses, religious activities, and related organizations is blurred with money and goods flowing between them.
The joint venture produces two small cars under license from Fiat,[185] and a pick-up truck and an SUV using complete knock down kits from Chinese manufacturer Dandong Shuguang.
[186] Erik van Ingen Schenau, author of the book Automobiles Made in North Korea, has estimated the company's total production in 2005 at not more than around 400 units.
[187] In South Korea the Tongil Group was founded in 1963 by Sun Myung Moon as a nonprofit organization which would provide revenue for the Unification Church.
[180] The Unification Church's foray into the seafood industry began at the direction of Reverend Moon who ordered an expansion into "the oceanic providence."
[199] Moon delivered a speech in 1980 entitled "The Way of Tuna" in which he claimed that "After we build the boats, we catch the fish and process them for the market, and then have a distribution network.
[214] In 2008 church related real estate investment partnership USP Rockets LLC was active in Richmond, Virginia.
[216] U.S. Property Development Corporation, real estate investment[217] Yongpyong Resort, which hosted the alpine skiing events for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
[218][219] From 2000 until his death in 2012, Moon promoted the creation of an interreligious council at the United Nations as a check and balance to its political-only structure.