Notable members and supporters of the Unification Church.
Moon family The family of Reverend Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), founder and leader of the Unification Church, and his wife Hak Ja Han are known as the "True Family". Moon and Han are known as "True Father" and "True Mother" within the movement, and collectively "True Parents". They were married in 1960. Their children are known as the "True Children": Hyo Jin Moon (1962–2008) – Moon and Han's first son, who died of a heart attack in 2008. He was a musician and a recording facility executive. He was born in South Korea and grew up in the United States in New York State.Staff report (March 18, 2008). Son of Unification Church founder dies. United Press International Heung Jin Moon (1966–1984) – Moon and Han's second son, who died in an auto accident and is believed by members to be leading workshops in the afterlife in which spirits of deceased persons are taught Unification movement teachings."From the Unification Church to the Unification Movement, 1994–1999: Five Years of Dramatic Changes" by Massimo Introvigne, a condensed version of material in The Unification Church, in the series "Studies in Contemporary Religion", Signature Books. Un Jin Moon (born 1967) – Moon and Han's daughter. She left the church and divorced her husband, who had been picked for her by her parents.Johnson, Richard (July 10, 1998) The Dark Side of the Moon Family. New York Post. In Jin Moon – Moon and Han's second daughter and president of the Unification Church of the United States from 2008 to 2012.Unification Church Woos A Second Generation, National Public Radio, June 23, 2010 Kook Jin Moon – Moon and Han's fourth son. Businessman and firearms designer. Owns and operates Kahr Arms, a U.S. small arms manufacturer, former chairman of Tongil Group, a South Korean chaebol associated with the Unification Church. Hyun Jin Moon (born 25 May 1969) – Moon and Han's son, a social entrepreneur, and the founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation and the Family Peace Association."Global Peace Foundation Holds 2012 Convention, a World Peace Gathering." PRWeb. PRWeb, 14 November 2012. Web. 27 May 2015.
Hyung Jin Moon (born 1979) – Moon and Han's youngest son and former international president of the Unification Church.Sons Rise in a Moon Shadow, Forbes, April 12, 2010 He has since founded a Pennsylvania-based unofficial Unification Church militant offshoot, World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, also known as "Rod of Iron Ministries".
Unification Church members Ek Nath Dhakal, Nepalese politician.Nepal: The Peace Tour Visit Mose Durst – President of the Unification Church of the United States in the 1980s, author, educator. David Eaton (born July 2, 1949, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American composer and conductor who has been the music director of the New York City Symphony since 1985.The New York City Symphony was "purchased/rescued" by Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1973. From 1985 through 1990, the organization received the bulk of its funding in the form of an annual grant/subsidy from the International Cultural Foundation, a church-related entity. The ICF subsidy ended in 1990, and since 1991 the orchestra has received support (grants, contributions, in-kind, earned income) from a variety of sources (National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council of the Arts, NY Daily News, Sony/Columbia, New York Stock Exchange, The Turkish Embassy, Uptown Chamber of Commerce, Universal Peace Federation, e.g.)The New York Times, Review by Will Crutchfield, June 1985 Dan Fefferman – Executive Director of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom. Patrick Hickey – Nevada state legislator and author of Tahoe Boy: A Journey Back Home, his autobiography which told of his experiences as a Unification Church leader and of his marriage to a Korean woman introduced to him by Moon. Nansook Hong – Ex-wife of Hyo Jin Moon and ex-member of the Unification Church. Author of a book about her experiences, In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family.Hong, Nansook. (1998). In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. () Dong Moon Joo is a Korean American businessman. He is a member of the Unification Church and is best known as the president of The Washington Times. During the presidency of George W. Bush, Joo had undertaken unofficial diplomatic missions to North Korea in an effort to improve its relationship with the United States.The Bush Administration's Secret Link to North Korea, Aram Roston, The Daily Beast, February 7, 2012 Young Oon Kim (1914–1989) was a leading theologian of the Unification movement and its first missionary to the United States.J. Isamu Yamamoto, 1974, Unification Church: Zondervan guide to cults & religious movements, Zondervan, pages 8 and 22 Chung Hwan Kwak – Former chairman and president of United Press International and of News World Communications, Inc.; former leader of many other Unification Church-affiliated organizations. Honorary President of the Global Peace Foundation. Tom McDevitt – President of The Washington Times,The Washington Times, Hunting For a Bionic Editor in Chief from 2007 to 2009.Three top executives ousted by Washington Times, Frank Ahrens and Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, November 10, 2009 Unification movement spokesperson, and pastor in the Washington, D.C., region. Julia Moon (born 1963) – widow, by posthumous wedding, of Heung Jin Moon; born Hoon Sook Pak, oldest daughter of longtime major leader and key aide Bo Hi Pak; General Director and former prima ballerina of Universal Ballet, South Korea. Bo Hi Pak (1930−2019) — Founding chairman and president of The Washington Times; main translator (during the 70s and 80s) for Moon's speeches given to English speaking audiences. Author of Messiah, a biography of Sun Myung Moon.Messiah Junko Sakurada (桜田 淳子) – Singer and actress. Neil Albert Salonen – Former president of the Unification Church of the United States and of the University of Bridgeport. Lee Shapiro (1949–1987) – Documentary filmmaker, died while filming in Afghanistan in 1987, during the Soviet–Afghan War. Josette Sheeran – Vice Chairman of the World Economic Forum, formerly executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme and journalist and editor of The Washington Times. Kevin Thompson – Pastor of the Bay Area Family Church, a Unification Church congregation located in San Leandro, California. Jonathan Wells (1942–2024) – Author of Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? and former senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. Andrew Wilson – Professor at Unification Theological Seminary; editor of World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts.
Supporters of the Unification Church Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990), minister, civil rights leader, served as vice president of the Unification Church-affiliated group American Freedom Coalition, and served on two Unification movement boards of directors. Shinzo Abe (1954–2022), Prime Minister of Japan (2006-2007 and 2012-2020). He was linked indirectly to the Japanese Unification Church, and these remote ties were cited as a major motive for his assassination in 2022. Neil Bush, businessman, son of 41st President George H. W. Bush and brother of 43rd President George W. Bush, promoted Moon and the Unification Church at events in Asia-Pacific and the United States.:: Welcome to Manila Bulletin Online ::WTimes, Bushes Hail Rev. Moon, Robert Parry, 10-2-2009 Manu Chandaria, Kenyan businessman, is a member of the Global Leadership Council and the patron and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation in Africa. Danny K. Davis, United States congressman co-sponsored a 2004 ceremony in which Moon was crowned the "King of Peace." Louis Farrakhan, leader of The Nation of Islam, an African American Islamic organization, served as a "co-officiator" at a Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church.From the Unification Church to the Unification Movement, 1994–1999: Five Years of Dramatic Changes Massimo Introvigne, Center for Studies on New Religions "The ceremony in Washington, D.C., included six "co-officiators" from other faiths, including controversial minister Louis Farrakhan from the Nation of Islam. The Blessing ceremony in Seoul on February 7, 1999 also featured seven co-officiators including Orthodox Rabbi Virgil Kranz (Chairman of the American Jewish Assembly), controversial Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo and the General Superintendent of the Church of God in Christ (a large African American Pentecostal denomination), Rev. T.L. Barrett." In 2000 the Unification movement co-sponsored the Million Family March, a rally in Washington D.C. to celebrate family unity and racial and religious harmony, along with the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan was the main speaker at the event.Families Arrive in Washington For March Called by Farrakhan, New York Times, October 16, 2000 Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House who spoke at events held by Unification Church-affiliated organizations and wrote opinion pieces for The Washington Times which is owned by the Unification Church. Morton Kaplan (1921-2017), author and University of Chicago professor of political science. Editor of Unification Church owned The World & I magazine and organizer of movement sponsored conferences. Kim Chong Pil (1926–2018), South Korean politician and founder of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), supported the Unification Church's political activism in the United States. Nobusuke Kishi (1896–1987), Japanese politician and Prime Minister and grandfather of Shinzo Abe. He was longstanding supporter the Japanese Unification Church, which his postwar political agenda led him to help set up in 1963.Andrew Marshall, Michiko Toyama: In The Name of the Godfather, Tokyo Journal, October 1994. Pages 29–35 Douglas MacArthur II (1909-1997), American diplomat. Chairman of the World Media Association and member of the editorial advisory board of the Washington Times.Church Spends Millions On Its Image, Washington Post, 1984-09-17. Emmanuel Milingo, now excommunicated Roman Catholic archbishop, married by Moon in 2001 to Unification Church member and supporter of Unification Church projects.Archbishop rejects Vatican ultimatumThe archbishop's wife speaks for herself National Catholic Reporter August 31, 2001 Richard L. Rubenstein (1924-2021), author and educator. Appointed by Moon as president of the University of Bridgeport.U. of Bridgeport Honors Rev. Moon, Fiscal Savior, New York Times, September 8, 1995 Ryōichi Sasakawa (1899-1995), Japanese businessman and philanthropist. Supported Moon's anti-communist work in Asia.The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon PBS, Frontline, January 21, 1992Sun Myung Moon Changes Robes, New York Times, January 21, 1992 Ninian Smart (1927–2001), Scottish author and professor at University of Lancaster and University of California at Santa Barbara. President of the American Academy of Religion. Supported the Inter Religious Federation for World Peace, the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences and other Unification Church affiliated projects.Prophets and protons: new religious movements and science in late twentieth-century America, Benjamin E. Zeller, NYU Press, page 22 George Augustus Stallings, Jr., former Roman Catholic priest. Organized Washington, D.C. coronation of Moon. Married and his wife were in Unification Church celebration. Peter Tapsell (1930-2012), former Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. In 2006, he sponsored the Unification Church organization Universal Peace Federation in New Zealand and spoke at a rally with Mrs. Moon.