Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church (English Wikipedia)

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."
Massimo Introvigne, From the Unification Church to the Unification Movement, 1994-1999: Five Years of Dramatic Changes, 1999, Center for Studies on New Religions
moreorless. "Mons. Milingo's and Archbishop Stallings' Weddings". www.cesnur.org.
moreorless. "Archbishop rejects Vatican ultimatum". www.cesnur.org.

channel4.com

My Big Fat Moonie Wedding, Channel 4, December 5, 2007

chicagotribune.com

Eng, Monica; Jackson, David (25 May 2006). "Despite controversy, Moon and his church moving into mainstream -- chicagotribune.com". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2023. The church's most spectacular rite remains mass weddings, which the church calls the way "fallen men and women can be engrafted into the true lineage of God."
Van, Jon (October 26, 1986). "Moon's Marriages Prove To Be Happy". Chicago Tribune.

daegu.go.kr

council.daegu.go.kr

Unknown^{[permanent dead link‍]}

dci.dk

This website is not in use yet – Domain hosted by Gigahost Duddy, Neil Interview: Dr. Mose Durst] Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

donga.com

news.donga.com

"외국인 아내가 외국인 남편의 7배 : 사회 : 뉴스 : 동아닷컴". News.donga.com. 2009-08-06. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-05-23.

familyfed.org

bfm.familyfed.org

"Matching and Blessing". FFWPU USA. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
"Blessing & Family Ministry". Blessing & Family Ministry.

huffingtonpost.com

WATCH: An Inside Look At Mass Weddings Of The Unification "Moonies" Church, Huffington Post, 2012-7-8

lvrj.com

Nevadan recounts his life as wandering son, Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 15, 2009
Hickey back in Assembly after 14-year hiatus, Las Vegas Review-Journal, January 17, 2010

mirror.co.uk

The men and women entered a large room, where Moon began matching couples by pointing at them."NY Daily News "In the Unification tradition, romantic liaisons are forbidden until the members are deemed by Mr. Moon to be spiritually ready to be matched at a huge gathering where he points future spouses out to one another. His followers believe that his decisions are based on his ability to discern their suitability and see their future descendants. Many are matched with people of other races and nationalities, in keeping with Mr. Moon's ideal of unifying all races and nations in the Unification Church. Though some couples are matched immediately before the mass wedding ceremonies, which are held every two or three years, most have long engagements during which they are typically posted in different cities or even continents, and get to know one another through letters."NY Times "Many were personally matched by Moon, who taught that romantic love led to sexual promiscuity, mismatched couples and dysfunctional societies. Moon's preference for cross-cultural marriages also meant that couples often shared no common language."Manchester Guardian "Moon’s death Sept. 2 and funeral Saturday signaled the end of the random pairings that helped make Moon’s Unification Church famous — and infamous — a generation ago." Washington Post "Many of the couples who married at mass weddings were hand-picked by Moon from photos. It led to some strange pairs such as a 71-year-old African Catholic archbishop who wed a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist. In 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. Moonie newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. They then had to consummate their marriage in a three-day ritual with the sexual positions stipulated by their leader."Daily Mirror
My Big Fat Moonie Wedding^{[permanent dead link‍]}, The Mirror, December 5, 2007

mysanantonio.com

"Unificationists tout arranged marriage". mySA. May 25, 2012.

nationalcatholicreporter.org

"The archbishop's wife speaks for herself", National Catholic Reporter August 31, 2001

nydailynews.com

The men and women entered a large room, where Moon began matching couples by pointing at them."NY Daily News "In the Unification tradition, romantic liaisons are forbidden until the members are deemed by Mr. Moon to be spiritually ready to be matched at a huge gathering where he points future spouses out to one another. His followers believe that his decisions are based on his ability to discern their suitability and see their future descendants. Many are matched with people of other races and nationalities, in keeping with Mr. Moon's ideal of unifying all races and nations in the Unification Church. Though some couples are matched immediately before the mass wedding ceremonies, which are held every two or three years, most have long engagements during which they are typically posted in different cities or even continents, and get to know one another through letters."NY Times "Many were personally matched by Moon, who taught that romantic love led to sexual promiscuity, mismatched couples and dysfunctional societies. Moon's preference for cross-cultural marriages also meant that couples often shared no common language."Manchester Guardian "Moon’s death Sept. 2 and funeral Saturday signaled the end of the random pairings that helped make Moon’s Unification Church famous — and infamous — a generation ago." Washington Post "Many of the couples who married at mass weddings were hand-picked by Moon from photos. It led to some strange pairs such as a 71-year-old African Catholic archbishop who wed a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist. In 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. Moonie newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. They then had to consummate their marriage in a three-day ritual with the sexual positions stipulated by their leader."Daily Mirror

nytimes.com

The Associated Press (30 November 1997). "28,000 Couples Gather for Rev. Moon Rites". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2023. The real weddings were held later in separate legal ceremonies.
Henneberger, Melinda (22 September 1992). "A Look at Life After Mass Marriage; For 2,075 Couples (Give or Take 200), 10 Years Together, Thanks to Sun Myung Moon". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
Firestone, David (September 12, 1997). "Sharpton in Ceremonies Of Unification Church". The New York Times.
Sang-Hun, Choe (October 15, 2009). "At Time of Change for Rev. Moon Church, a Return to Tradition". The New York Times.
The men and women entered a large room, where Moon began matching couples by pointing at them."NY Daily News "In the Unification tradition, romantic liaisons are forbidden until the members are deemed by Mr. Moon to be spiritually ready to be matched at a huge gathering where he points future spouses out to one another. His followers believe that his decisions are based on his ability to discern their suitability and see their future descendants. Many are matched with people of other races and nationalities, in keeping with Mr. Moon's ideal of unifying all races and nations in the Unification Church. Though some couples are matched immediately before the mass wedding ceremonies, which are held every two or three years, most have long engagements during which they are typically posted in different cities or even continents, and get to know one another through letters."NY Times "Many were personally matched by Moon, who taught that romantic love led to sexual promiscuity, mismatched couples and dysfunctional societies. Moon's preference for cross-cultural marriages also meant that couples often shared no common language."Manchester Guardian "Moon’s death Sept. 2 and funeral Saturday signaled the end of the random pairings that helped make Moon’s Unification Church famous — and infamous — a generation ago." Washington Post "Many of the couples who married at mass weddings were hand-picked by Moon from photos. It led to some strange pairs such as a 71-year-old African Catholic archbishop who wed a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist. In 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. Moonie newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. They then had to consummate their marriage in a three-day ritual with the sexual positions stipulated by their leader."Daily Mirror
"Dangerous Don DeLillo", May 19, 1991 The New York Times

petermaass.com

MARRIAGE BY THE NUMBERS; MOON PRESIDES AS 6,500 COUPLES WED IN S. KOREA Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Peter Maass The Washington Post October 31, 1988
Moon at Twilight Archived 2001-04-11 at the Wayback Machine, Peter Maass, The New Yorker "The campaign has dismayed some church members, because a blessing from Moon used to be a hard-won privilege, typically attained only after a person had joined the church, worked in it for several years, and agreed to marry someone--usually a stranger--selected by Moon. But grumblings about the blessing campaign are just the beginning of Moon's current troubles."

realscreen.com

Zodiak Rights sells Moonies Gypsy weddings, Real Screen 2012-7-21

segye.com

Kim, Eun-ji (2010-02-17). ""국경·인종 초월 참사랑으로 하나되길"". Segye Ilbo. News World Communications. Retrieved 2020-02-22.

signaturebooks.com

excerpt Archived May 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Massimo Introvigne, 2000, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, ISBN 1-56085-145-7 "From a different perspective, it is true that participation of people who are not members of the Unification Church in certain Unificationist activities, such as marriage blessings, may be of concern to established churches. They perceive the possibility that their own members may become confused by their participation in such Unificationist activities and fear that they may in fact end up converting to Unificationism." -p59-60

theguardian.com

Moonies join hands across the border, The Guardian, 2000-02-10
The men and women entered a large room, where Moon began matching couples by pointing at them."NY Daily News "In the Unification tradition, romantic liaisons are forbidden until the members are deemed by Mr. Moon to be spiritually ready to be matched at a huge gathering where he points future spouses out to one another. His followers believe that his decisions are based on his ability to discern their suitability and see their future descendants. Many are matched with people of other races and nationalities, in keeping with Mr. Moon's ideal of unifying all races and nations in the Unification Church. Though some couples are matched immediately before the mass wedding ceremonies, which are held every two or three years, most have long engagements during which they are typically posted in different cities or even continents, and get to know one another through letters."NY Times "Many were personally matched by Moon, who taught that romantic love led to sexual promiscuity, mismatched couples and dysfunctional societies. Moon's preference for cross-cultural marriages also meant that couples often shared no common language."Manchester Guardian "Moon’s death Sept. 2 and funeral Saturday signaled the end of the random pairings that helped make Moon’s Unification Church famous — and infamous — a generation ago." Washington Post "Many of the couples who married at mass weddings were hand-picked by Moon from photos. It led to some strange pairs such as a 71-year-old African Catholic archbishop who wed a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist. In 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. Moonie newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. They then had to consummate their marriage in a three-day ritual with the sexual positions stipulated by their leader."Daily Mirror

thelondonpaper.com

My Big Fat Moonie Wedding^{[permanent dead link‍]}, The London Paper, December 5, 2007

tparents.org

"The Words of Frank Kaufmannn". www.tparents.org.
"Perfection and Gratitude - Sun Myung Moon". tparents.org.

unification.org

Introduction to the Blessing Ceremony Archived 2006-06-13 at the Wayback Machine Official website of the United States Unification Church.

usatoday.com

"Does love last longer in arranged marriages?". USA Today. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
"Does love last longer in arranged marriages? Daniel Burke, USA Today". USA Today.

uu.se

csduppsala.uu.se

"CSD Uppsala – Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development is an interdisciplinary centre that aims to be a catalyst for research and education on sustainable development as well as a place for students and researchers. The centre is a collaboration between Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU" (PDF). www.csduppsala.uu.se.

washingtonpost.com

Murphy, Caryle; Wheeler, Linda (30 November 1997). "WashingtonPost.com: The Cult Controversy". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 March 2023. Church and stadium officials estimated that more than 40,000 people, mostly couples, attended the event, including the Moon-matched couples who took their marriage vows on the football field and exchanged gold rings displaying the church symbol. Those couples, however, must still fulfill whatever requirements exist where they live to be considered legally married.
Children of Moon church's mass-wedding age face a crossroads, The Washington Post, January 3, 2009
The men and women entered a large room, where Moon began matching couples by pointing at them."NY Daily News "In the Unification tradition, romantic liaisons are forbidden until the members are deemed by Mr. Moon to be spiritually ready to be matched at a huge gathering where he points future spouses out to one another. His followers believe that his decisions are based on his ability to discern their suitability and see their future descendants. Many are matched with people of other races and nationalities, in keeping with Mr. Moon's ideal of unifying all races and nations in the Unification Church. Though some couples are matched immediately before the mass wedding ceremonies, which are held every two or three years, most have long engagements during which they are typically posted in different cities or even continents, and get to know one another through letters."NY Times "Many were personally matched by Moon, who taught that romantic love led to sexual promiscuity, mismatched couples and dysfunctional societies. Moon's preference for cross-cultural marriages also meant that couples often shared no common language."Manchester Guardian "Moon’s death Sept. 2 and funeral Saturday signaled the end of the random pairings that helped make Moon’s Unification Church famous — and infamous — a generation ago." Washington Post "Many of the couples who married at mass weddings were hand-picked by Moon from photos. It led to some strange pairs such as a 71-year-old African Catholic archbishop who wed a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist. In 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. Moonie newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. They then had to consummate their marriage in a three-day ritual with the sexual positions stipulated by their leader."Daily Mirror

wcfcourier.com

KARRIS GOLDEN For the Courier (2012-04-20). "Unification Church arranged marriages surprisingly strong". Wcfcourier.com. Retrieved 2012-05-23.

web.archive.org

This website is not in use yet – Domain hosted by Gigahost Duddy, Neil Interview: Dr. Mose Durst] Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
MARRIAGE BY THE NUMBERS; MOON PRESIDES AS 6,500 COUPLES WED IN S. KOREA Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Peter Maass The Washington Post October 31, 1988
Eng, Monica; Jackson, David (25 May 2006). "Despite controversy, Moon and his church moving into mainstream -- chicagotribune.com". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2023. The church's most spectacular rite remains mass weddings, which the church calls the way "fallen men and women can be engrafted into the true lineage of God."
Introduction to the Blessing Ceremony Archived 2006-06-13 at the Wayback Machine Official website of the United States Unification Church.
John Dehlin and Steven Hassan, Mormon Stories Podcast, "Joining and Leaving the Moonies/Unification Church - Cult Expert Dr. Steven Hassan | Ep. 1743 Archived 2024-05-11 at the Wayback Machine Dehlin, John (Host), Mormon Stories Podcast, episode 1753. “Joining and Leaving the Moonies/Unification Church - Cult Expert Dr. Steven Hassan | Ep. 1743.” Mentioned at timestamp 1:17:27. Streamed live on 2023-03-16.
excerpt Archived May 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Massimo Introvigne, 2000, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, ISBN 1-56085-145-7 "From a different perspective, it is true that participation of people who are not members of the Unification Church in certain Unificationist activities, such as marriage blessings, may be of concern to established churches. They perceive the possibility that their own members may become confused by their participation in such Unificationist activities and fear that they may in fact end up converting to Unificationism." -p59-60
Moon at Twilight Archived 2001-04-11 at the Wayback Machine, Peter Maass, The New Yorker "The campaign has dismayed some church members, because a blessing from Moon used to be a hard-won privilege, typically attained only after a person had joined the church, worked in it for several years, and agreed to marry someone--usually a stranger--selected by Moon. But grumblings about the blessing campaign are just the beginning of Moon's current troubles."
"Archbishop launches married priests movement". Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.

wpherald.com

"Archbishop launches married priests movement". Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.

youtube.com

John Dehlin and Steven Hassan, Mormon Stories Podcast, "Joining and Leaving the Moonies/Unification Church - Cult Expert Dr. Steven Hassan | Ep. 1743 Archived 2024-05-11 at the Wayback Machine Dehlin, John (Host), Mormon Stories Podcast, episode 1753. “Joining and Leaving the Moonies/Unification Church - Cult Expert Dr. Steven Hassan | Ep. 1743.” Mentioned at timestamp 1:17:27. Streamed live on 2023-03-16.