This is the text of the Closing Remarks given at the Federation of Continental Nations for World Peace"North America Inauguration Convention at the Meadowlands Hilton, Secaucus, NJ, August 31, 1996.

For three days beginning July 30 of this year, Reverend Sun Myung Moon convened the Inaugural World Convention for the Family Federation for World Peace, at which former United States presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush and 800 people representing over 120 countries, affirmed the centrality of the family to world peace and human happiness. Reverend Moon organized the Federation of Peninsula Nations for World Peace just three weeks following that major convention, and one week later this Federation of Continental Nations. This is typical of his desperate life-long work for the realization of a peaceful world, which is God's ideal of creation. I would like to spend these parting moments sharing with you something of my personal understanding of the life and motivation of Rev. Moon.

Reverend Moon was born on January 6, 1920, in Jeongju, in the north- western part of what is now North Korea. As a boy he studied at a Confucian school and was a keen observer of the natural world. Around 1930, his parents became fervent Christians, through the influence of his great uncle who was a leader in the independence movement and a Christian pastor.

At that time, Japan ruled Korea and only permitted the Shinto religion. The religious intolerance of the militant Japanese was only a small part of the contempt they held for Korea. As part of an oppressed race, Sun Myung Moon learned to hate injustice, whether among his own people or at the hands of the Japanese rulers.

As World War II drew to a close, Reverend Moon, who had been jailed as a member of the Korean independence movement while studying at a Japanese university, returned to his native land. By this time, he had organized the teachings which came to be known as the Divine Principle, and he began his public ministry. He served Christian ministers and offered to work with them to build God's kingdom on the earth. American Christian missionaries had also heard of this young teacher, and disregarded him as a "country preacher." Korean ministers, jealous of the young man's appeal with their members, rejected him and accused him of espousing false teachings. Reverend Moon realized that he would have to walk the lonely path of a pioneer.

God guided him that there were many faithful believers in Pyongyang, and that he should now go to North Korea. There, he began to teach publicly, despite the dangers of doing so in a country where religion was not welcome. As a poor preacher, he was one of the first to come under attack from the local communists. Charged with disturbing the social order, in November 1946, he was imprisoned and tortured. The police thought him dead and threw his body into the prison yard. Some of his followers found him prepared for his burial. Miraculously, Reverend Moon survived and regained his strength. Undaunted, he renewed his public ministry.

In April 1948, he was arrested once more and sentenced to five years of hard labor in Hungnam prison. Few prisoners there lasted more than six months, but he survived for nearly three years. In that living hell, he gained disciples.

The United Nations armies liberated the camp, but the fierce war scattered his followers. He arrived in Pusan with one teenage disciple. They built the first Unification Church from discarded army ration boxes. At that time, he told his small following that one day the message of the Divine Principle would be spread all over the world.

In 1954, Reverend Moon founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, known as the Unification Church. Reverend Moon's teaching is rooted in Christianity, which upholds the God of history. He firmly believes that God's will is to resolve the divisions among Christians and all religions, and to build God's kingdom on earth through sacrificial love. He also teaches that the philosophies and religions of East and West should converge harmoniously, and that the day will come when the spirit world will be explained scientifically. Thus, the Unification Church exists not for itself, but to serve God and humankind.

Respected representatives, Reverend Moon has not been concerned with the development of the Unification Church. He has invested far more in other churches and religions than in his own. He has taught that all religions were founded under God's great purpose of saving all humanity. Conflict between religions and denominations causes the greatest suffering to God's Heart, and is also a significant threat to world peace.

Through the Council for the World's Religions, he has sponsored meetings among different factions of other religions, to facilitate the resolution of their conflicts. Through the Youth Seminar on World Religions, he sponsored young people of all faiths on a global pilgrimages to each other's holy lands. This developed into the Religious Youth Service, which brings together young people of diverse religions for shared worship, study and public service work. This program has expanded into many nations.

Commenting on this work in Interfaith News, Kenneth Cracknell of the British Council of Churches wrote, "The Unification Church " does more for the interfaith movement at an international level than do either the World Council of Churches' Dialogue unit or the Roman Catholic Vatican Secretariat for Non-Christians, or both of them put together."

Well-known for his opposition to communism, Reverend Moon identified the falsity of the communist ideology that denies the existence of God and the spiritual dimension of human life. He systematized Unification Thought as a God-centered ideological counterproposal to communism. Rather than simply being anti-communist, therefore, he prevailed over communism through the medium of education, and worked to liberate those suffering under communism. Looking beyond the communist-liberal democratic impasse, Reverend Moon initiated the Federation for World Peace, the Summit Council for World Peace and the Association for the Unity of Latin America to develop a consensus regarding the moral principles which govern the affairs of men and nations.

Reverend Moon is also working hard to promote healthy development in the media. The World Media Association brings journalists together to discuss the role of the media in resolving conflict and promoting understanding. Implementing these very ideals, Reverend Moon has established newspapers and magazines to serve the public with a commitment to truth and objectivity: The Segye Ilbo in Seoul, Sekai Nippo in Tokyo, The Washington Times, Insight and The World & I in Washington D.C., Noticias Del Mundo in New York, The Middle East Times in Athens and Ultimas Noticias in Montevideo.

The International Cultural Foundation (ICF) was founded in 1972 to promote academic, scientific and cultural exchange among the countries of the world. Its flagship is the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, dedicated to a shared vision of absolute values underlying scientific and technological pursuits.

Reverend Moon has founded schools of higher education. The Unification Theological Seminary in New York was founded in 1975, and the Sun Moon University in South Korea in 1988. The seminary's diverse faculty includes Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Jewish professors providing an education of exceptional breadth.

The Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA) was founded in 1973 to bring together scholars from around the world to find peaceful solutions to problems that pose the threat of war or violence. The organization now has chapters in over 100 countries. PWPA aims to establish a worldwide network of universities for peace. In April 1992, PWPA began this project with the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Stressing the need for proper guidance for youth, Reverend Moon supports students in their work with the High School Association for the Research of Principles and the Collegiate Association for the Research of the Principle (CARP). These student associations promote intercultural, interracial, and international cooperation. Further, they teach the value of sexual purity and responsible preparation for marriage.

Through the International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF), Reverend Moon has been involved with both short and long term relief projects worldwide for over two decades. IRFF carries out emergency relief, medical service and agricultural and technological training, and is personally involved in the development of the ocean's resources to end world hunger. This project is based in Alaska and South America.

I would like to also mention Reverend Moon's support for the arts and culture. He has been developing a variety of such projects, among which are the Little Angels Arts School, now known as the "Juilliard of Korea." The Universal Ballet Company is the world's first international ballet company, with schools in Seoul and Washington. It has cooperated with the Kirov Ballet in productions in Russia and Korea. Cultural production facilities in New York, Washington, DC, Japan and London mark a new wave of artistic expression of global vision.

Distinguished representatives from many nations, the projects I have mentioned represent a small portion of Reverend Moon's overall activities. They constitute his effort to bring human beings into touch with their original God-given nature, and to realize God's purpose of goodness on the earth.

In 1990, Reverend Moon organized a major meeting of government and media in Moscow. During this conference, Reverend and Mrs. Moon met and embraced then-President Mikhail Gorbachev, in a formal meeting of state. Through several interviews, televised and in print, they gave a message of hope to the Soviet people, urging them to turn toward God.

A crucial step for the establishment of world peace is the reunification of North and South Korea. Risking their lives, Reverend and Mrs. Moon traveled to North Korea in December 1991, and met with President Kim Il Sung, under whose regime he had been persecuted to near death. His purpose was not political, but to demonstrate that God's love overcomes all evil and falsehood. The North Korean ruler completely welcomed Reverend and Mrs. Moon.

The Women's Federation for World Peace, founded in 1992, brings women together for the moral education and healing of our families and society. The Sisterhood Ceremony, uniting as sisters Korean and Japanese, Japanese and American, black and white, and women across all barriers, creates is a true breakthrough for peace. This is having an impact now upon our governmental leaders.

The Federation for World Peace (FWP), the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace (IRFWP) and the Family Federation for World Peace (FFWP), and others, which Reverend Moon founded in the 1990s, are established for the realization of the peaceful world of God's desire. A peaceful world will not suddenly descend upon us from Heaven. If a nation and society have no peace, the world cannot be at peace. If the family is not at peace, how can a society and nation find peace? The importance of marriage and the family is in the peace created through two people, who, united in mind and body, have joined together as a couple.

The holy weddings officiated by Reverend and Mrs. Moon over the past 36 years are now having a significant impact on society. Beginning from the blessing of 36 couples, these ceremonies have expanded to 72, 124, 430, 777, 1,800 and 8,000 couples. In 1992, 30,000 couples participated in the Blessing, and in 1995, 360,000 couples around the world. In November of next year, 3.6 million couples will participate in the holy blessing. The main ceremony will be held in Washington, DC, and it will be broadcast by satellite to some 180 nations where simultaneous ceremonies will be held. Preparatory blessings already are being organized in many countries. The sheer number and diversity of participants is an important aspect of these events. Far more significant, however, is that the participants are pledging before God to realize true families through pure relationships of love.

In face of the sudden collapse of the family, no one else has come forward with a solution. In view of this, the blessing is not a church rite, but is an event offering salvation to the world. In Washington, DC, hundreds of Christian ministers, as well as Islamic leaders, are gathering each week to study True Family Values. They have discovered that this is the common ground upon which churches and all religions can solve family breakdown together.

In conclusion, we see that hundreds of thousands of Unificationist families, sanctified by God's blessing, are practicing a quality of love which transcends all racial and national barriers. Organizations founded by Reverend Moon in education, the arts, science, communications and international affairs show how every aspect of human life can be centered on God's true love. Reverend Moon has emerged on the world stage to demonstrate God's true heart by loving and embracing his enemies, the leaders of North Korea and the Soviet Union, who once had imprisoned him and sought to kill him. He has brought together the leaders of warring religions.

True love has now triumphed over evil. This is the love that is given to others, love that gives and gives again, forgetting that it has given. Reverend Moon not only teaches this but has put it into practice. This love is the power of new life for all individuals, marriages and families the world over.

I conclude this address by expressing the hope that all of you, who have graciously participated in this inauguration of the Federation of Continental Nations for World Peace, will participate in this movement for purity and the realization of true love.

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