2 of 4

After his speech, Moon called more than 100 pastors to the stage, and each was presented with a gold Christian Bernard watch. "The gold watches are a personal expression from Reverend Moon, and the gold represents his unchanging love," the Rev. Phillip Schanker, a Moon spokesman, said in an interview. Schanker said the watches were provided by a Moon-owned business and cost several thousand dollars apiece.

Moon's also quite the matchmaker. He has married thousands of couples in his infamous mass weddings—some of them Christian clergy. Stallings, who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in 1989 over issues of race, was recently married to a Japanese woman who worked for Moon.

But the most publicized of the weddings came in the same ceremony as Roman Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo took the hand of a South Korean woman Moon provided. The Vatican didn't exactly send a toaster oven because-surprise—the Catholic church doesn't really see eye-to-eye with the whole clergy-getting-married thing.

Milingo, the controversial "witch-doctor priest," has been given a deadline to give up his bride or he'll be excommunicated. So far, the archbishop hasn't made any real steps in meeting that ultimatum—such as leaving his new wife or disassociating from Moon. But he has released a public statement and sought an audience with Pope John Paul II. Yesterday, he met with the Pope.

In a letter to the Pope, Milingo wrote, "I know that the action I have taken is both surprising and difficult to understand, but I assure you that I am acting out of my deepest faith in Jesus, and my undying love for the Catholic Church." In addition, Milingo claims not to have joined the Unification Church. According to the Moon-connected UPI news service:

The Vatican has also asked Milingo to disassociate himself from Moon and his Family Federation for World Peace & Unification. But the prelate insisted, "I did not join Reverend Moon's church." He said he was "a Catholic through and through."

But when a journalist asked Milingo about the charge by traditionalist Christians that Moon committed blasphemy by suggesting that Jesus was a failed Messiah, Milingo replied, "Death was forced on Jesus … He was killed before he could finish realizing his plans."

Same Old Moonie Song and Dance
Moon's wooing of Christian church leaders may not seem like a new thing. It isn't. Moon has been using efforts like this in attracting conservatives—including Christian leaders—for years. And voices have spoken against it for just as long. According to a 1984 Washington Post article:

Some conservative leaders warn that the growing relationship between the (Unification) church and the New Right will provoke a fierce public backlash that will damage the conservative cause.

"The Unification Church is trying to buy its way into the conservative movement," charged Neal B. Blair, president of Free the Eagle, a Washington-based conservative lobbying group. "Moon says he's the son of God and the savior of the world. … It's frightening. Seldom have we had a group come into this country before and have this much money to spend."

In 1985, Christianity Today reported on the Unification Church's launch of a $4.5 million to $10 million public-relations campaign while Moon was serving his 18-month prison term for tax evasion. A package of booklets, letters and videotapes was mailed to approximately 300,000 Christian leaders.

next page... |  2 of 4

share this page

August (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45