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In his prayer of Blessing, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon reminded the more than 20,000 couples physically present and tens of thousands more joining the ceremony by Internet and satellite around the world that the vision of the blessing extends even further than world peace, looking forward to a day when the entire human race is reunited as one family under God. “Father, it has been so many, many years since your first children turned away from the path of life,” he prayed, “but even today, let us begin a new age of peace and reconciliation.”

Among those offering congratulatory remarks following the ceremony was H.E. Alfred Moisiu, former president of Albania. “We have been newly commissioned as Ambassadors for Peace and as families that must now be a new model of peace,” said Moisiu.

Mrs. Gayatri Nepal, wife of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar of Nepal, expressed hope that the model of the blessing could help bring peace in her own country. “I strongly believe in Father Moon’s teaching—that the family is the foundation for world peace,” she said. “I will go back to Nepal and explain to my husband that we should support Father Moon’s efforts to build strong families in order to bring lasting peace to our nation and the world.”

Media attention to the Blessing, the largest of the past ten years, seemed partly fueled by speculation that it might be the last one to be officiated by the Rev. Moon, who has entrusted more and more of the day-to-day operations of the Unification Movement to the members, led by three of his own sons. But many of the participants present expressed a strong hope and conviction that he would long continue. “The Blessing was spectacularly wonderful,” said General Malimba Masheke, Zambian diplomat and former Prime Minister. “We all wish Rev. and Mrs. Moon good health and a longer life.”

Masheke, Moisiu, Mansoor, Nepal, and others were all participants in the Universal Peace Federation’s International Leadership Conference on the topic of “Marriage and Family as an Instrument of Peace.” Almost all of the 250 participants came accompanied by their spouse and celebrated the blessing together. Some whose spouse could not be present brought a photograph to the ceremony instead.

The following day, Rev. and Mrs. Moon met with the leadership conference delegates for a special program at the Cheon Jeong Goong Museum outside of Seoul, where Rev. Moon spoke for almost six hours to the group. “Humankind is entering a new providential era, a time in which all can enter the Kingdom of Heaven by inheriting God’s infinite standard of love and heart,” he said. “To be ready for that time, we must lead lives in accordance with heavenly law, lives that are transparent and clear as a mountain stream.”

“We need this kind of education in Somalia,” said Professor Mohammed Omar Dalha, attending from Khartoum. “The peace education being provided by Rev. Moon and the Universal Peace Federation could be enormously helpful to our new parliament as it faces the task of healing our nation after so many years of conflict.”