Dr. Hyung Moon delivered this address on behalf of his mother, UPF Co-Founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, at the opening of World Summit 2013.
Excellencies. First Ladies. Leaders from the world’s religions. Ambassadors for Peace. Ladies and Gentlemen.
In honor of God, our Heavenly Parents, and on behalf of my beloved husband and our True Father, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, I proudly and warmly welcome you to Korea for this historic World Summit on “Peace, Security, and Human Development.”
Let me begin with a word of deep appreciation to each of you who expressed so much warm and respectful care and concern at the time of my husband’s ascension. I cannot begin to express how much your words have been a source of comfort to me, my family and our entire movement. My husband, now in the spirit world, is heartened by your support and continues to carry on his work without pause. I am as close to him as I have ever been and feel his presence with me at this very moment.
Our gathering today is no ordinary political summit for world leaders. Convened in honor of Foundation Day, this World Summit is blessed by the grace of God, our Heavenly Parents, and represents the fulfillment of heaven’s long-cherished hope, a hope that my husband and I have worked our entire lives to accomplish.
You may ask, “What is the significance of Foundation Day?”
Foundation Day is a day of cosmic significance that marks a new beginning for heaven and earth. By the infinite love and grace of our Heavenly Parents, all who sincerely repent of their wrongdoings are forgiven. In this way, we begin anew as purified sons and daughters of our Heavenly Parents.
Foundation Day affirms the absolute sovereignty of God, our Heavenly Parents, and marks the cosmic turning point in the long and suffering course of God’s providence. Our Heavenly Parents wanted to be embodied on this earth as True Parents and live together eternally with filial sons and daughters in a realm of true love: One Family Under God. However, God’s original ideal was shattered by the corruption of love, and the Fall of Adam and Eve. The Fall led to the ongoing division of Cain and Abel, and the domination of humanity by satanic power. Foundation Day marks the day when that era of sin, ignorance, and corruption may be overcome.This is a day of liberation, for God and for all humanity.
The original ideal of creation is for our Heavenly Parents to have their image and likeness embodied substantially in this world, through the Blessing of the True Parents. Foundation Day is none other than the completion stage of the Holy Blessing of True Parents, Father Moon in heaven and Mother Moon here on earth, along with all blessed families.
In this way, heaven and earth are united, and the barriers that have separated human beings from God can be eliminated. With the Blessing of True Parents that took place yesterday, the gateway to a free, innocent, and open relationship of true love between heaven and earth, between our Heavenly Parents and all God’s children is now opened up. The cornerstone has been set in place. The foundation has been laid.
Foundation Day also establishes the basis for establishing the ideal nation of cheonilguk, a unified nation that transcends race, ethnicity, nationality, and even religion, a nation that transcends the historical division of Cain and Abel and which knows no borders; cheonilguk is a nation whose citizens are the holy and filial sons and daughters of our Heavenly Parents.
As you discuss the topic of “Peace, Security, and Human Development” over the next few days, I ask that you pay particular attention to these points!
Excellencies. Ladies and gentlemen. I sincerely hope that all of you will take time to study and research the teachings of my beloved husband, Father Moon. From this point forward, more and more people throughout the world will come to know and appreciate his life, his works, and most of all his words. His teachings provide a roadmap to peace, a gateway to a world of joy and fulfillment that exceeds our highest hopes and expectations.
Of course, this will not just happen automatically. We must each invest ourselves fully and completely, each and every day. I ask each of you to take this message very seriously and inscribe it in your hearts. For, if we fail, the consequences are severe. Therefore, I ask you to do everything you can to follow the will of our Heavenly Parents.
True Father Moon always understood peace as a profoundly deep concept. He did not place great significance on current events or external affairs. Rather, from his earliest days as a child, he had insight into the most essential, internal trends and forces at work in human history. It was as if he could see the spiritual DNA of history and the blueprint of God’s providence of restoration throughout history. Thus, whenever he used the word peace, he always thought first and foremost of God’s heart and God’s providence and of the need for each of us to align with that providence centered on God’s will. Without a clear understanding of the Principle of Creation, and the way in which evil entered and expands in this world, we are very limited in our ability to change the course of history toward a world of universal peace. Therefore, I encourage you to study Divine Principle. In this way, you will come to understand our true purpose and the way in which God works in human history. In this way, we can work together to build the ideal world that has been the hope of all the ages, a unified world of peace.
When we examine the lives of great men and women of faith, those who gave their full devotion and attendance to God, we find the true central figures of history. During their own lifetime, however, we know they were often ignored or rejected by the well-established and self-satisfied. Only the humble and meek had “ears to hear” and “eyes to see.” The course of True Parents, up until this time, has been a course of suffering, tears, and tribulation. But that era has now come to an end!
My husband and I have always taught that true peace must begin with the unity of our mind and body centered on a sincere heart of filial love toward God, our Heavenly Parents.The mind, centering on the conscience, calls us to serve others, while the body seeks its own comfort. By dominating our bodies, we strengthen our conscience and learn to live for the sake of others. This is the foundation of peace.
In addition, true peace can only be achieved on a foundation of sexual purity and fidelity in marriage. This is the only way to secure the sacred value of marriage and family according to God’s original ideal. This point cannot be emphasized enough. We must practice “absolute sexual morality.” Otherwise, the family will be destroyed, and peace cannot be achieved. Men and women are intended to live as eternal love partners, with equal value, in the presence of God. A marriage centered on the Blessing of God and True Parents is the most holy, sacred, and eternal relationship.
The family is created by God as the “school of love and peace.” The Holy Blessings that have been celebrated over the past 53 years are the front line on the road to world peace.
True peace is also built on harmony and cooperation among religions. As we stand before God, our Heavenly Parents, we are not evaluated by the name of our religion but by the quality of our hearts, by our love and filial piety, and by the quality of our efforts to serve God’s providence.
My husband and I share a clear vision for the Asia Pacific Era and the rise of a new global organization that will bring together all the nations, religions and peoples of the world. While we have always had great respect for the United Nations, and always believed that such an institution was linked to the providence of God, the time is ripe for change. As you know, the United Nations intervened when this nation of Korea was invaded by North Korean Communists. Young men and women from 16 nations came to Korea, putting their lives at risk for people they did not know, in order to save this nation. In the process of saving this nation, those UN forces also saved my husband from certain death in a brutal North Korean communist prison camp.
As much as we love and respect the United Nations, we also recognize that the UN needs renewal and reform.True Father envisioned a new kind of United Nations, which he often called the “Abel United Nations.”
What is the meaning of an “Abel UN”? As you may know, Abel is a biblical figure, the younger son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by his older brother, Cain. Abel was a person who had the proper heart of filial piety toward God, and he made his life an offering centered on God’s will. Thus, my husband always honored and uplifted “Abel” as the representative of a true filial son. Even though Cain may have had more strength or cleverness, Cain lacked the heart of a filial son. Based on external power alone, and selfishness, Cain could not establish a family, tribe, or nation of peace. Only someone with the same heart as Abel can achieve this goal.
Whenever my husband spoke about the “Abel UN,” he revealed an inspiring vision of the human family rising up together in love and overcoming the barriers of nationality, race, and religion. He saw a vision of a God-centered United Nations. Not a United Nations based on “national self interests,” but a United Nations that was concerned about God’s interests and the interests of all people as God’s sons and daughters. This would be none other than a global cheonilguk.
Isn’t this an inspiring vision? How about we work together with the Universal Peace Federation to bring it about?
In August of 2000 I appeared with my husband at the United Nations. At that time, in his Keynote Address, he offered three proposals: First of all, he asked the United Nations to establish an interreligious council within the UN system. In this way, the spiritual wisdom and values of the world’s religions can be utilized to strengthen the United Nations and its approach to peace, security, and human development. Whereas the initial response to this proposal was weak, there is growing awareness of its prophetic insight. Recently, in fact, the United Nations General Assembly established the “World Interfaith Harmony Week.” I could not help but feel that this was an expression of True Father’s vision.
Secondly, he called for the establishment of “peace zones” in places around the world where conflict and division create instability. The “peace zones” would not only serve as demilitarized buffers between hostile nations, but would be developed as zones of sustainable development. He spoke of the peace zones being populated by people from around the world who are dedicated to peace and cooperation.
Thirdly, he asked that the United Nations establish a day that honors our Heavenly Parents and the ideal of True Parents. I am most pleased to have been informed that in 2012, the United Nations General Assembly resolved that each year, on June 1, the Global Day of Parents will be celebrated. This is surely a step in the right direction.
I also want to mention that only a few weeks prior to my husband’s ascension, he and I, as Co-Founders of the Women’s Federation for World Peace, convened a global assembly of women leaders from 194 nations to launch the Global Women’s Peace Network. My husband described this global network as the “Abel Women’s UN.” He fully understands the value and power of women, as mothers, and wives, as sisters and daughters and as God-centered leaders who live for the sake of building a world of peace, security, and human development.
I am very pleased to witness today the presence of so many distinguished world leaders, including not only faith leaders, but current presidents and prime ministers, vice presidents, first ladies, government ministers, and parliamentarians. I know that each of you has great responsibilities and great influence in your countries. I hope that you will take seriously what I have said today and that you will take this message back to your countries and to your people.
Our worldwide movement, and especially the Universal Peace Federation, stands ready to support and work with you in whatever way we can to advance the ideal of peace, security, and human development in your nation. Let us work together to build ideal families and nations, and let us join together as nations, as religions, as members of civil society to create cheonilguk, the “Abel UN,” and One Family Under God.
Thank you and God bless you, your families, and your nations.
For more information about World Summit 2013, click here.