Herb Rosedale, President AFF

We have been informed that the Family Federation for World Peace, a group associated with the Unification Church, is seeking to convince members of other faiths to participate in a mass wedding ceremony ("Couples Blessing") to be presided over by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church, in Washington, DC on November 29, 1997.

In order to achieve this goal of having 3,600,000 couples (7,200,000 people) participate in receiving a marriage blessing from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, it appears that the Unification Church is reaching out for inclusion on non-members of the Unification Church in the "International Blessing" ceremony. It is clear that the Family Federation for World Peace (referred to by the Unification Church as "our Federation") is merely a front, and denomination of the ceremony in November as the "International Blessing" is, in the words of Reverend Moon himself, "not just another name for a Unification Church marriage ritual, but is interpreted as a ritual of salvation and restoration" by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

Participation in this ceremony is being offered to people who are non-members of the Unification Church though support of the Family Federation for World Peace, and it is asserted that membership in the Unification Church is not regarded as conditional of participation; however, membership in the Family Federation for World Peace is required for participation in the ceremony.

Interfaith participation in such a ceremony that should be dedicated to building families instead supports the Unification Church and lends credibility to a religious leader widely accused of destroying families.

We urge members of all faiths not to agree to participate in this event, but to recognize this event for what it is – a blatant attempt to enhance the Unification Church and to validate the position of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon as a world religious leader. Participation in this mass wedding ceremony should not be viewed as an innocuous endorsement of "Family" or "Peace", but rather as an acknowledgement of a self-proclaimed new Messiah who seeks to rule an new secular and spiritual world order.