The founder of the Unification Church, Sun Myung Moon, held his first mass wedding ceremony in years, blessing 20,000 people from around the world at a college he founded. Moon, who founded the church officially called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and his wife were on hand for the mass ceremony, where 1,000 couples took their wedding vows and another 18,000 renewed their vows.
"As men and women representing the six billion mankind, go out and become the builders of the world of peace and ideals," Moon told the couples gathered on the sprawling grounds of the Sun Moon University, about 100 km from Seoul.
Moon and his wife sprinkled holy water over a dozen select couples called onto the stage and declared them tied in wedlock.
He declared in 1992 that he and his wife were messiahs.
One of Moon's sons, Hyung Jin, has taken over the day-to-day running of the church with an estimated five to seven million followers around the world, and had said in an interview in December he would keep mass weddings to a more manageable scale - in the hundreds.
The Unification Church considers the Korean peninsula sacred.
Its website said Jesus Christ appeared to founder and overall leader Sun Myung Moon as he was praying and asked him to complete the task of establishing God's kingdom on Earth.
Critics have vilified the group as a heretical, weird and dangerous cult, questioning its murky finances and how it indoctrinates followers.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon spreads holy waters during a mass wedding ceremony arranged by his Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. The brides wore wedding dresses or their national dress; the men wore black suits with red ties, with white scarves around their necks.
Couples and believers from around the world participate in a mass wedding ceremony arranged by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. The brides wore wedding dresses or their national dress; the men wore black suits with red ties, with white scarves around their necks.
Couples from around the world participate in a mass wedding ceremony arranged by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. The brides wore wedding dresses or their national dress; the men wore black suits with red ties, with white scarves around their necks.
The 89-year-old Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church, left, and his wife Sun Kil Choi wave during the mass wedding ceremony arranged by Moon's Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. It was the church's biggest mass wedding in a decade, a spectacle church officials said involves 40,000 people around the world.
Newlyweds answer the affirmation of vows during a mass wedding ceremony of the Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul October 14, 2009. About 5,000 couples from 120 countries around the world exchanged wedding vows on Wednesday, the church said. The Unification Church founded by South Korean evangelist Reverend Moon Sun-myung in Seoul in 1954, performed its first mass wedding in 1961 with 33 couples.
Newlyweds participate in a mass wedding ceremony of the Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul October 14, 2009. About 5,000 couples from 120 countries around the world exchanged wedding vows on Wednesday, the church said. The Unification Church founded by South Korean evangelist Reverend Moon Sun-myung in Seoul in 1954, performed its first mass wedding in 1961 with 33 couples.
Couples from around the world participate in a mass wedding ceremony arranged by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church at Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. From South Korea to South America, the bride wore white for the Unification Church's largest mass wedding in a decade, with some 40,000 people participating in dozens of cities around the world.
South Korean elderly brides wait for their mass wedding ceremony arranged by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church at a Sun Moon University in Asan, south of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. From South Korea to South America, the brides wore white for the Unification Church's largest mass wedding in a decade, with some 40,000 people participating in dozens of cities around the world.