Unification Church
International new religious movement
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| March 25 2025 | Tokyo District Court ordered the dissolution of the Japanese branch of the Unification Church. |
| 2024 | Jonathan Wells, author of Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? and former senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, passes away. |
| October 2024 | Protests spread to major Unification Church sites, including Cheongshim Peace World Center and Cheonwon Temple, demanding Jung Won-joo's resignation. |
| September 2024 | Unification Church Members' Emergency Response Committee and other groups start protests against Jung Won-joo. |
| July 2024 | Protests begin at Cheonjeonggung Palace in Gapyeong, calling for the resignation of Vice President Jung Won-joo. |
| March 7 2024 | Japanese government approved a plan to subject the Unification Church to stricter asset monitoring under a new law, aimed at providing relief to victims of unfair solicitation while the dissolution case court hearing was ongoing. |
| December 2023 | New law passed to enable stricter monitoring of the Unification Church's assets and provide relief to victims of unfair solicitation. |
| October 4 2023 | Toru Gotō filed a lawsuit against Eito Suzuki for a statement about Gotō being a hikikomori, demanding 11 million yen and deletion of the online post. |
| September 6 2023 | Japanese Ministry of Education announces decision to file an administrative fine against the Unification Church at the Tokyo District Court, citing lack of cooperation during their investigation. |
| August 1 2023 | Toyama Prefecture Peace Ambassadors Council filed a lawsuit against Toyama City for 22 million yen. |
| July 2023 | The Japanese government began legal proceedings to potentially dissolve the Unification Church's legal entity in Japan due to long-standing controversial practices and public criticism. |
| July 3 2023 | Women's Federation For World Peace filed a lawsuit against Zenkoku Benren Seven lawyers for lobbying municipal governments to deny public venues for their events. |
| July 3 2023 | Japan's parliament passed a law to regulate the Unification Church, aimed at limiting the organization's controversial fundraising practices and protecting its members from financial exploitation. |
| February 2023 | The church removed references to child adoption from its handbook following scrutiny of unauthorized child transfers. |
| 2022 | ECHR ruled in the case Corley and Others v. Russia, finding Russia violated multiple human rights articles and ordering Russia to pay 30,270 € in damages for the expulsions and mistreatment. |
| 2022 | Investigative reports by Shukan Bunshun and TBS News publicly revealed the church's casino gambling activities, exposing the misuse of donation funds. |
| December 2022 | Unification Church refused to answer more than half of the ministry's questions about child adoptions and sent a letter of protest. |
| December 16 2022 | Makoto Yasuda (a Unification Church follower) filed a lawsuit against Toyama City over its resolution to sever ties with the church, demanding 3.5 million yen and a rollback of the resolution. |
| December 10 2022 | Japan enacted a new bipartisan law providing relief to individuals affected by the Unification Church, prohibiting coercive donation solicitations and imposing criminal penalties. |
| November 2022 | Unification Church filed a lawsuit against Noriko Ishigaki over Sayuri Ogawa's statement about her parents donating large sums of money to the church. |
| November 2022 | Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare began submitting questionnaires to the Unification Church about child adoption practices. |
| October 2022 | Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announces a government investigation into Abe's relationship with the Unification Church. |
| October 27 2022 | Unification Church filed a lawsuit against Nippon TV and Yoshifu Arita for a statement accusing the church of being an 'anti-social organization for spiritual sales'. |
| September 29 2022 | Unification Church filed a lawsuit against Yomiuri TV and Masaki Kito regarding a statement about 'female believers being forced into prostitution after the founder's death'. |
| August 2022 | Japan's Liberal Democratic Party cut ties with the Unification Church following Shinzo Abe's assassination by Tetsuya Yamagami, who blamed the church for his family's bankruptcy. |
| July 8 2022 | Assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was later revealed to have connections to the Unification Church, leading to intense public and political backlash against the organization. |
| 2021 | Conclusion of a period where lawyers and consumer centers documented 34,537 complaints against the Unification Church, alleging forced donations totaling around 123.7 billion yen. |
| 2021 | National Network of Lawyers reported approximately 300 million yen in damages from Unification Church activities. |
| 2021 | Police authorities are instructed to set up a panel to investigate security lapses related to potential Unification Church connections. |
| 2021 | Satoshi Ninoyu allegedly promotes a Unification Church event and instructs police to investigate security lapses. |
| 2021 | Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe delivered speeches at the Rally of Hope event hosted by a Unification Church affiliate. |
| August 24 2021 | Abe formally agrees to participate in a Universal Peace Federation (UPF) rally. |
| January 6 2021 | Hyung Jin Moon and other Sanctuary Church members participated in the United States Capitol attack, with Moon facing no criminal charges for his involvement. |
| 2020 | Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received the Sunhak Peace Prize, an award sponsored by the Unification Church. |
| 2020 | The movement held an in-person and virtual rally for Korean unification, attracting approximately one million attendees. |
| November 2020 | Hyung Jin Moon endorsed the 'big lie' claiming the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. |
| 2019 | Bo Hi Pak, founding chairman and president of The Washington Times and main translator for Moon's speeches, passes away. |
| 2019 | The National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales protests Abe's congratulatory messages to Unification Church-affiliated events. |
| 2019 | Hak Ja Han spoke at a rally in Japan, advocating for greater understanding and cooperation between Pacific Rim nations. |
| 2018 | Authorization requirement for child adoptions came into effect in Japan, mandating prefectural government authorization for child transfers between families. |
| 2018 | Investigation began into unauthorized child transfers between members' families within the Unification Church in Japan. |
| 2018 | The term 'Unification Movement' became widely used as an alternative name for the religious organization. |
| February 2018 | Hyung Jin Moon's World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania held a controversial marriage vows renewal ceremony where participants were asked to bring AR-15 rifles, drawing protests from neighbors due to its proximity to the Parkland, Florida school shooting. |
| 2017 | The Unification Church sponsored the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) to visit Pyongyang and have talks with the Korean Workers' Party. |
| 2017 | Global Peace Foundation establishes the Family Peace Association. |
| 2016 | South Korean Defense Ministry parliamentary report reveals details about the alleged submarine sale and technology transfer to North Korea. |
| 2016 | A South Korean Defense Ministry parliamentary report reveals details about the Unification Church's alleged financial and technological contributions to North Korea's military capabilities. |
| 2016 | A study sponsored by the Unification Theological Seminary revealed that American members were politically divided, with the largest bloc supporting Senator Bernie Sanders in the United States presidential election. |
| 2015 | The church's name change to 'Family Federation for World Peace and Unification' was approved, with reportedly unusual approval processes. |
| 2014 | Hyung Jin Moon and Kook-jin Moon found the Rod of Iron Ministries (World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church), advocating for private firearm ownership. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Unification Church and politics, List of Unification movement people, Unification Church & Criticism of Unification Church in Japan, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.