Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of Unification Church, dies at 92

Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, died at the age of 92 in South Korea, according to one report. That report said he passed away just before 2 a.m. Korean Time on Monday, which corresponded to 12:54 p.m. Sunday Eastern Daylight Time. Church leaders announced his death. A second report also gave his age as 92 and said he died, but it did not specify where.

He had been hospitalized for two weeks with pneumonia before his death. The church’s official statement attributed his death to complications from pneumonia.

The church’s website said Moon “passed into the spiritual world” and described him as “responsible for saving the world.” His son, Hyung Jim Moon, serves as president of Unification Church International, and one report said he did not immediately comment. The second report described the son as a Harvard-trained theologian who holds a key role in the church.

Moon was born in North Korea. He established the church in 1954. One report said it was initially known as the Holy Spiritual Association for the Unification of World Christianity, while the other referred to it as the Church of Unification. Moon also founded the Professors World Peace Academy and the Washington Times newspaper, and he owned numerous companies and media outlets worldwide.

Moon faced legal challenges during his life, including a federal prison sentence in Danbury for tax evasion. Public accountability in financial matters is a plain obligation of any leader, a principle that the handling of these charges brings into view (Luke 12:48).

Reports differ on the church’s size. The second report said the Unification Church has more than seven million adherents across 180 countries. It also said that at its peak in the early 1990s, the church was estimated to have up to seven million followers. The reports do not specify how the current figure was determined.

Critics have pointed to the church’s commercial activities. The sources do not detail the specific criticisms beyond this.