Argentina: Dissertation in Favor of the Family

UPF-Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina
July 29, 2006

“The family is the prototype of a life shared with others. A home where parents and children love and respect each other, where husband and wife have trust and reciprocal love, where brothers and sisters trust and support each other, living united together, that is exactly an ideal model family,” said Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon in a part of her speech, held on July 28 at the Sheraton Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as part of her World Tour 2006.

This phrase initiated one of a dozen rounds of applause coming from the audience in the Salon Retiro, where Jeong Jin, her thirteenth and last daughter with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, was giving her address as well. “This is the time, as the prophet Isaiah had prophesied, to change our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Humanity should put an end to the perverse cycle of sacrificing the lives of our children, squandering astronomical sums of money to wage wars,” the 23-year-old woman proclaimed. A graduate of the University of Boston, she emphasized a world of peace with its foundation in the family.

In the first row sat Juan Carlos Blumberg, a father who saw his home destroyed and his heart torn to pieces as a result of the death of his only son in a traumatic kidnapping; today he crusades for more security and justice so that no family would have to undergo a similar tragedy. The program that began at 6:00 p.m. and continued beyond 9:30 p.m. was conducted masterly by Ismael Rossi, Ambassador for Peace, and Master of Ceremonies at prestigious Argentinean festivals such as Cosquín and Jesus Maria.

After the singing of the National Anthem, the Folk Dance Group Hernán Figueroa Reyes inspired everyone with typical Argentinean folk dances. Following this was a report about the activities of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in Argentina, inaugurated some eight months earlier, December 11, 2005 during a visit by Rev. Moon himself. At this earlier meeting, Engineer Blumberg had been designated an Ambassador for Peace together with some 100 leaders of society for their commitment to upholding values and dissolving the racial, cultural and religious barriers dividing society and the world.

The evening took on a profound tone with the “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert, masterly interpreted by tenors Rafael Turi and Rafaello Benetti. The program continued with the inspired words of Senator Julio Ledesma, Undersecretary of State, followed prayers and a toast reaffirming marriage vows led by Dr. Thomas Walsh, International Secretary General of UPF. Jeong Jin Moon was presented, preceded by a short introduction into the work and teaching of Rev. and Mrs. Moon. In addition to leading the UPF together with her husband, Mrs. Moon is also the President of the Women’s Federation for World Peace, an NGO in general consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council since 1997.

“Why should we get married?” asked Mrs. Moon, who tirelessly repeated the concept at the heart of the teachings of Rev. Moon: true love, which means to live unconditionally for the benefit of the other, exemplified by a complete giving of one to the other. “Alone, man and woman are just half of a being. That is how God created us. The owner of the woman’s reproductive organ is her husband, and the owner of the man’s reproductive organ is his wife,” expressed this lady, born in North Korea in 1943, with her customary warmth, who at this occasion, was wearing a green suit with a delicate orchid corsage.

“They are champions in the establishment of ideal families centered upon God,” said Gustavo Giuliano, Director of the local UPF, in his introduction to the principal speaker, who, together with her husband, started these marriage celebrations in 1960 with three couples. With time this expanded to thousands and now millions of couples of different nationalities, races and religions. As part of the evening celebration, Mrs. Moon was given a semi-precious stone cup by a group of Ambassadors for Peace as a symbol of their gratitude. Many other gifts were given by various people, and Prof. Maria Tamara Revythis, an art critic, read an original poem.

After the speeches, the mother and daughter led representative couples on stage in a reaffirmation of the marriage vows. Finally, couples who were married more than 40 years were honored and new Ambassadors for Peace were appointed.

“Some years ago, I was very sceptical towards the (Unification) Movement, but today I find it to be the only way the human race and the entire world may last,” expressed Pedro Romaniuk, who has written some 20 books, including “Argentina Tierra Bendita”, “Apocalipsis y Nueva Era”, “La Vida después de la Muerte” and “Energía de Dios”. At this occasion he was accompanied by his wife, Felicia Antonia Mera, and they were also recognized for their 59 years of marriage.

The meeting ended with remarks by the President of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace in Argentina, Dr. Jesús Blasnik, who called upon the Ambassadors for Peace, now about 50,000 worldwide, to be involved in different projects such as the Middle East Peace Initiative, reconciling the ‘children of Abraham’ (Jews, Christians and Moslems) and UN reform, including establishing an interreligious council to work together with the national representatives.

In a counterproposal to arguments against the family, the local leader of IIFWP gave a “strong recipe for the spirit: a dose of abundant respect, enough humility, all well-seasoned with altruism (…) Let us never forget, that our truth, our beliefs and our faith have the same value as the truth, beliefs and faith of everyone else. If we keep this in mind, interreligious harmony is possible, because wars are not waged by religions but by human beings.”