Coronation of God’s Kingship
13 January 2001
There is nothing more fundamental to Unification tradition and central to True Parents’ core motivation than the desire to liberate the suffering heart of God. According to Father, the Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God, conducted on January 13, 2001, “liberated God’s heart for the first time.” He described it as “the greatest day of celebration in all human history.” As a result, God “could start His new history based on the might and power of true love.” The Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God was a crucial building block for True Parents’ declaration of Cheon Il Guk on November 15, 2001, and subsequent church activities.
Some 6,000 Unificationists witnessed the ceremony in the main hall of the Cheonseong Wanglim at the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center in Korea. At the top of a tiered stage area, two white thrones were prepared for the “Royal Parents of Heaven and Earth.” At 7:00 a.m. True Parents entered, flanked by 120 attendant couples. The procession stopped twice, at which time True Father offered prayers. True Parents then placed silver crowns, royal gowns and a scepter on the chairs reserved for God. True Parents lit holy candles and offered bows. A lengthy succession of representatives approached and offered bows. True Father then offered a third prayer. This was followed by congratulatory telegrams, plaques and gifts; a flower presentation; cutting of a celebration cake; cheers of Mansei; and sharing of food from the offering table.
True Father’s Coronation Ceremony Address concluded the three-hour event. In it, he outlined the three “immutable laws” or “articles” of the “constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven”: first, not to “stain the blood lineage,” that is, to maintain sexual purity; second, “not to violate human rights” through discrimination and not to change subordinates’ positions (hiring, firing or transferring them) according to one’s own desire; and third, “not to steal public money” or utilize public property for oneself.
The Unification Church conducted six major “Peace King” coronations, also referred to as “crown of peace” ceremonies, from 2003-05. These were undertaken as sequels to the January 13, 2001 “Coronation of God’s Kingship” and held for the purpose of substantiating “heavenly kingship” on earth. The first of these was a coronation of Jesus as “King of Peace” in Jerusalem as part of the Middle East Peace Initiative on December 22, 2003. This was followed by a second coronation of Jesus in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2004, at which time crowns also were presented to True Parents represented by their son Hyun Jin Nim and his wife. A third crown of peace coronation of True Parents was conducted at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 23, 2004. A fourth “crown of peace” coronation was conducted in the Korean National Assembly Library on August 20, 2004. Afterward, True Father directed that the Unification Church conduct blessing registration and “crown of peace” ceremonies in forty nations and on all six continents by the end of 2004. This culminated in a fifth “crown of peace” ceremony in Washington, D.C. on December 13, 2004. True Father delivered his speech, “Our Mission in the Last Days of Providential History” to more than 3,400 leaders from around the world. A sixth and final “crown of peace” ceremony was conducted at Cheong Pyeong Lake in Korea on February 14, 2005.