(CNN) --
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon -- founder of the Unification Church, which gained fame
worldwide for its mass weddings decades ago -- died early Monday in South Korea,
an organization affiliated with his church said.
The Universal Peace Federation said
on its website that Moon died early Monday morning of complications related to
pneumonia. He was 92.
The Washington Times, one of several
publications that Moon founded, similarly reported Moon's death.
"Words cannot convey my heart at
this time," said Thomas P. McDevitt, the Times' president said in a story on the
newspaper's website. "Rev. Sun Myung Moon has long loved America, and he
believed in the need for a powerful free press to convey accurate information
and moral values to people in a free world."
McDevitt added that the Times is a
"tangible expression of those two loves." In 2010, the newspaper was sold to a
group operating on Moon's behalf, according to a statement on the paper's
website.
Doctors put Moon in intensive care
in a Seoul hospital last month after he suddenly fell ill, church spokesman Ahn
Ho-yeol said then. At the time, physicians gave him a 50% chance of
survival.
Days later, one of his sons -- the
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon -- noted in a sermon posted on a church website that his
father had multiple health problems in recent years, including heart surgery
performed in the United States about 10 years ago. But still, he pushed on with
his life's mission.
"Father, who is responsible to save
the world, pushed himself way beyond his limits," said the son, who himself has
a leading .
The Unification Church that the
elder Moon founded gained fame worldwide for its mass weddings, including at New
York City's Madison Square Garden.
Many met their spouses-to-be for
the first time during the ceremony. In addition to weddings in South Korea,
couples from various countries took part in the ceremony through satellite
hookups.
The controversial Moon, whose
church critics have compared to a cult and whose followers were colloquially
known as "Moonies," served a federal prison term in the United States for tax
evasion.
Between 2003 and 2005, the British
government prohibited him from traveling to that country, according to a U.S.
State Department report. Still, he continued to be regarded highly elsewhere --
including in Washington.
A video from 2004, posted on the
website of what was then known as the Interreligious and International
Federation for World Peace, showed a ceremony taking place in a U.S. Senate
office building attended by Moon and several members of Congress. Speaking
Korean, Moon declares himself the messiah and says he'd spoken to the spirits of
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, both of whom he said
found strength in his teachings and mended their ways.
Rep. Danny Davis, D-Illinois, is
seen reading a poem and, wearing white gloves and carrying a crown on a pillow
to Moon and his wife. Davis said later he thought it was all part of an
interfaith peace ceremony, adding that Moon didn't ask his "permission to call
himself the messiah."
Moon was traditionally a strong
supporter of Republican politicians including Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan,
said Eileen Barker, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political
Science.
He was also known for being
"virulently anti-Communist," having been imprisoned in North Korea during the
Korean War before being freed by the allies, she said.
Moon softened his hard line on
North Korea, though, over time -- even meeting North Korea's founder (and
grandfather of its current leader), the late Kim Il Sung, and investing money in
the north.
His church believes that Jesus was
divine but he is not God, a position that puts the Unification Church outside
the bounds of traditional Christianity.
Followers instead regard Moon as
the messiah who is completing the salvation mission that Jesus Christ failed to
accomplish.
In the sermon from August 19 posted
online, the Rev. Hyung Jin Moon praised his father's efforts over the years, as
well as stating some of the family's political positions as regards China,
Russia and others.
He also made a point to thank those
who have been praying for his father's health.
"We need to remember, father is not
just a normal person," said the Rev. Hyung Jin Moon. "Father's body is not just
a normal body."
CNN's Richard Greene, K.J. Kwon and Greg Botelho
contributed to this report.
Damian J. Anderson
Damian.Anderson@gmail.com
+1-301-921-0082
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