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Paula White, spiritual advisor to former President Donald Trump, called Hak Ja Han Moon, wealthy widow of Unification Church founder the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, “a jewel from God” during an event described by organizers as the “likely the largest and most diverse interfaith gathering ever” on December 5 in South Korea.
“I want to take a moment and honor as well as encourage Mother Moon for her great work as a spiritual leader who loves the Lord and seeks to carry out and to comfort the heart of God in all the areas of conflict in the world,” White said during her remarks at the Cheongshim World Peace Center in Gapyeong-gun, about an hour from the capital Seoul.
White, a Pentecostal Christian, sat with various religious and peace leaders on stage during the “Prayer Rally for Peace on the Korean Peninsula,” hosted by the Unification Church’s Universal Peace Federation (UPF). Organizers claim the prayer rally was attended in person by 1,200 participants while more than one million people watched the gathering over social media.
White is senior pastor of City of Destiny Church in Apopka, Florida, and formerly served as head of the Trump White House’s faith-based office. She claims to have been Trump’s spiritual advisor for more than two decades and has often vouched for his Christian faith. Her ministry remains controversial with those who accuse her of teaching a prosperity gospel that financially abuses sincere believers.
In a highlight reel of the three-hour prayer rally that also saw musical performances and prayers from representatives of numerous religions, White insisted that the two Koreas (divided in 1945) will be unified “when we are united as faith leaders.”
“You see, the Lord is very determined to bring in His harvest and He will not be stopped,” she said at one point. “As He has put this assignment in the heart of Mother Moon and she, as a beacon of light, has brought forth the clarion call to all of us, may our prayer be ‘Your will be done in the earth as it is in heaven.’”
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, commonly referred to as “True Mother” by members of the Unification Church, gave the final remarks and called on the world’s religions to unite.
“It feels like many streams and waterways are coming together into a tremendous river that flows into the vast ocean. Likewise, fallen humanity today is being guided by religions to unite as one to understand the true essence of the Creator,” she said.
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who died in 2012, founded the Unification Church in South Korea in 1954 before moving to the United States 17 years later. His church, known for its mass weddings, is widely viewed as a cult — a label the movement rejects as derogatory. Moonie doctrines diverge widely from traditional Christian beliefs, particularly when it comes to Jesus. While Christians believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the incarnation of God and the Messiah, the Unification Church founder claimed to be a messiah tasked by Jesus to complete work on earth that he failed to do.
At the conclusion of the “Prayer Rally for Peace on the Korean Peninsula” White joined a Universal Peace Federation-Korea representative in bowing and presenting flowers to Hak Ja Han Moon, who began calling herself “the only begotten daughter of God” and a messiah in the wake of her husband’s death.
White previously headlined the Unification Church’s “Peace Starts with Me” rally in 2017 at NYC’s Madison Square Garden. That event also controversially featured performances by popular gospel artists Israel Houghton, Yolanda Adams, and Hezekiah Walker.
Faithfully Magazine is a news and culture publication centered on Christian communities of color.
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