The large-scale mass wedding ceremony hosted by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church, hereinafter referred to as the Family Federation) was held for the first time in three years.
According to the Family Federation, on the 7th, a mass wedding ceremony for about 8,000 couples from 150 countries around the world was held. The officiant was President Han Hak-ja.
President Han Hak-ja honoring Seongsu at the joint wedding ceremony [Photo provided by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification]
Held under the name "2023 Cheonjiin True Parents Hyojeong Cheonju Blessing Festival," the wedding ceremony connected sites worldwide online. It was simultaneously held centered at the HJ Global Art Center, a Family Federation-related facility located in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, as well as in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and other locations. Approximately 1,500 couples and about 30,000 guests gathered at the Gapyeong HJ Global Art Center.
This is the first time in three years that the wedding ceremony, which had been downsized due to the impact of COVID-19, was held on a large scale. In 2021 and 2022, it was held in a reduced format with limited attendance or non-face-to-face according to quarantine authority guidelines.
The mass wedding ceremony has been recognized as a distinctive feature of the Family Federation. Starting with a domestic wedding of 36 couples officiated by Sun Myung Moon (1920?2012) and President Han Hak-ja in 1961, the event has grown in scale every year and continues to this day.
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