Father Moon was a truly unique figure, who has left his mark on the world, on history and on the future, through his more than nine decades of service and sacrifice, based on living for the sake of others as a peace-loving global citizen. Father Moon's work and example touched all continents and countries and there are so many people better qualified than myself to reflect on different aspects of his unique contribution. However, Father Moon's teachings of peace, reconciliation and love are nowhere more relevant and needed than in his own beloved home country of Korea.
Father Moon felt the acute pain and agony of the divided Korean people every day of his life on this earth and in every fibre of his being. What he did to help resolve this needed courage, vision and wisdom. These he possessed in great measure.
When Father Moon ventured to Pyongyang and met with President Kim Il Sung, he amazed the world and changed the course of history. All subsequent positive steps that have occurred on the Korean peninsula, every ray of hope, has its genesis in Father's brave steps more than two decades ago. On my own numerous visits to North Korea, I have seen ample evidence of the fruits harvested by Father's work and that of the Unification movement, from the cars assembled, to the hotels renovated, to the buildings and facilities constructed, but above all in the appreciation and love felt by people in North Korea from many walks of life for Father Moon, for Mother, for the members of the family and for the Unification movement.
One might say that in the friendship that has now been established between the Moon and Kim families over generations we see in microcosm the future unity not only of the Korean people but of a single human family. For this, and for so much else, I bow in humble reverence before Father Moon.
(Picture of the World Peace Centre in Pyongyang, North Korea where there was a Memorial for Father Moon.)
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