Mass Weddings

[Peter Daley]

1982 Matching Ceremony - This is quite different from the usual images of later and larger ceremonies. In this video, Moon walks around seperated male and female members and selects some couples:

Dec. 16, 1983: What's Behind the Moonie Mass Marriages (Christianity Today/Internet Archive)

Nov. 15, 2010: Just Like Old Times at the Washington Times? (Washington City Paper)

If the Unification Church were launching The Washington Times today, the first thing media blogs would seize upon would be the Rev. Moon's weird micromanagement of Moonie sex lives. Following their group weddings to random strangers, Moonieweds follow a three-day instruction manual to consummate their unions. It works something like a military operation. The manual dictates which sexual positions are used each day, the positioning of cushions and the obligatory photograph of the Rev. Moon during the various acts, the direction from which "holy salt" must be sprinkled in order to properly "sanctify" the room. There's also an elaborate process by which the couple cleanses their sexual organs afterwards, using an official church-supplied "holy handkerchief" sprinkled with a mysterious fluid that is supposed to contain the "essence" of Moon himself. Moon preaches that sex that deviates from this rigorous regimen is sullied by a spiritual sort of venereal disease first passed to Adam by Eve after she cheated on him with the archangel Lucifer.

Sept. 5, 2012: I Got Married in a Moonie Mass Wedding (Daily Mail)

April 16, 2014: Unification Church Mass Wedding: From Strangers to 'I Do' (ABC News)

Interesting quote from 5:00 above

September, 2015: True Story: My Marriage Was Arranged By The Unification Church (Yes & Yes)
Note: A really fascinating and touching story.

May 4, 2017: When Truth is Complex - On Telling the Story of My Upbringing in the Unification Church (Huffington Post)

May 30, 2017: The Danger of A Single Story: On Telling the Story of My Upbringing in the Unification Church Part 2 (Huffington Post)

June 5, 2017: At age 20, I was Married by the Unification Church. Here's How I broke Away (The Washington Post)

Sept. 7, 2017: Thousands of 'Moonies' Marry at Unification Church mass wedding in South Korea (Sky News)

Sept. 8, 2017: Thousands Exchange Wedding Vows in Mass Ceremony in South Korea

Sept. 10, 2017: Mass Wedding: 4,000 Couples Exchange Vows at Same Time, Same Place (The Korea Times)

Feb. 7, 2020: South Korean Mass Wedding Defies Virus Fears – In Pictures (The Guardian)

Feb. 7, 2020: In Sickness & In Health: Mass Wedding in South Korea Defies Coronavirus Fears (The Straits Times)

"I am overwhelmed that I am getting married today," said Ms Choi Ji-young, who met her husband - matched by the church - only two months ago. "It would be a lie if I said I was not concerned at all about the infection," said the 21-year-old university student. "But I feel like I will be protected from the virus today."

Festivals, graduation ceremonies, and K-pop concerts have been cancelled over fears large events could facilitate virus transmission, and the authorities have asked religious groups to cooperate in preventing it spreading. The church went ahead with the event because it had been "four years in the making", as part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Moon's birth, said official Jang Young-chul.

Aug. 28, 2018: Thousands of Couples Marry in Mass Ceremony in South Korea (News.Com.Au)

Oct. 22, 2021: Inside The Moonies: 'Perfect' Cult Celebrates Mass Weddings, Sex Rituals (Yahoo News)

March 5, 2023: 'I Married A Stranger At A Mass Wedding': Life Inside The Unification Church (SBS Dateline)

April 25, 2025: Unification Church in South Korea Holds Mass Wedding for 5,000 Couples (Associated Press Video)