The Infiltration of the Moon Sect at the United Nation Office in Vienna

(c) Universal Peace Federation

 Vienna is the third largest UN office after New York and Geneva, hosting many organizations like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), to name the most well-known. Trying to acknowledge the role of civil society in the world governance, the UN granted a consultative status to a large number of NGOs. The website of the United Nations Office in Vienna lists 385 NGOs. While some of them are to be expected, like Greenpeace International or The Salvation Army, some others have only a small local presence, while still others just use general catchy words, like the “Universal Peace Federation” (UPF). This UPF presents itself with this text: « The Universal Peace Federation was founded in 2005 by Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. They have proposed a revitalized, renewed United Nations with more than 50,000 diplomats, clergy, civic leaders, current and former heads of state appointed as Ambassadors for Peace.” (source) Does it ring a bell? Yes, Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012), multibillionaire and self-proclaimed messiah, is the founder of the Moon sect.

The « Messiah » and his wife by a mass wedding

The Moon organization, officially called “Unification Church” not only keeps a personal cult going (see this page), they are also manufacturing and trading weapons, developing close connections to far-right movements and using their journal, The Washington Times, to promote their ultra-conservative views (for instance on women). In many countries the Moon organization is considered a cult. In France it was clearly stated in a 1996 report, and in Austria the 2004 report of the Federal agency for questions regarding sects clearly depicts how the Moon Sect uses “interfaith” and “intercultural events” to seduce new adepts members (p. 60-62). Interestingly, the 2005 report lists among the 20 most addressed sects the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Free Church, two movements which became later acknowledged as religion by the Austrian Government, respectively in 2009 and 2013 (which leads to the question whether, in a historical perspective, a “religion” really differs from a successful sect). In Austria the sect is represented by Weltfriede.at. It came out two months ago that an high-ranked employee of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards supported the Austrian far right Party (FPÖ), declining his professional affiliation to the journalists of the FPÖ TV. In these UN-headquarters  once lead by the former Wehrmacht officer Kurt Waldheim (United Nations Secretary General from 1972 to 1981), many dubious organizations seem to practice active lobbying. For more information  … On the Moon Sect, see for a starter the controversy section of the Wikipedia page, followed by this exhaustive article, “Rev. Moon and the United Nations”, by Harold Paine and Birgit Gratzer. In French, L’empire Moon – Argent,  » secte  » et politique, by Jean-François Boyer, Editions La Découverte, 1986.