7,500 couples 'blessed' at Unification Church mass wedding

Some 7,500 South Korean and overseas couples exchanged or reaffirmed marriage vows Wednesday in a ceremony organised by the Unification Church - its biggest mass wedding for many years. Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the 89-year-old founder of the controversial church, officiated at the "True Parents' Cosmic Blessing Ceremony" at the church's Sun Moon University in Asan south of Seoul.
The church describes Moon and his wife as "True Parents of Mankind" and Moon as "the King of all Kings." "True Parents are the Messiah Eternal," Moon's son and successor as church leader Reverend Hyung Jin Moon, said at the ceremony broadcast live on the Internet. Sun Myung Moon, sporting a bow tie, and his wife Han Hak-Ja sprinkled "holy water" and prayed over a dozen couples called onto the stage, joining their hands.
"I declare these couples tied in wedlock," he announced as other couples in the audience followed suit. Many brides wore white wedding dresses and bridegrooms were clad in tuxedos at the outdoor event. Other brides sported colourful traditional national costumes, including Korea's hanbok gown. The church was founded in Seoul in 1954 and grew into a world-wide organisation, although organisers say the number of believers is confidential. Since the early 1960s, Moon has presided over mass weddings that have grown in scale and involved couples from Japan, the United States, Europe and Africa.
In the past Moon picked spouses for his followers. His daughter-in-law has said she did not see Hyung Jin Moon until they were introduced at their engagement ceremony.
In recent years the church has allowed couples a chance to get to know each other before they marry, according to the Segye Times newspaper which is financed by the church. Hyung Jin Moon, 29, took over day-to-day control of the church last year when he was anointed as chairman of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Born in New York State in 1979, he studied philosophy and theology at Harvard. He was married at age 18 and has five children.