Unification movement status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Unification movement The Unification movement or Unificationism, also called the Unification Church (UC), is a worldwide new religious movement. Its members are colloquially called "Moonies". It was officially founded under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea, in 1954, by Sun Myung Moon, a Korean religious leader also known for his business ventures and engagement in social and political causes. In 1994 the HSA-UWC was replaced by Moon with a new organization, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU). The
United States v. Sun Myung Moon York Civil Liberties Union, called the prosecution "an indefensible intrusion in private religious affairs." The "New York Times" and the "Washington Post", which had both been critical of Moon, expressed concern about the government's prosecution of him and the consequences it might have for other religious groups. Michael Tori, a professor at Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York) suggested that Moon's conviction helped the Unification Church gain more acceptance in mainstream American society, since it showed that he was financially accountable to the government and the public. In 1991 Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Carlton Sherwood wrote a book in Sun Myung Moon's