`Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah who founded the controversial Unification church and turned it into a multi-billion dollar business empire, died in South Korea early yesterday at the age of 92.
He was hospitalised with complications from pneumonia more than two weeks ago.
The church said the religious leader had critical organ failure and quoted doctors as saying he had entered “an irreversible stage of his condition”. The church also declared 13 days of mourning for its founder, who will be buried on September 15.
Moon was first admitted to the intensive-care unit at St Mary’s Hospital in Seoul in the middle of August but was soon shifted to a church hospital after doctors said his kidneys had ceased to function and his liver was deteriorating rapidly.
“In these circumstances, the officials at St Mary’s Hospital informed us that ‘there is no longer any way to improve True Father’s condition through modern medical technology’,” the church’s International Vice-President Joon Ho Seuk said last week.
The phrase “true father” refers to Moon, who the church says is “the one and only” messiah in human history.
“He has overworked in recent months despite his age, having travelled to the US every month,” Moon’s spokesman said, confirming his death.
The Unification Church – set up by Moon in Seoul in 1954 and officially called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification – is one of the world’s most controversial religious organisations.
The church, whose devotees are often dubbed “Moonies” after the founder, has been portrayed by critics as a cult that brainwashes followers – a charge it denies.
Its teachings are based on the Bible but with new interpretations that have been condemned as heretical by some Christian organisations.
Moon, a South Korean, was born to a farming family in what is now North Korea.
He said he was inspired by a vision of Jesus at age 16 to complete the messianic mission interrupted by the crucifixion.