MASS WEDDING SETS RECORD FOR MOON

Over 35,000 couples were recently married in South Korea during a mass ceremony performed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church. The 1995 figure surpasses Moon’s 1992 record of 20,000. Overall, 720,000 people — two-thirds of which renewed their vows — participated in the ceremony. Moon conducted the service from Seoul via TV satellite link with 545 sites in more than 100 countries.

The newly married couples had not met before the late-summer ceremony. Moon, along with his wife, matched individuals from photographs and by categorizing age and nationality. The selections, said to be done under divine inspiration, took 15 months to complete.

Couples from Japan were charged $29,000. American couples paid $2,000. Nearly 10,000 of those participating were American. Church officials said the money underwrites satellite expenses and the outlay for 200,000 African couples. Critics say the ceremonies have been a lucrative business for the church and have brought in $1.3 billion to the church down through the years.

—MKG

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