Rare
Doctorate Conferred
SEOUL,
South Korea, Sept. 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Rev. Dr. Sun
Myung Moon, founder of the Universal Peace Federation,
was today awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by
the Universitad Santa Maria, Caracas, Venezuela, in
recognition of his life work for peace, education, human
rights and religious freedom.
The
ceremony was conducted by University Vice President Dr.
Carlos Enrique Pena, who traveled from Caracas for the
occasion. The degree award was the culmination of a day
of celebrations for the first anniversary of the
Universal Peace Federation, founded Sept. 12, 2005 at
the Lincoln Center in New York.
"When I
learned about the life and work of Rev. Moon," said
Pena, "I felt that it was the sacred duty of our
university to offer our highest honor to recognize an
extraordinary contribution to the field of human
rights."
Such
decisions are not easily made at Santa Maria. Moon is
one of only three or four luminaries to receive the
Honoris Causa degree in the last thirty years, according
to Pena. The last recipient was Dr. Mario Villarroel,
then president of the International Red Cross.
The
venue was the newly dedicated Cheong Jeong Goong Peace
Palace, situated high in the mountains about 50 km
northeast of Seoul, well on the way to the 38th parallel
and the border with North Korea.
Putting
an end to the continuing division of Korea after 60 long
years remains one of the 86-year-old Moon's final goals.
"Who will bring Kim Jong Il to embrace peace?" he asked
1,000 guests from 140 countries gathered for the
anniversary. "And how can it be done? There is only one
way and that is to truly love the enemy until he becomes
a brother."
Since
UPF was founded, Dr. Moon and his family have visited
more than 180 countries on two world peace tours, and a
third tour, featuring Moon's children and grandchildren,
is currently taking place in 40 countries and 480
cities. It was Dr. Moon's repeated call on tour for the
rights of the individual and of the family, an end to
war, and greater religious freedoms, which drew the
attention of the Venezuelan school.
-September 2006
