Moon Proclaims Himself ‘Messiah’

SAN FRANCISCO — The Rev. Sun Myung Moon has told a religious conference that he is the Messiah.

Moon’s Unification Church has long taught members that its Korean-born founder-prophet was a necessary second Messiah because Jesus failed to complete his mission on Earth, but his first public statement of that doctrine came Thursday before his church-sponsored Assembly of World Religions. The speech upset some participants; an Anglican priest called it “heresy.”

Moon said the world needs its “true parent” to free itself from Satan’s influence, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. “This person is the Messiah,” Moon said. “To help fulfill this very purpose I have been called upon by God . . . I have suffered persecution and confronted death with only one purpose in mind, so that I can live with the heart of true parents to love races of all colors in the world.”