Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, Page 62
“Buying Brazil” — History and Analysis of Unification Church Activities
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon has a $10 million apartment in New York and a luxury estate
in Uruguay. When he stays at the Moonies‘ New Hope Ranch, he lives in a small wooden
hut.
It was during a fishing trip to Brazil‘s remote southwestern swamplands in 1994 that Rev.
Moon hatched his dream of building a haven for his Moonie sect. "Brazil is huge, with a
small mind. We will open it and show that the Third World can become rich," he is said to
have told his devotees.
So enchanted was he with a marshy region that lies on the edges of the Pantanal National
Park in the state of Matto Grosso do Sul that he started buying up land. His first acquisition
was a 100,000-acre ranch on shrub-covered flatland at the confluence of two rivers, the
Prata and Miranda, teeming with rare fish. Now, years later, the 82-year-old Korean
billionaire, who founded and heads the controversial religious group formally known as the
Unification Church, has bought up so much land in this remote area that the authorities are
growing increasingly concerned.
Last year the Matto Grosso do Sul state legislature began to investigate Moon‘s activities.
His purchase of 500,000 acres spreading across the border into Paraguay — the area
includes an entire coastal town — has made them especially edgy. He now owns a large
sector of the international border.
Moon has vowed to invest as much as $2 billion in the area over the coming years, but the
governor of Matto Grosso do Sul, Jose Osorio dos Santos, has called his land-buying quest
in the region "a great worry." The Brazilian intelligence agency has been investigating
Moon‘s activities. Military authorities believe his purchases are a threat to national
sovereignty, and voice fears that the controversial sect leader is trying to construct his own
nation in the heart of South America. The Catholic Church in the area has accused the sect
of using cash incentives to lure locals. The federal police force has launched probes into
money laundering by a former Moon employee, and has confiscated the Unification
Church’s banking records in Brazil.
Hoping for Messianic Revival
Lawyers defending Moon‘s organization in Brazil have dismissed the charges, alleging that
they amount to nothing but religious persecution. Regardless of what may come to light
through official inquiries, what seems clear is that the Moonies view this under populated,
barren corner of South America as an ideal place for reviving their messianic leader‘s quest
to change the world and bring "global peace."
Famed for holding mass weddings between Moonies he picks at random from a pile of
photographs — and for his claims to be "the true father of the world" — The Rev. Moon has
lost some of his following over the past years. He founded the Unification Church in South
Korea in 1954 and quickly gained a reputation for accumulating business interests
worldwide. His church is said to have had some 4.6 million members across the globe.
The sect considers Jesus to be a failed messiah and the Rev Moon the chosen one. Moon‘s
preaching mixes elements of Christianity, Confucianism and Buddhism, and focus much on
his self-professed "gift" at matchmaking. In the 1980s, Moon had some 30,000 followers in
the US, his main base. But in recent years numbers have fallen to a few thousand. His
reputation suffered in the 1970s when he was briefly jailed for tax evasion and, more
recently, after a scandal in which one of his son‘s wives accused her husband of being
addicted to cocaine.
Moon‘s South American venture looks like a last-ditch attempt to resurrect his sect. He still
heads a sizeable business empire, which includes The Washington Times and a university in
“Buying Brazil” — History and Analysis of Unification Church Activities
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon has a $10 million apartment in New York and a luxury estate
in Uruguay. When he stays at the Moonies‘ New Hope Ranch, he lives in a small wooden
hut.
It was during a fishing trip to Brazil‘s remote southwestern swamplands in 1994 that Rev.
Moon hatched his dream of building a haven for his Moonie sect. "Brazil is huge, with a
small mind. We will open it and show that the Third World can become rich," he is said to
have told his devotees.
So enchanted was he with a marshy region that lies on the edges of the Pantanal National
Park in the state of Matto Grosso do Sul that he started buying up land. His first acquisition
was a 100,000-acre ranch on shrub-covered flatland at the confluence of two rivers, the
Prata and Miranda, teeming with rare fish. Now, years later, the 82-year-old Korean
billionaire, who founded and heads the controversial religious group formally known as the
Unification Church, has bought up so much land in this remote area that the authorities are
growing increasingly concerned.
Last year the Matto Grosso do Sul state legislature began to investigate Moon‘s activities.
His purchase of 500,000 acres spreading across the border into Paraguay — the area
includes an entire coastal town — has made them especially edgy. He now owns a large
sector of the international border.
Moon has vowed to invest as much as $2 billion in the area over the coming years, but the
governor of Matto Grosso do Sul, Jose Osorio dos Santos, has called his land-buying quest
in the region "a great worry." The Brazilian intelligence agency has been investigating
Moon‘s activities. Military authorities believe his purchases are a threat to national
sovereignty, and voice fears that the controversial sect leader is trying to construct his own
nation in the heart of South America. The Catholic Church in the area has accused the sect
of using cash incentives to lure locals. The federal police force has launched probes into
money laundering by a former Moon employee, and has confiscated the Unification
Church’s banking records in Brazil.
Hoping for Messianic Revival
Lawyers defending Moon‘s organization in Brazil have dismissed the charges, alleging that
they amount to nothing but religious persecution. Regardless of what may come to light
through official inquiries, what seems clear is that the Moonies view this under populated,
barren corner of South America as an ideal place for reviving their messianic leader‘s quest
to change the world and bring "global peace."
Famed for holding mass weddings between Moonies he picks at random from a pile of
photographs — and for his claims to be "the true father of the world" — The Rev. Moon has
lost some of his following over the past years. He founded the Unification Church in South
Korea in 1954 and quickly gained a reputation for accumulating business interests
worldwide. His church is said to have had some 4.6 million members across the globe.
The sect considers Jesus to be a failed messiah and the Rev Moon the chosen one. Moon‘s
preaching mixes elements of Christianity, Confucianism and Buddhism, and focus much on
his self-professed "gift" at matchmaking. In the 1980s, Moon had some 30,000 followers in
the US, his main base. But in recent years numbers have fallen to a few thousand. His
reputation suffered in the 1970s when he was briefly jailed for tax evasion and, more
recently, after a scandal in which one of his son‘s wives accused her husband of being
addicted to cocaine.
Moon‘s South American venture looks like a last-ditch attempt to resurrect his sect. He still
heads a sizeable business empire, which includes The Washington Times and a university in
