September 19,2006

Respected brothers and sisters of the Roman Catholic clergy,

It is my great honor to spend these two days with you at this historic, international convocation bringing together the founding community of Married Priests Now. I am deeply moved to discover the depth of your life with God, as well as your sacrificial devotion to serve others in your capacities as priests, nuns, and family members of those who have been called to clerical service.

I have learned so much from your theological and historical knowledge, and I have been inspired and lifted up by your pure hearts of gratitude and devotion to God and His children, even in the face of severe persecution and mistreatment by your Mother Church. Roman Catholicism forged itself through centuries of Christian obedience to the sacred Word, and to the leadership of the risen Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By comparison we Unification members are a young community.
In these two days it has become clear to me that we can learn a great deal from your long established tradition. I pray that our two communities can grow in love and appreciation for one another, becoming ever closer through shared purpose and obedience to God above.

I want to take only a few moments this morning to bring a message of fraternal greetings from our religious founder Father Moon and his family, as well as to tell a tiny bit about his teachings and ministry, especially as it pertains to why he has taken such a great interest in the lives and missions of married, Roman Catholic Clergy. l know many of your friends and associates will have a great deal of curiosity and indeed some will have genuine concern over the matter of Father Moon's relationship with this project and movement.

This js why I will be as clear and open as possible, even though time limitation will allow me only the most surface explanations of Father Moon, his family, and his worldwide movement for peace. I believe that only a trusting and open relationship among spiritual people can truly serve Heavenly Father and His desire to save His children from sin and difficulty.

First of ali, I bring you a message of love, gratitude, and encouragement from Father and Mother Moon, and their family of 3 generations who are serving the Will of God. Father and Mother Moon always ask after ali of you and listen with rapt interest whenever I report what I am learning from Archbishop Milingo, Father's Brennan, Trujillo, Serrone and many others and their families who are charting the path of Married Priests Now. Father and Mother Moon insist that we take the greatest of care to serve ali of you with humility, care and sincerity.

Father Moon and his family members, like so many of you have suffered unspeakable suffering and indignity that has come from persecution and misunderstanding throughout his entire life of 80 plus years serving God. He deeply understands what you have suffered in your determination to follow the voice of God within, even when it meant becoming the object of disdain and mistreatment from others who are deaf to what you hear and know. He prays deeply for the success of Married Priests Now, and tells me that any Unification members who want to support this work must be prayerful and even more serious than the members themselves to see the growth and expansion of this great cause. One thing he tells me is, "please be sure our brothers and sisters and families of Married Priests Now have peaceful and thankful hearts, and no anger toward anyone. With a heart of forgiveness and redoubled focus and efforts on serving those who seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness, this group can rise to become the breath of resurrection for the Mother Church.

As many of you know, Father Moon has suffered 6 unjust imprisonments for his faith, including in the United States of America. On every occasion God's heart grieved to see how easily the world turns against those who love and serve in the name of God. But on every occasion both during and after his imprisonments he always sought to love and serve his tormentors, often in substantial ways. When Father Moon was released from Danbury Prison in Connecticut, among the very first to welcome him in a spirit of solidarity were members of the Roman Catholic Clergy. It is these sorts of life experiences that he will never forget, and so he sends you his love, gratitude, and has even devoted a great deal of both human and material resources to help the cause of Married Priests Now in every way he can. Some of your leaders, such as Archbishop Milingo and others have met Reverend and Mrs.
Moon personally. I hope they will be able to tell you about these experiences and what it was like.

But mere common suffering is not the only reason for Father Moon's great interest in Married Priests Now, his devotion to support your cause also grows naturally out of his theology and understanding of God's providence. This time I can explain only a little, but these teachings are very important, and I hope that over time many of you can come to learn about them more fully. They are remarkably close to the courageous courses that ali of you here chose for your ministries many years ago.

Briefly, we understand through our reading of Genesis and through the guidance of God's Holy Spirit, that the very purpose for which Heavenly Father created Heaven, Earth, and Human beings is for the purpose of filling the world with endless love coming from God Centered families. Adam and Eve were directed through God's commandments to grow purely to maturity until which time they would be blessed in marriage and begin as the originai heavenly family in which God could dwell.

Tragically in disobedience to God, and surrender to the deceptions of Satan, Adam and Eve both fell before they could perfect their love, and instead of marrying to start God's own family, they began a history plagued by Satan who took control of their cooperation and obedience. It was not until this tragedy bore the fruit of violent murder in the very children of this couple, that the dispensation to send the Messiah began.
Jesus was sent as savior to rectify and set right the entanglement of evil and violence that arose in the family of our first ancestors.

Jesus our Lord was sent by God to save us, and to begin the traditions meant originally for Adam. He was met with faithlessness and rejection to the point of death at an early age, resulting in his promise to return to build the Kingdom of which he spoke so frequently during the early parts of his ministry.
Fortunately the perfect oneness between Jesus and God the Father allowed for the condition of the resurrection through which believers can be saved and protected until the time of Christ's return.

In solidarity with Lord Jesus' life on earth, a period of indemnity and repentance was needed. This is the impetus for the limited historical period in which celibacy characterized clerical devotion, not only in the Roman Catholic community, but in many religions the world over. But this short period to indemnify the sin of our faithlessness before Jesus had to pass.
It is contrary to the originai Edenic will of God, namely to establish beautiful God centered families to show the world God's love.

Each one of you here now are the one's whom God has called to pioneer the path to end the condition of celibacy on a world wide level. Father Moon knows this is the Will of God. And he knows that you who are the first fruits of this Divine inspiration and therefore are the ones who have had to suffer most.
Please understand that you will never have a greater friend for your cause than Father Moon. If you will forgive me for saying so, it is not a personal, humanistic love for you because you have suffered, rather it is first his love for the Will of God, and for the fact that you suffered for Him(!) that compels Father Moon to devote his loving support to your efforts.

As I say, this is only the tiniest surface of what I want to share.
God willing we will have time ahead to learn more from one another .

I hope I have helped to answer some questions. We are thrilled with the vision and hope from Married Priests Now. May God bless you and your families.