Japan Seeks to Revoke Tax Exempt Status of Unification Church

AP reports that Japan's government today asked the Tokyo District Court to revoke the Unification  Church's status as a religious organization. Japan's branch of the Church is known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.  The step was taken after an Education Ministry investigation concluded that the Church for decades has manipulated its followers into donating money.  According to Japan's Education Minister, the church pushed its followers to purchase expensive goods and donate money beyond their financial ability, causing fear and harm to them and their families. If successful, the government action would remove the Church's tax exemption, but would not prevent it from operating in the country. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Court Dismisses Unification Church Trademark Dispute On Ecclesiastical Abstention Grounds

In Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity v. World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, Inc., (MD PA, March 30, 2022), a Pennsylvania federal district court dismissed on ecclesiastical abstention grounds a trademark dispute between the Unification Church (HSA), led by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon's wife, and defendant Unification Sanctuary, an organization created by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's son to spread Rev. Moon's teachings. At issue is the right of Sanctuary to use the trademarked Twelve Gates symbol. The court said in part:

While it is undisputed that the Twelve Gates symbol is registered with the USPTO in HSA’s name, Sanctuary contends that the Twelve Gates symbol is not entitled to trademark protection because the symbol has become generic as a universal religious symbol that represents Unificationism generally....

[T]he implicit question raised ... is whether Sanctuary can be classified as a branch of the Unificationist church in light of the apparent fundamental disagreements between the parties relating to the beliefs and practice of this religion. Indeed, while Sanctuary classifies itself as a Unificationist church, HSA vehemently disputes this assertion.... [I]t is well-settled that the court cannot resolve church disputes on the basis of religious doctrine and practice....

HSA’s registration of the Twelve Gates symbol with the USPTO constitutes prima facie evidence that it owns this trademark right....  However, Sanctuary has contested HSA’s ownership on inherently religious grounds. Specifically, Sanctuary has alleged that Sean Moon is the owner of all Unificationist property as the heir of Rev. Moon, and that he therefore owns the trademark to the Twelve Gates symbol since he controls the Unificationist Church, and by extension, HSA as a branch of same.

Plainly, this is a dispute that the court cannot resolve without venturing into issues of church leadership or organization—an area in which the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit have already determined is inappropriate in a similar dispute presented by the same parties.

European Court Says Russia Violated Rights of Krishna Movement, Vaishnavism and Unification Church

As reported by Courthouse News Service, yesterday in Chamber Judgments, Russia lost two separate freedom of religion cases in the European Court of Human Rights.

In Centre of Societies for Krishna Consciousness In Russia and Frolov v. Russia, (ECHR, Nov. 23, 2021), the court held that a hostile description of the Krishna movement in government brochure titled “Watch out for cults!” violated petitioner's rights:

The Court considers that, even where the measures taken by the Government did not actually restrict the applicants’ freedom to manifest their beliefs through worship and practice, the hostile terms which the State authorities used to describe their movement may have had negative consequences for them and constitute an interference with their rights under Article 9 § 1 of the Convention.

The court also held that the rights of freedom of religion and assembly were violated when the District government refused permission for a meeting to promote the teaching of Vaishnavism.

In Corley and Others v. Russia, (ECHR, Nov. 23, 2021), the court held that the enforced departures of two religious workers were designed to prevent the spread of the Unification Church's teachings in Russia, in violation of various provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Cert. Denied In Unification Church Leadership Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied review in Moon v. Moon,   (Docket No. 20-1415, certiorari denied 6/14/2021). (Order List) (Links to pleadings.) In the case, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in a Nov. 5, 2020 decision (full text) applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine to refuse to adjudicate a dispute over who is the true leader of the Unification Church.

Suit Over Unification Church Leadership Is Dismissed

In Hyung Jin "Sean" Moon v. Hak Ja Han Moon, (SD NY, Dec. 19, 2019), a New York federal district court applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine to dismiss a suit over who is the rightful leader of the Unification Church. The leadership struggle was between the wife and the son of Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Summarizing its holding, the court said:

[N]otwithstanding plaintiff's efforts to cast this proceeding as a "classic corporate dispute" resolvable by reference to neutral principles of law,... this matter is, at bottom, the latest chapter in a protracted controversy over who should replace the late Rev. Moon as leader of the Unification Church. Because this Court may not, consistent with the First Amendment, intervene in that dispute, plaintiff's complaint must be dismissed in its entirety for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Copyright Infringement Counterclaims Not Dismissed

In Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity v. World Peace & Unification Sanctuary, Inc., (MD PA, July 22, 2019), a Pennsylvania federal district court refused to dismiss counterclaims or strike defenses in a copyright infringement suit between two religious organizations.  At issue is the "Twelve Gates" mark which defendant claims is not a valid trademark, and the Tongil symbol which defendant claims is available to be used by all followers of Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

Unification Church Sues Its Founder's Son For Trademark Infringement

The Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA) has filed a suit alleging unauthorized use of a registered trademark against  The World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania ("Sanctuary Church").  According to a Unification Church press release:

In light of the recent media attention surrounding Sanctuary Church, public concern regarding the political views of this organization, and public brand confusion, Family Federation has made the difficult decision to pursue litigation to protect the legacy of its founders, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

As reported by The Blaze earlier this month, the founder of the Sanctuary Church is Hyung Jin Sean Moon, the son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon who founded the Unification Church in the 1950s. Hyung has been labeled an anti-LGBT cult leader by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Earlier this year, Sanctuary Church sponsored a service at which hundreds of members, some holding unloaded AR-15 rifles, exchanged wedding vows.  They see the AR-15 as symbolizing the "rod of iron" in the Book of Revelation.

Ecclesiastical Abstention Does Not Require Dismissal of Suit Over Control of Unification Church's Assets

In Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International v. Moon, (DC App., Dec. 24, 2015), the District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed the D.C. Superior Court's dismissal of a complicated dispute over control of a D.C. non-profit corporation, UCI, which over the years has managed hundreds of millions of dollars of assets donated to Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. The trial court had invoked the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, concluding that the dispute could not be resolved without the court deciding questions of religious doctrines.  The appellate court disagreed.

UCI was created in 1977.  In 2006, Preston Moon, one of Rev. Moon's sons became president of UCI and one of its five directors. In 2008, Rev. Moon appointed another son, Sean Moon, (Preston's younger brother) as the next leader of the Church's worldwide religious organization.  This "disappointed" Preston who, apparently assumed that he would be appointed to the religious as well as financial leadership of the Church.  In response to Sean's appointment, Preston took a number of steps to divest the Church of its control over UCI and its assets.

Those actions are challenged in this case by three entities connected with the original Unification Church and by two individuals who Preston removed as directors of UCI. The suit claims that Preston improperly took control of UCI's board, ignoring the long-standing practice of electing individuals nominated by Rev. Moon. The suit also alleges diversion of assets and self-dealing.  In reversing the trial court's dismissal of the case, the court said in part:

From plaintiffs’ allegations, it appears that a profound alteration in the corporation ... occurred under Preston Moon. An organization plainly established to promote the preservation of African wildlife and acquiring vast funds on that basis might well be barred from switching its purpose to expenditures on domestic cats and dogs regardless of how technically such a switch might be read into the text of its articles of incorporation. On the present record, we cannot say with confidence that a somewhat analogous transformation cannot be shown to have occurred here. And, in any event, the allegation that corporate funds were used here to benefit one of the directors personally would appear readily subject to court review....

[W]e agree with plaintiffs that the record at this early stage of a difficult and complicated dispute with many ramifications does not support a conclusion that the trial court must engage in inquiry banned by the First Amendment in order to resolve any of plaintiffs’ claims.... Were we to hold that, based on the current record, the First Amendment precludes our civil courts from adjudicating plaintiffs’ claims, then it would approach granting immunity to “every nonprofit corporation with a religious purpose from breach of fiduciary suits . . . and prevent any scrutiny of questionable transactions.”

The court also resolved jurisdictional and standing issues.

Japanese Court Awards Unificationist Damages Against Relatives, Deprogrammer Who Held Him Captive

In Japan, 50-year old Toru Goto, a member of the Unification Church, has won a lawsuit against a religious deprogrammer and against his own brother, sister and sister-in-law who held him captive from September 1995 to February 2008 in an effort to get him to give up his religious beliefs. According to a press release from the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the Tokyo District Court in a Jan. 28 decision awarded Goto damages equivalent to $47,000(US). Unificationists hope this is a step toward ending deprogramming in Japan.