The Korean Vice-President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Hyun-Young Lee, has been inaugurated as the 21^st President of the Korean Religious Association, an organization that has played a role in the formation of religious unification movements in Korea over the last 51 years.

At the inauguration ceremony that took place in the Great Hall of the Family Federation in Cheongpa, Seoul, on the 24^th at 2 PM, 200 people participated, including President Hyun-Young Lee, the former President of the association and current President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification-Korea, Kyeung-Seuk Ryu, the Chairman of the Board of Korean Islam, Young-Gil Choe, the Minister of the Korean Cheonrigyo, Soon-Hoon Lee, the teaching director of the Korean Buddhism of the Taego Order, Monk Do-Jin, the Chairman of Public Relations of the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Do-Gyun Kim, the Chief Buddhist Monk of the Korean Buddhism of the Jogye Order, Monk Sang-San, the President of the International Christianity Missionary Work Federation, Cheong-Soo Ahn, the teaching deputy head of the Daesun Jinrihoe, Seon-Ryeol Chang, the Chairman of Boards of the Korean Buddhism Youth Group, Dong-Wan Kim, the President of the Korean Religious Women’s Association, Buh-Hwee Ihm, the Chief Secretary of the President of the World Headquarters of the Family Federation, Won-Ju Jung, the Chairman of the Board of the Tongil Group, Yun-Gi Choi and other members of the association.

The event is to proceed in the order of the farewell ceremony of President Kyeung-Seuk Ryu, the inauguration of President Hyun-Young Lee, the congratulatory message by Chairman of the Board Young-Gil Lee and words of encouragement from Chief Secretary Won-Ju Jung.

In his inaugural address, President Hyun-Young Lee said, “If we look at our history regarding the difficulties among religions, it was always through faith that we gathered and led the way in becoming the hope for the people through dedication and sacrifice,” and expressed his gratitude to the pioneers by adding, “Even though Korea is a society of multiple religions, the reason that it has not experienced any acts of terror or extremism like in the Middle East or Europe is because honest theologians and religious leaders took the risk of promoting religions harmony movements.”

He then went on to speak his mind by saying, “The act of becoming one is the will of God itself. I truly hope and dream that religious harmony can become a worldwide paradigm, creating a standard that can be practiced by different countries and continents.”

In his congratulatory message, Chairman of the Board Young-Gil Choe said, “Peace among religions begins with exchange and interchange with each other,” and added, “By setting a custom of respect towards the traditions of other religious groups, it is my hope that the development of the association will enable various religious orders to effectively come together and serve the world.”

With Korean Buddhist Monk Neung-Ga Lee of the Jogye Order as the first, the Catholic Archbishop Gie-Nam No, Cheondogyo Deuk-Shin Choe, Protestant Minister Won-Yong Kang and Family Federation Minister Jae-Seuk Lee served as presidents.

The purpose of founding the association was to examine, consult and practice the common task of Korean religious people, and, through the harmony and coexistence between religious orders, contribute to social integration and national harmony.

The association currently includes 10 religious orders, including Korean Buddhism of the Taego Order, Korean Islam, Daesun Jinrihoe, Daejongyo, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Family Federation, opening various interreligious events, such as visiting neighboring religious orders, religious order leader seminars, religious culture festivals and religious leader soccer matches.

The religious association attended as the representative of Korea at the Asian Religious People Peace Conference in Singapore in 1976 and at the conference in New Delhi, India in 1981. In August,1984, it officially joined the 4^th World Religious People Conference that took place in Nairobi, Kenya, opening its window of communication to the religious people of the world.

More specifically, the Declaration of Tokyo, which was meant for the opening of North Korea and the victims of the 2^nd World War, was adopted by the Association at the Korean and Japanese Religious People’s Conference on May 8, 1990. On November 9, 1991, it held the 20^th Anniversary Great Assembly of Korean and Japanese Religious People.

On February 14 last year, a religious peace charter was created and proclaimed in commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the foundation of the Association, continuing the efforts to spur communication between religions through interreligious events.

Meanwhile, President Hyun-Young Lee studied mathematics at Chungnam University, acquired his master’s degree in social welfare at Sun Moon University and of health at Samyook University, and is currently in the process of earning his doctorate of health science at Gunyang University.