Current:Home > BackJapan government panel to decide whether to ask court to revoke legal status of Unification Church-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Japan government panel to decide whether to ask court to revoke legal status of Unification Church
View Date:2025-01-13 21:16:26
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government is convening a religious affairs council on Thursday to ask experts to decide whether to seek a court order to revoke the legal status of the Unification Church. The church’s fundraising tactics and cozy ties with the governing party have triggered public outrage.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has taken tough stance in a perceived move to shore up support, hurt by his governing Liberal Democratic party’s decades-long ties with the South Korea-based church that surfaced in the investigation of former leader Shinzo Abe’s 2022 assassination.
The alleged Abe killer told police that his motive was the former prime minister’s link to the church that had bankrupted his family due to his mother’s excessive donations.
Education Minister Masahito Moriyama told experts on the panel in his opening remarks that his ministry, if endorsed by the panel, hopes to file for a court approval to strip the church’s legal status.
If the panel endorses the step, the ministry is expected to file for a court approval as early as Friday, according to Japanese media. If the legal status is stripped, the church would lose its tax exemption privilege as a religious organization but can still operate.
If approved, the church will be the first to lose its legal status under a civil code violation. Two earlier cases involved criminal charges — the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which was behind a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and the Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.
Moriyama said his ministry has reached its conclusions after interviewing 170 victims of the church’s alleged fundraising and other problems. The ministry held several hearings and said the church failed to respond to dozens of questions during them.
The Unification Church, founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon, obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in 1968 amid an anti-communist movement supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.
Since the 1970s, the church has been accused of devious business and recruitment tactics, including brainwashing members into making huge donations to Moon, often ruining their finances and families. It has faced hundreds of civil lawsuits and acknowledged excessive donations but says the problem has been mitigated for more than a decade. It recently pledged further reforms.
Experts say Japanese followers are asked to pay for sins committed by their ancestors during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, and that the majority of the church’s worldwide funding comes from Japan.
veryGood! (52188)
Related
- 'The Penguin' spoilers! Colin Farrell spills on that 'dark' finale episode
- Uganda sprinter Tarsis Orogot wins 200-meter heat - while wearing SpongeBob socks
- Are pheromones the secret to being sexy? Maybe. Here's how they work.
- Canadian Olympic Committee revokes credential for track coach amid abuse allegations
- Love Is Blind’s Chelsea Blackwell Reacts to Megan Fox’s Baby News
- Sam Kendricks wins silver in pole vault despite bloody, punctured hand
- Wayfair’s 60% off Bedding & Bath Sale Has Everything You Need for Your Dorm, Starting at $9
- Incumbent Maloy still leads after recount in Utah US House race, but lawsuit could turn the tide
- Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for $35M
- 2024 Olympics: Rower Justin Best Proposes to Girlfriend With 2,738 Yellow Roses in Nod to Snapchat Streak
Ranking
- Detroit-area police win appeal over liability in death of woman in custody
- Teresa Giudice Explains Her Shocking Reaction to Jackie Goldschneider Bombshell During RHONJ Finale
- Georgia repeats at No. 1 as SEC, Big Ten dominate preseason US LBM Coaches Poll
- Slow-moving Tropical Storm Debby bringing torrential rains, major flood threat to southeastern US
- Eva Longoria Shares She and Her Family Have Moved Out of the United States
- Texas trooper gets job back in Uvalde after suspension from botched police response to 2022 shooting
- Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina resigns as widening unrest sees protesters storm her official residence
- Chiefs make Harrison Butker NFL's highest-paid kicker with contract extension, per reports
Recommendation
-
Shaboozey to headline halftime show of Lions-Bears game on Thanksgiving
-
Maine denies initial request of Bucksport-area owner to give up dams
-
Is this a correction or a recession? What to know amid the international market plunge
-
Army offering $10K reward for information on missing 19-year-old pregnant woman
-
Controversial comedian Shane Gillis announces his 'biggest tour yet'
-
Houston mom charged with murder in baby son's hot car death; grandma says it's a mistake
-
The Stanley x LoveShackFancy Collection is Here: Elevate Your Sip Before These Tumblers Sell Out
-
A Legal Fight Over Legacy Oil Industry Pollution Heats Up in West Texas