Mom Of Suspected Abe Assassin A Unification Church Member

The mother of the man arrested in the shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe belongs to the Unification Church, the head of its Japanese arm said on Monday, July 11, 2022, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Ju-min Park and Tim Kelly reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah and outspoken anti-communist, created the Unification Church in South Korea in 1954.

Police have identified Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old unemployed man, as the culprit who approached Abe and opened fire during a campaign rally on Friday. According to Kyodo News agency, Yamagami claimed Abe had promoted a religious group to whom his mother had given a "huge donation."

According to the Yomiuri newspaper and other media, Yamagami informed authorities that the donation caused his mother to become bankrupt. Yamagami's mother was a church member, according to Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Japanese chapter of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church.

Tanaka declined to comment on her charitable contributions, citing an ongoing police inquiry. Tanaka stated that neither Abe nor the man detained for the shooting were members of the church.

Tanaka added that Abe was not a church adviser and that the church would cooperate with police on the probe if asked.

Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah and outspoken anti-communist, created the Unification Church in South Korea in 1954. It has earned international notoriety for its mass weddings, in which thousands of couples are married at once.

Daily newspapers in South Korea, Japan, and the United States are among the church's affiliates. Moon established a corporate empire including the conservative Washington Times newspaper.

According to the church's website, Abe, who was known for his conservative views, spoke at an event hosted by an organization affiliated with the church last September and praised the affiliate's work towards peace on the Korean peninsula, Chang-Ran Kim and Satoshi Sugiyama also reported for Reuters.

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