Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered an investigation into the unification church amid a growing scandal linking his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the controversial religious group.
Kishida announced the investigation during a parliamentary session on Monday and said it would be carried out using “the right to ask questions” of the Religious Corporations Act.
On September 30, Kishida claimed that a telephone hotline established earlier that month had received more than 1,700 inquiries about the church.
The government “has taken seriously the many victims, poverty and broken families who have not received adequate help,” he said. He added that it was difficult to say when the investigation would end.
The government will convene a meeting next week to review the conditions of the inquiry, the first set out under the “right to ask questions”.
The Unification Church, formally known as the Federation of Families for Peace and World Unification, rose to prominence in the late 1950s and became a global organization in the 1980s. It continues to make international headlines for its mass weddings in thousands of young couples marry at the same time, with some brides and grooms meeting for the first time on their wedding day.
The church, which is still prominent in parts of the Asia has come under greater global scrutiny since former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in central Japan in July.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported at the time that the suspect targeted the former prime minister because he believed that Abe’s grandfather – another former leader of the country – had aided the expansion of a religious group he held a grudge against.
THE CNN was unable to independently confirm which group the Yamagami was referring to, or any links between Abe and any group the suspect harbored hatred for.
But the Unification Church came forward later, saying the suspect’s mother was a member who attended its events about once a month. A spokesperson said he learned that the suspect’s mother was experiencing financial difficulties around 2002, but added: “We don’t know what the causes were or how it affected the family circumstances.”
The suspect himself was never a member of the church, the spokesman said.
The church said it received a message of support from Abe at an event it hosted, but that the former prime minister was not a registered member of the church, nor was he on its advisory board. He added that he was intrigued by reports of alleged resentment against the group by the suspect and that he would “fully cooperate” with the police.
But public suspicion of the group — and a backlash against its fundraising practices — continues to mount after an August investigation by Japan’s LDP found that more than half of its lawmakers had ties to the Church.
Several high-ranking officials, including former Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, said they received help in previous Church membership elections.
Kishida purged these authorities and apologized for his ties to the church, vowing to cut his party’s ties with the group.
Depending on the outcome of the impending investigation and a court judgment, the Unification Church could lose its religious corporation status and subsequent tax benefits, NHK reported on Monday. The group, however, could still operate as an entity.
Source: CNN Brasil
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