Kathmandu : Nepal Communist Party (UML President KP Sharma Oli addressed a program organized by the Universal Peace Federation, which is currently embroiled in controversy, during his visit to Cambodia. Oli’s secretariat has informed that he addressed the program known as the ‘Holy Wine’ event in Nepal.

“Address by Chairman Oli at the International Conference for Peace and Democracy,” states the communication from Oli’s secretariat with a picture. President Oli along with his wife Radhaika Shakya went to Cambodia on July 22 to observe the election.

Oli addressed the program of Universal Peace Federation, a Korean Christian preaching organization, on July 22nd. Oli has returned to Nepal on July 25.

During the establishment of the Universal Peace Federation in South Korea by Sun Myung Moon in 1954, he claimed to be a new messiah and said that he completed the work that Jesus Christ could not accomplish. He also claimed to have started a new era with a ceremony called ‘Holy Marriage’. While overseas, the church made headlines when it performed mass weddings for thousands of couples at the same time.

Moon used to match the couples chosen for such marriages by looking at photographs, so that couples who had never met had to be united in marriage.

Moon, the founder of a church that promoted traditional family values, was a staunch anti-communist. This right-wing political orientation of the church and its founder helped the church expand abroad, even into Japan, during the Cold War.

Moon developed a good friendship with Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. In 1968, Kishi, who was himself an anti-communist, helped establish the political wing of the church, the International Federation for Victory over Communism.

After gaining support from the Japanese government and establishing its base in Japan, the Universal Peace Federation started treating its Japanese followers with double standards, similar to foreigners. According to a former member of the church, they were compelled to give donations every day and were disrespected by not being given anything in return.