TOKYO: Organizations tackling the issue of the Unification Church’s problematic practices, including the collection of massive donations from followers, welcomed the Japanese culture ministry’s decision Thursday to seek a court order to dissolve the controversial religious group.

“A request for a dissolution order will be a big step toward providing relief for all victims and preventing future damage,” a group called Lawyers from Across Japan for the Victims of the Unification Church said in a statement.

The ministry plans to ask Tokyo District Court as early as Friday to issue a dissolution order against the Unification Church, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

The lawyer group praised the Agency for Cultural Affairs for facing the reality of the damage caused by the religious group, by conducting numerous hearings with victims across the country.

The Unification Church “should take the dissolution order request seriously,” the lawyer group added. “We once again strongly urge it to apologize and pay compensation to all victims swiftly.”

The lawyer group urged the government and the Diet, Japan’s parliament, to take administrative and legislative measures to prevent the Unification Church from hiding its assets and from transferring funds to South Korea, where it is headquartered, before a dissolution order is finalized.

Meanwhile, an organization formed by children of followers of controversial religious groups, including the Unification Church, who had also been followers, said that the dissolution of the Unification Church is an “undoubtedly effective and necessary measure from the viewpoint of preventing new damage.”

The group said that it will continue efforts to prevent further damage and raise awareness, as problems faced by children of religious group followers are not limited to the Unification Church and a dissolution order alone will not solve them.

JIJI Press