The new religious denomination was founded by Moon Sun-myung in 1954 and is also known as the Unity Church and the Moon Sect.
The church community has received a lot of attention in Japan after the suspected perpetrator in Abe’s murder, Tetsuya Yamagami (41), told the police that the motive behind the shooting was Abe’s supposed links to the church.
– What he did was wrong, but Yamagami suffered because of the church, says Hiroshi Yamaguchi, a lawyer who heads the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales.
The advocacy organization works to provide legal assistance to people who have had financial problems because of the church and other religious groups. They have around 300 members.
The united family has long cultivated ties to high-ranking Japanese politicians.
The 41-year-old has said his mother has made huge donations to the church, bankrupted the family and ruined his life.
Abe was shot when he gave a speech in Nara in western Japan on July 8 where he was campaigning for the liberal LDP party.
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