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The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification was created by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon to expand the mission of the Unification Church, although some people see no difference and regard it is a puzzling or misleading name change.
The Family Federation is pretty much identical with the Unification Church.
In 1997, Rev. Moon asked church members to change the official name of the church from Unification Church to Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, but for various practical reasons the new name has not entirely replaced the old.
Regardless of any organizational changes, the aims of Unification movement remain unchanged, and the religion practiced by Unificationists is still called "Unification Church". The seminary is still the Unification Theological Seminary, and there are no plains to change the names of Unification Thought or Unification Theology .
Supporters regard the Family Federation as having been instrumental in non-violent change in the former Soviet Union and in the Middle East. Rev. Moon persuaded Gorbachev to restore religious freedom and to permit financial incentives to workers, and not too long after that Gorbachev resigned and the Soviet Union dissolved, freeing its satellite nations and re-organizing as the much looser and happier Confederation of Independent States .
In the Middle East, Rev. Moon has worked with religious leaders for reconciliation of ancient resentments. Ceremonies of reconciliation have been held among Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders in Jerusalem (see Jerusalem Declaration). In the 1980s, the grand mufti of Syria and a contingent of his followers traveled to New York for a six-week in-depth study of Moon's teaching, in an effort toward inter-faith understanding.
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