NEW YORK -- The Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon said the spirit of Moon's dead son appears to have returned and is acting through the body of a Zimbabwean disciple of the religious leader.
John Biermans, a church spokesman, said Wednesday many church members believe the unnamed disciple is under the control of Heung Jin Nim Moon, the son of the Rev. Moon. The son died in a car accident in 1984 at age 17.
Church leaders said the Rev. Moon -- who more than a decade ago founded the group whose members are popularly known as 'moonies' -- has taken no stand publicly over whether the Zimbabwean national is being influenced by the spirit of Moon's son.
But Biermans said all appearances indicate that the Zimbabwean, who has not been identified, is 'being influenced.'
'In the summer of 1987 a young black man who is a member of the Unification Church in Zimbabwe began to have the spiritual experience of being influenced by Heung Jin Nim Moon,' Biermans said. 'He was inspired to speak a message of repentance and renewed spiritual commitment.'
The church statement came on the day The Washington Post published a front-page article saying that the matter had become a major cause of controversy among church members.
The Post said the disciple -- described as a 'baby-faced black man of medium build in his twenties' -- had been a church member for about three years before he began claiming last year that he was hearing the dead teenager's voice.
Last November, the Post said, officials at the Unification Theological Seminary in upstate New York proclaimed that the church member from Zimbabwe was, indeed, Moon's dead son.
'It obviously scared a lot of people there ... but they went along with the whole thing,' the Post quoted Dick Richard, a former seminary student who recently left the church, as saying.
Since then, the paper said, the Zimbabwean has toured Europe, the United States and South Korea preaching about world peace, Adam and Eve and Moon's 'Divine Principles.'
'The guy talks non-stop. I've seen him talk for three days straight and he doesn't take a rest,' the Post quoted one church member as saying.
During his sermons, the Post said, the disciple often slaps members of his following. The exact reason for the blows was not explained, but the paper quoted one church member as saying they only served to make the man's talks more 'inspirational.'
Despite Biermans' denial, the Post said the Rev. Moon is among the believers.
And the Rev. Moon's private endorsement, the paper said, has given the disciple increasing power and influence in the church.
The paper said some church members even believe the disciple and his unusual style of hitting his followers may be responsible for the recent hospitalization of Bo Hi Pak, the president of the Rev. Moon's Washington Times newspaper.
The newspaper executive, hospitalized in December, has said he was injured in a fall.
Biermans declined to comment on the accusations, but said the possibility that the disciple is under the influence of the spirit of the Rev. Moon's son does not contradict church teachings.
'Just as many of our members are moved by the spirit of Jesus Christ to become better Christians, we believe that other righteous men and women who have passed on can be a positive influence,' he said. 'The Roman Catholic belief in the appearances of Mary at Fatima, Lourds, and elsewhere is but one example.'
He said individual church members are free to decide for themselves whether to believe that the Rev. Moon's son has returned.
