Shinzo Abe’s assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, outlined his motivations for shooting the former Japanese Prime Minister. The 41-year-old- once part of the country’s Navy- had no gripes with his politics per se but has blamed Abe’s support for a global religious organization as the reason for him to open fire on him in an election rally at Nara on Friday. The religious organization in question- popularly known as the Moonies- has long allied with conservative politicians across the globe, including Donald Trump. Tetsuya’s mother is an official member of the Japan chapter of the organization since the 1990s, apparently making a hefty donation 20 years ago, bringing financial ruin to the family.

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Founded by hard-line South Korean anti-communist Sun Myung Moon- from whom members take their name- in 1954, it officially goes as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification or the Unification Church. Driven by a vision he had at 15, Moon wished to restore the world to a state of ‘sinless’ purity, reports the Guardian. Moon died in 2012 but made significant associations during his lifetime, including Nobusuke Kishi, former Japanese Prime Minister and Abe’s grandfather. Moon had always enjoyed close ties to Japan, completing his engineering degree from a high school in Japan. He was no stranger to controversy in his lifetime. He was slapped with tax evasion charges in the US in 1981, after migrating to the country in the 1970s.

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Fearing a communist takeover in the post-war period, Kishi helped establish a Japanese chapter in 1959, during his penultimate year as Prime Minister. Widely known as a cult, the Moonies are infamous for being driven by financial gain. They also organize mass weddings in sports arenas, bringing together thousands of couples who have never previously met. From its 1980s peak of over 3 million members, the church has experienced a sharp decline in followers. Today, it numbers several hundred thousand.

Since handing over control to his youngest son- Hyung Jin Moon- in 2008, the organization has been fractured after Jin Moon’s spat with his mother, Hak Ja Han. Jin Moon now leads the breakaway Sanctuary Church while the latter helms the Unification Church.

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Abe’s ties to the church were no secret. He had constantly drawn flak for speaking at public events organized at the church, even facing protests after sending a telegram to a mass wedding event in 2006. Undeterred, he had continued to engage with the church, sending congratulatory messages to its affiliate, Universal Peace Federation, last September. Little did the ex-PM know that despite all his ills, his association with the controversial church would bring his demise.