Unification Church Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Founders Schengen Ban === In November 1995, German authorities blacklisted the founders of the Unification Church (Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and his wife, Hak Ja Han Moon) through the [[Schengen Information System]] and thus forbid entry to 12 European countries.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Reactions to the law by minority religions |date=2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group Routledge |isbn=978-0-367-69449-4 |editor-last=Barker |editor-first=Eileen |series=Routledge informs series on minority religions and spiritual movements |location=Londin New York |page=97 |editor-last2=Richardson |editor-first2=James T.}}</ref> The period of exclusion was extended several times.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2002 - Germany |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2003/en/23299 |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=UNHCR Refworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=International Religious Freedom Report 2004, Germany |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2004/35456.htm |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor}}</ref> After 12 years on October 24th, 2006 [[Federal Constitutional Court|German Federal Constitutional Court]] ruled, that previous court rulings and authorities' treatment of the Unification Church in the period from November 1995 violated Article 4 paragraph 1 (Freedom of faith and conscience is inviolable) and paragraph 2 (undisturbed practice is guaranteed) of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|German Constitution]] and is repealed must reimburse the UC for the necessary expenses (articles 2 and 3 of the ruling). Also stated, that the authorities' defense was based on [[Rumor|rumors]] and assumptions (article 15 of the ruling) and the previous ruling of the Higher Administrative Court was based on weighting religious matters, which is not permitted by state authorities (article 27 of the ruling).<ref>{{Cite web |title=BVerfG, Beschluss vom 24. 10. 2006 β 2 BvR 1908/03 |url=https://lexetius.com/2006,2690 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304231539/https://lexetius.com/2006,2690 |archive-date=2024-03-04 |website=lexetius.com}}</ref> Court by this decision rejects with immediate effect the rationale of the [[Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)|German Federal Ministry of the Interior]] for the 1995 immigration exclusion and not granting an entry [[Travel visa|visa]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2007 Report on International Religious Freedom - Germany |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2007/en/48847 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304134426/https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2007/en/48847 |archive-date=2024-03-04 |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=UNHCR Refworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bundesverfassungsgericht - Presse - Erfolgreiche Verfassungsbeschwerde der deutschen Vereinigungskirche gegen Einreiseverbot fΓΌr Ehepaar Mun |url=https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg06-109.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028134706/https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg06-109.html |archive-date=2014-10-28 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page