Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Sun Myung Moon became worldwide popular as a mass weddings messiah. Founder of the Unification Church, Sun Myung Moon, died at 92, after a lifetime full of controversy, scrutiny and brainwashing allegations.

Sun Myung Moon, self proclaimed messiah and founder of the Unification Church, had followers all across the world. Some 20 years ago, Sun Myung Moon held mass weddings where people from 80 countries got married at the same time. The Associated Press reports Sun Myung Moon died at 92 years old in a hospital near Seoul.

This Monday, Sun Myung Moon died in a hospital near Gapyeong County, northeast of Seoul. Spokesman Ahn Ho-yeul for the Unification Church told The Associated Press the self-proclaimed messiah was hospitalized two weeks ago with pneumonia.

The Unification Church will enter a 13-day morning period. September 15, Reverend Moon will be buried near his home close to Cheonseung Mountain.

While to his followers, Sun Myung Moon was a religious leader, to the rest of the world the Reverend was a successful business man. The Unification Church leader made billions of dollars thanks to his religious vision, despite international scrutiny and at times allegations of undertaking dubious ways of recruiting new members.

Oftentimes, parents of US citizens that became Sun Myung Moon followers accused the Church of using brainwashing techniques during recruitment. According to the Unification Church there are millions of members all across the world and dismissed brainwashing allegations saying other religions were slashed with similar charges too.

For 13 months, Sun Myung Moon spent time in an U.S. prison for tax evasion. The Unification Church defended its founder saying the U.S. government is punishing Moon for his amazing popularity and influence with the country’s young people.

Over the past few decades, Sun Myung Moon and his church held a low profile. While still organizing mass weddings, the self proclaimed messiah was building a business empire. The Unification Church owns the Washington Times, Connecticut’s Bridgeport University, the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan and several other assets in Asia such as a South Korean professional soccer team and a ski resort.

Sun Myung Moon claimed he was a teenager when Jesus Christ told him he has a mission. At 16 years old, Sun Myung Moon became a self proclaimed messiah and preached reinterpreted lessons from the Bible.