Its followers, popularly known as Moonies, were once a regular sight on high streets around the world.
Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church is best known through events like its mass weddings, where thousands of couples are married at the same time, having only just met their lifetime partner.
Born in what is now North Korea in 1920, Moon claimed that God had chosen him to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. He founded the church in 1954, claiming he was the New Messiah.
His adherents, shared their leader's strong belief in marriage and his hatred of communism.
They were often to be seen selling peanuts and flowers to raise money for the church, which was constantly accused of brainwashing its members, breaking up families and lining the pockets of its leader - allegations which were fiercely denied.
There is no doubt, though, that Moon was a very wealthy man. He owned large and lavish properties in the United States, founded the Washington Times newspaper and ran arms factories in South Korea.
But the Reverend Moon guarded his wealth, eventually criminally. Convicted of massive tax evasion in the 1982, he swapped his sharp suits for prison uniform, spending 11 months behind bars.
On his release, he joined with other American churches to campaign for religious freedom.
He was outspoken in his beliefs. "God is living in me and I am the incarnation of himself," Moon told one interviewer. "The whole world is in my hand and I will conquer and subjugate the world."
Not everyone was impressed with Moon's sentiments and, in 1995, the British government barred him from entering the United Kingdom.
In May 2001 the Unification Church pulled off a remarkable coup, marrying a Roman Catholic Archbishop, Emmanuel Milingo, to a South Korean bride in a ceremony in New York City.
The Vatican was outraged but, before he recanted and returned to Rome in disgrace, Archbishop Milingo provided valuable publicity for Moon's organisation.
Two years later, Moon provoked outrage when, in a sermon, he condoned the Holocaust because it was the Jews' payment for killing Jesus.
Sun Myung Moon's fervent speeches brought him followers around the world but the debate, as to whether he was truly a great spiritual leader, or a confidence trickster who fleeced the gullible on a global scale, will continue.

The RFU announced on Tuesday that the Exiles had not met the governing body's criteria to be granted a new licence.
However, Welsh believe they had satisfied the requirements.
The club, who went into liquidation last month, say they will "deal with the ramifications" of the announcement before deciding whether to respond.
A phoenix entity, named Rugby 1885 Limited, had been granted a temporary licence on 22 December to play their last two league games after Welsh went into liquidation, although the club were deducted 20 points.
On expelling the club from the second tier, the RFU stated the Old Deer Park side were unable to provide a bond or show evidence they would be able to pay rugby creditors in full.
Welsh said they had worked "very closely" with RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie, director of professional rugby Nigel Melville and legal and governance director Angus Bujalski in order to to meet the conditions.
The Richmond-based club were a Premiership side as recently as 2015, when they were based at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford but were relegated after losing all 22 games.
Welsh have suffered financial difficulties since then and had hoped to secure investment from a United States-based group, but that deal collapsed in November.
Exiles coach Sonny Parker criticised the RFU of acting "through self-interest" and announcing the decision with "no regard to those impacted".
The former Wales international, who is backs coach and team manager, said the decision to remove them from the Championship was made public before players and coaches were informed.
"I can live with no licence but not allowing us time to speak to players and staff is unforgivable," the 39-year-old said in a statement on Twitter.
The Rev Sun Myung Moon founded the Unification Church, regarded by its critics as a dangerous cult.
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London Welsh are "extremely disappointed" by the Rugby Football Union's decision to expel them from the Championship and the professional game.