Dennis Orme

Dennis Frederick Orme (born 17 June 1938) is a former leader of Unification Churches in England, theologian and author. Orme and his wife were among the earliest Western followers of the Unification Church, and he is perhaps best known for his unsuccessful personal lawsuit for libel against Associated Newspapers Group. At that time, at $1.6m, it was the longest and most expensive libel case in British history.

Life Orme was born in Bedford in 1938.

Orme’s travels in China, Japan, Malaya and other far eastern countries led to a deep fascination with the Orient.

In 1978 the Daily Mail published an article about the Unification Church claiming that it was ‘the church that breaks up families’. Orme issued legal proceedings against the Associated Newspaper Group, owner of the Daily Mail, for libel and the case went to the High Court in 1980. In 2014, after a split with Sun Myung Moon, the couple moved to Orme's hometown of Bedford in England. Doris Orme worked for the church in Italy, England, California, Washington DC and contributed to the church's One World Crusade. Doris Orme died in Bedford on 28 April 2016 having suffered from Alzheimer's disease over a number of years. Despite parting from the church some 24 years previously, the Unification Church offered their condolences describing her as a 'spiritual pioneer'.

Selected works