Ridván 1969
1 The
continued progress of the Cause of God stands in vivid contrast to the chronic
unrest afflicting human society, a contrast which the events of the past year,
both within and without the Faith, have only served to intensify. Amidst the
disintegration of the old order the Cause of God has pursued its majestic
course, extending the range of its activities and influence and accomplishing a
further development of its administrative system.
2 Opening
with the convening, in the Holy Land, of the Second International Convention
for the election of the Universal House of Justice, the year has witnessed a
remarkable activity in the Cause. The most significant and far-reaching
development was undoubtedly the appointment of the eleven Continental Boards of
Counsellors, which fulfilled the goal of the Nine Year Plan calling for the
development of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God with a view to
the extension into the future of its appointed functions of protection and
propagation. This step, taken after full consultation with the Hands of the
Cause, has, at one and the same time, strongly reinforced the activities of
that Institution and made it possible for the Hands themselves to extend the
range of their individual services beyond the continental sphere, thereby
making universally available to the friends the love, the wisdom and the spirit
of dedication animating the Guardian's appointees. We wish to pay tribute at
this time to the exemplary manner in which the Counsellors, under the guidance
of the Hands, have embarked upon their high duties.
3 In
August, the first Oceanic Bahá'í Conference, held in
Palermo, commemorated Bahá'u'lláh's voyage on the
Mediterranean Sea on His way to the Most Great Prison. Attendants at this
Conference came immediately afterwards to the Qiblih
of their Faith to pay homage at the Shrine of its Founder and to commemorate
with deep awareness of its spiritual import the long prophesied arrival of the
Lord of Hosts on the shores of the Holy Land. This gathering of more than two
thousand believers presented an inexpressibly poignant contrast to the actual
arrival of Bahá'u'lláh one hundred years before,
rejected by the rulers of this earth and derided by the local populace. Such is
the conquering power of His Message, such is the undefeatable might of the King
of Kings.
4 That
same message is now being proclaimed by His followers from end to end of the
world. Already one hundred and twenty-two Heads of State have been presented
with the special edition of "The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh",
and copies have been received by thousands more officials and leaders.
5 Taking
full advantage of the designation of 1968 as Human Rights Year by the United
Nations, Bahá'í communities throughout the world have
not only strengthened the ties between the Bahá'í
International Community and the United Nations, but have at the same time
proclaimed the Faith and its healing message. In country after country the
Cause has been featured for the first time in modern mass communications media.
The volume of this call to the peoples of the world is increasing day by day
and must so continue, penetrating every stratum of society, until the
conclusion of the Plan and beyond.
6 As
a stimulus and aid to this vital work as well as to the promotion of all the
goals of the Plan, we announce the holding between August 1970 and September
1971 of a series of eight Oceanic and Continental Conferences, as follows: La
Paz, Bolivia, and Rose Hill, Mauritius, in August 1970; Monrovia, Liberia, and
Djakarta, Indonesia, in January 1971; Suva, Fiji, and Kingston, Jamaica, in May
1971; Sapporo, Japan, and Reykjavik, Iceland, in September 1971.
7 A
review of the progress of the Nine Year Plan discloses that great strides have
been made in the acquisition of .Ha.zíratu'l-Quds,
Temple sites and Teaching Institutes, in translation of Bahá'í
literature into more languages and in the incorporation of Local and National
Spiritual Assemblies. The site of the Panama Temple has been prepared for
construction which will begin as soon as final plans and specifications and the
placing of the contract have been approved.
8 As
a result of the accelerated pace of expansion and consolidation which has been
initiated, and which, if fostered and fed, will become a full tide of
victorious achievement, we joyfully announce the formation of twelve more
National Spiritual Assemblies, two during Riddván
1969: the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Burundi and Rwanda with
its seat in Bujumbura and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Papua and New Guinea with its seat in Lae, and ten
during, Ri.dván 1970: six in Africa, the National
Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of the Congo Republic (Kinshasa); Ghana; Dahomey, Togo and Niger; Malawi; Botswana; and Gambia,
Senegal, Portuguese Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands; one in the Americas, the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Guianas; one in Asia, the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í of the Near
East; and two in Australasia, the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís
of Tonga and the Cook Islands; and Samoa. Thus at Ri.dván
1970 the number of National Spiritual Assemblies will be raised to
ninety-three. In harmony with the world-wide growth of the Cause the World
Centre of the Faith is also developing rapidly. The pilgrims, the beloved
Guardian has said, are the life-blood of this World Centre and it has long been
our cherished hope and desire to be able to grant the bounty of pilgrimage to
the Holy Land to all who can avail themselves of it. It is therefore with great
joy that we now find it possible to open the door of pilgrimage to a much
greater number of believers. Beginning in October of this year the size of each
group of friends to be invited will be quadrupled and the number of groups each
year will be increased so that nearly six times the present number of pilgrims
will have the opportunity each year to pray in the Shrines of the Central
Figures of their Faith, to visit the places hallowed by the footsteps,
sufferings and triumphs of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá, and to meditate in the tranquillity
of these sacred precincts, beautified with so much loving care by our beloved
Guardian.
9 This
increased flow of pilgrims will greatly augment the spiritual development of
the Bahá'í World Community which now, after five
years of strenuous labour and bearing the laurels of
outstanding victories, is entering the fourth phase of the Nine Year Plan.
10 The
great, the most pressing need, at this stage of the Plan, is a rapid increase
in the number of believers, and a major advance in the opening of the
additional localities as well as in the formation of the well-grounded Local
Spiritual Assemblies called for in the Plan. This world-wide activity, the
hall-mark of the fourth phase of the Plan, answering the tremendous
opportunities offered by the present condition of mankind, will be strongly
reinforced by the continuance of proclamation, is the essential foundation for
the erection of the remaining National Spiritual Assemblies, and will
increasingly witness to the benefits of international travelling teaching and
inter-Assembly cooperation. Above all, it requires a sacrificial outpouring by
the friends of contributions in support of the Funds of the Faith, and the
raising up of a mighty host of pioneers.
11 During
the second year of the Plan the Bahá'í world achieved
its greatest feat of organized pioneering when a total of five hundred and five
believers arose to settle in the unopened and weakly held territories of the
earth. This magnificent achievement must now be surpassed. The call is raised
for seven hundred and thirty-three believers to leave their homes and settle in
territories of the globe in dire need of pioneer support or as yet unopened to
the Faith. These devoted believers, who should arise without delay, are needed
to settle, during the fourth phase of the Plan, in 184 specified territories of
the globe: 48 in Africa, 40 in the Americas, 40 in Asia, 18 in Australasia and
38 in Europe. Although primary responsibility has been assigned to those
national Bahá'í communities most able to provide
pioneers, all should ponder in their hearts whether they too cannot respond to
this call, either by going themselves or by deputizing, in response to Bahá'u'lláh's injunction, those who can go in their stead.
Detailed information is being sent to National Spiritual Assemblies to ensure that
this vital mobilization of Bahá'í warriors is
accomplished as quickly as possible.
12 Beloved
Friends, the Nine Year Plan is well advanced, our work is blessed by the
never-ceasing confirmations of Bahá'u'lláh, and the
entire Bahá'í World Community is committed to
complete victory. That happy consummation, now faintly discernible on the far
horizon, will be reached through hard work, realistic planning, sacrificial
deeds, intensification of the teaching work and, above all, through constant endeavour on the part of every single Bahá'í
to conform his inner life to that glorious ideal set for mankind by Bahá'u'lláh and exemplified by `Abdu'l-Bahá.
In contemplating the Master's divine example we may well reflect that His life
and deeds were not acted to a pattern of expediency, but were the inevitable
and spontaneous expression of His inner self. We, likewise, shall act according
to His example only as our inward spirits, growing and maturing through the
disciplines of prayer and practice of the Teachings, become the wellsprings of
all our attitudes and actions. This will promote the accomplishment of God's
purpose; this will ensure the triumph of His Faith and enable us to build up
the present motion of the Cause into a grand momentum whose force will carry
the community of the Most Great Name to glorious victory in 1973 and onwards to
the as yet unapprehended vistas of the Most Great
Peace.
The Universal House of Justice