Bahá’í World/Volume 24/Five New National Spiritual Assemblies

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[Page 43]

This article describes theformatz'on

in April 1995 offive new National Spiritual Assemblies.

FIVE NEW

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES

J ust 75 years after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s references in His Will and Testament to the establishment of “secondary Houses of Justice” (currently called National Spiritual Assemblies), these institutions have been formed in nearly three—quarters of the countries and territories of the world.1 At Riḍván 1995, three republics of the former Soviet Union Whose Bahá’í communities had been administered by Regional Spiritual Assemblies formed their own National Spiritual Assemblies: Armenia, With its seat in Yerevan; Georgia with its seat in Tbilisi; and Belarus, With its seat in Minsk. At the same time, the independent political status gained by Eritrea called for a National Spiritual Assembly there, With its seat in Asmara, and the development of the Bahá’í Faith in Sicily led to the decision to form a National Assembly there

1. For an explanation of the nature and purpose of the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly and a brief history of its development, see The Bahá’í World 1994—95, pp. 26—28.

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with its seat in Palermo. This brought the number of these national Bahá’í institutions worldwide to 174.2

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Georgia

The National Spiritual Assembly of Georgia was formed at Riḍván 1995, but the history of the Georgian Bahá’í community reaches back to the time of Baha’u’llah. There were enough Bahá’ís in Georgia and neighboring regions during the period of His ministry (1853—1892) to warrant formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Caucasus in 1925.

In 1928, the Bahá’ís in the Caucasus began facing serious difficulties practicing their Faith. Meetings were disrupted by communist authorities; attendees were arrested and held for questioning; documents and books were confiscated; mail censored. A long and careful examination by the authorities revealed that the Bahá’ís were not guilty of any subversive, anti—Soviet, or political activity, but Bahá’í meetings were nevertheless allowed only with special police permission.

Ultimately, after the election of Bahá’í local councils in the Caucasus republics in April 1928, the government abrogated their constitutions and—after protracted negotiations—imposed a constitution which dissolved all Bahá’í committees, decreed that Russian translations of minutes from all Bahá’í meetings must be submitted to the authorities, and required that Bahá’í children under 18 years of age not be instructed in their religion. Another government order decreed that all synagogues, churches, and other places of worship were state property.

In accordance with the laws of their Faith, the Bahá’ís did not engage in any political activity or agitation; rather, they appealed to the legally constituted local and national authorities for

2. At Riḍván 1994, there were 172 National Spiritual Assemblies, so although five new Assemblies were formed, the increase appears to be only two. This is accounted for by the fact that at Riḍván 1995, the Bahá’í communities of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, South Africa, and Transkei were merged into one community under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of South Africa, to reflect the political reunion of that region.

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restitution of their rights. By 1938, however, the Bahá’í community of the Caucasus was reduced to remnants and remained in that condition for some 50 years.

The sweeping reforms launched in the Soviet Union in the late 19805 opened up opportunities for Bahá’í communities in that part of the world to be revived and developed. The Universal House of Justice appointed the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany to coordinate efforts to foster the growth of the Bahá’í community in Georgia and to provide guidance and encouragement as the community developed. A Two Year Teaching Plan, focusing on the entire region of the former Soviet Union, was launched by the Universal House of Justice at Riḍván 1990. At Riḍván 1991 the Bahá’í community in the Republic of Georgia came under the jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the USSR, which was later renamed the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Baltic States and Georgia when the USSR was officially dissolved and the states adopted new names. By Riḍván 1992 the Faith had grown to the point that four new National/Regional Assemblies were established for the territory of the former USSR and the existing Assembly was renamed the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Russia, Georgia and Armenia.

At Riḍván 1992, the Bahá’í community in Georgia was still small: one group and several isolated individuals. Bahá’í literature in Georgian included Love of God, The Promise of World Peace, and some introductory material. Traveling teachers began to Visit Georgia in the summer of 1992, and despite the challenges of an unstable political situation, a still suspicious KGB, and shortages of electricity, gas, food, and water, they sought out the Bahá’ís and offered support and encouragement.

A joyous event occurred when the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia, was reestablished at Riḍván 1993. With the assistance of Bahá’ís from other parts of the world, a house was purchased to serve as a local Bahá’í center. By October 1993, there were also Bahá’ís in the city of Gouri, not far from Tbilisi, and a Bahá’í center had been rented there. Traveling teachers began to regularly Visit Georgia from

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Riḍván 1994 and shared Bahá’í teachings with people from all strata of society. Among the prominent figures with whom Official contacts were made were the prime minister and mayors and deputy mayors of a number of cities.

By June 1994 there were 45 new believers in Georgia, a number of whom traveled to Panchgani, India, to participate in an extensive Bahá’í study course. The number of Local Spiritual Assemblies had increased to seven, six of which were formed in one week. Members of these Assemblies came from Muslim, Armenian, and Georgian backgrounds, and many of them were highly educated. Five short—term pioneers from the region, particularly Tadjikistan, joined pioneers from England, the Philippines, and Canada to settle in different parts of Georgia. Two national conferences were held in Tbilisi that summer. As of J anuary 1995 there were 12 Local Spiritual Assemblies in Georgia, and the Universal House of Justice announced that the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Georgia would form at Riḍván 1995. Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum represented the Universal House of Justice at the first National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Georgia, held 23—24 April in Tbilisi. Almost 300 Bahá’ís, of whom 200 were from 14 different Georgian localities, came together in a beautiful valley surrounded by the snow-capped mountains of the Caucasus to celebrate the birth of this new'institution. An Auxiliary Board member participating in the Convention reported that “all the

T he first National Spiritual

Assembly of the ’

Bahd ’z's

ofGeorgia.

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Bahá’ís, whether rich or poor, from any metropolis in the world or a tiny Village in Georgia were together in a spirit of unity.” During her Visit, Amatu’l—Baha Rúḥíyyih Khánum was able to meet with the Vice Prime Minister, the Minister for Human Rights, the Minister for Environment, other government officials, and His Holiness Ilia II, Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church. After the Convention, Moscow Television contacted the Bahá’ís, interviewed the chairman of the new National Assembly, and broadcast the piece in Russia and in Georgia three times.

During the year following the Convention, the Bahá’í community of Georgia organized its first Youth Camp, helped put together the first Bahá’í Youth Convention of Georgia and Armenia, and held three Trans-Caueasian Bahá’í Academy courses on topics such as prayer and meditation, Bahá’í history, consultation, and administration. The Georgian community had grown sufficiently to establish 35 Local Spiritual Assemblies.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Armenia

The history of the development of the Bahá’í Faith in Armenia Closely parallels that of Georgia, with believers residing there during Baha’u’llah’s lifetime and both regions being under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Caucasus from 1925 to 1938. Bahá’ís in Armenia suffered the same persecution and prohibitions under the communist regime as did the Bahá’ís in Georgia. When political and social change swept the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Armenia, like

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Georgia, came under the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha 1s Of the

Thefirst National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahd ’z's ofArmem'a, with Counsellor Abbas Katirai and a representative of the _ former Regional Spiritual Assembly ofRussia, Georgia and Armenia.

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USSR, later renamed the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Baltic States and Georgia. At Riḍván 1992 a Regional Spiritual Assembly was established for Russia, Georgia and Armenia.

By November 1992 two pioneers, an 80—year-old woman from Brazil and an 18—year—old Russian girl, had settled in Armenia, joining 20 Armenian Bahá’ís, and a Bahá’í center had been acquired in Yerevan. Despite the difficult conditions of war in Armenia, including lack of heat, electricity, food, and water, Local Spiritual Assemblies were elected in Aparvan, Yerevan, Abavyan, and Dilizhan by March 1994.

The first National Teaching Conference of Armenia was held in May 1994, during which 140 adults and twenty youth gathered in Yerevan to become better acquainted, consult about their future, and enj 0y their first experience working together on this scale. In November, the Bahá’í community of Yerevan was legally registered, and a Bahá’í center was purchased in Oktemberyan.

By J anuary 1995, there were approximately 200 Bahá’ís in Armenia and ten Local Spiritual Assemblies. Despite continuing conflict in the region, the first National Convention was held in April 1995, attended by Abbas Katirai Of the Continental Board of

Counsellors in Asia who represented the Universal House of Justice.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Belarus

In 1978, Helmut Winkelbach, a Bahá’í from Germany, saw an ad for an electrician’s job in Russia, undertook training for three months, and took a train to what was then called the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. He was the first Bahá’í to settle in this territory and fulfill a goal of the Ten Year Plan,3 and thus he was named a Knight of Baha’u’llah.

3. In 1953 the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, launched a ten-year teaching plan to bring the Bahá’í Faith to the main unopened territories of the world and to consolidate communities in territories where there were already Bahá’ís, among other goals. During this period the number of National Spiritual Assemblies increased from 12 to 47. Those who arose at that time or later to open territories named as goals of the Ten Year Plan were named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh.

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Mr. Winkelbach remained in what is now called Belarus for two years and then returned in 1986 with his wife, Olga, a native Belarussian. Their teaching efforts and the arrival of one more pioneer produced a group of eight believers by Riḍván 1991. By September that year a Local Assembly had been formed in Minsk. Other enrollments occurred after a group of 20 enthusiastic traveling teachers came through from the United Kingdom and several groups of Bahá’ís from the United States Visited. By the end of the Two Year Plan jurisdiction over the area was transferred from the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany to the new Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Ukraine, Bielarus4 and Moldova.

The members of this fledgling community were greatly inspired when 164 Bahá’ís from 16 countries attended an International Youth Conference they organized in Brest in August 1993. Another international event they put together was a women’s conference in Brest in April 1994, which was attended by 250 people from Belarus, Russia, other countries in Europe, Canada, Panama, and the United States, 200 of whom were not Bahá’ís. Sessions were held on psychology and pedagogy; economics and law; culture, literature, and art; and ecology and health. Papers were delivered on issues such as the role of women in protecting the environment and on spiritual and moral development, and the women from North America came prepared to share technical information on health care, cooperative marketing and food distribution. The event was supported by the United Nations Office in Belarus and the Soros Foundation.

The Bahá’ís of Belarus organized a particularly successful teaching project, called “Neman 94,” along the banks of the Neman River during the summer of 1994. In September an eXhibition 0n the history of the Bahá’í Faith was displayed in Bobruysk. The following month, a children’s education institute was held with participants from Moscow, Kiev, and Belarus. By the end of 1994, there were approximately 130 Bahá’ís in 11 cities of Belarus.

4. At that time, this was the spelling of what is now Belarus.

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TIE Bahá’í WORLD

The first election of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Belarus took place at Riḍván 1995. On this historic occasion, Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre Hartmut Grossmann represented the Universal House of Justice. In a message to the Bahá’í World Centre, the Convention participants wrote: “We feel blessed to be one of the five new pillars of the Universal House of Justice which were elected this Riḍván.” Just two months later, representatives from all the Local Assemblies, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in Europe, and the Auxiliary Board member for the area met for a “Unity of Vision” conference to form goals and plans of action for the community of Belarus.

l‘AlIUfllluluH IJHA‘

i 3 .1 The first National

7' " ~ ~ i‘ ~ I Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of

I Belarus, with

x] Hartmut Grossmann,

a Counsellor member

of the International

T eaching Centre, and

Counsellor Larissa

T sutskova.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Eritrea

Eritrea, a country which proclaimed its sovereignty on 24 May 1993, was for centuries part of ancient Ethiopia. After being colonized by the Italians at the close of the nineteenth century, it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom when British forces conquered the area in 1941. In the aftennath of the Second World War, Sabri Elias, who had introduced the Faith to Ethiopia in 1934, returned to share Baha’u’llah’s teachings with a new generation of Ethiopians (see obituary, pp. 312—13). They helped to spread the Bahá’í Faith to Eritrea, where the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Asmara (the capital) was established in the early 19503.

By the late 1950s, Asmara had one of the strongest Bahá’í communities in the world; in 1958 the Local Spiritual Assembly

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was officially recognized as a religious body through registration with the Federal High Court and the Supreme Court of Eritrea; by the early 1960s large numbers of people in the Kunama region of Eritrea began embracing the Faith. However, the civil war which began in 1963 and raged for 30 years disrupted this process. Still, the Bahá’í community survived, operating under the jurisdiction of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of North East Africa from 1956 to 1975 and thereafter under the National Spiritual Assembly of Ethiopia. In October 1992, the Bahá’í Teaching and Administrative Committee in Eritrea was formed, and during its first year it arranged three teaching trips and appointed task forces to begin promoting the equality of men and women and addressing the need for Bahá’í material in the local language of Tigrigna.

Thefirst National Spiritual Assembly Ofthe Bahd ’z's OfEriz‘rea.

In Asmara at Riḍván 1995, in the presence of Counsellor Hushang Ahdieh, representing the Universal House of Justice, and 60 observers from around the nation, including several of the original pioneers, the delegates to the first National Convention of Eritrea elected the country’s National Spiritual Assembly. Dr. Ahdieh reported that “this historic and j oyous occasion was celebrated amidst expressions of profound gratitude and exhilaration, and was characterized by a spirit of love and unity, of high resolve and determination to expedite the long-awaited day when the Cause of God would cover this long-suffering, receptive nation.”

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The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Sicily

In the series of letters ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to the North American Bahá’ís during the First World War (known as Tablets of the Divine Plan), He named Sicily as one of the regions which should receive the Bahá’í teachings after the war. However, it was not until 1953 that six Americans were able to settle in Sicily and introduce the Bahá’í Faith there. For this achievement, Carol, Florence, Gerrold, Stanley and Susan Bagley and Emma Rice were named Knights of Baha’u’llah.

Four years of work by the pioneers, Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Ugo Giachery, the newly declared Sicilian believers, and the Italo—Swiss National Spiritual Assembly (which had been given the development of the Sicilian community as a goal) resulted in the formation of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Palermo at Riḍván 1958. This city was later chosen by the Universal House Of Justice to be the site of the first Oceanic Bahá’í Conference, held in August 1968 to consult about the development of the Faith in the Mediterranean region. More than 2,300 Bahá’ís took part.

By the end of February 1995, the Bahá’í community of Sicily had grown to comprise 31 localities, and eight Local Spiritual Assemblies had been formed. The stage was set for the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Sicily to be formed.5

On 22—25 April 1995, 350 “strongly united” followers of Baha’u’llah, including supporters from nine countries, gathered together in the presence of the Hand of the Cause of God ‘Ali

5. Generally the jurisdiction of Bahá’í National Spiritual Assemblies is defined by political borders; however, there are exceptions, dictated by compelling circumstances. In some instances geographical or cultural characteristics necessitate the formation of a National Assembly in an outlying region or territory of a given country, the better to promote the well-being and efficient functioning of the Bahá’í community. For example, Alaska and Hawaii have their own National Spiritual Assemblies and are not under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, which directs and coordinates Bahá’í activities in the 48 continental states, but the three National Assemblies collaborate in a manner that preserves the unity of their relations in dealing with the federal authorities.

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T he first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Sicily, with

Hand offhe Cause of God Dr. ‘AliMuhammad Varqd.

."t’f . ,vmv' V w ,- ‘ i t #3.!

Muhammad Varqa, who represented the Universal House of Justice, Counsellor Sohrab Youssefian, members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy, and the Knights of Baha’u’llah who first brought the Faith to their land. Dr. Varqa reported: “In an atmosphere ofjoy, emotion, enthusiasm and delight, dominated by profound love for Baha’u’llah,.the Sicilian Convention was held in Terrasini in the vicinity of Palermo.”

By September of that year, the new Assembly was able to report a range of activities in Sicily, including teaching proj ects, television interviews, presentation of Bahá’í literature to civil authorities and schools, a regional youth conference, a women’s conference, and Vibrant Naw-Rúz celebrations attended by nearly the entire community.

The Process Continues

As the Bahá’í communities of Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, Eritrea, and Sicily prepared for their first National Conventions, the Universal House of Justice announced that at Riḍván 1996 new National Spiritual Assemblies would be formed in Sao Tomé and Principe and in Moldova. Bahá’ís around the world rejoiced at this further evidence that people of every background are finding truth in Baha’u’llah’s teachings and are successfully building the administrative order He envisioned.

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