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Bahá’í News

March 1979

Bahá’í Year 135

Raising the flag of international peace: Bahá’ís and the UN

[Page 0] ANNOUNCE WITH UTMOST JOY DECISION TO LAUNCH DURING FORTHCOMING RIḌVÁN FESTIVITIES A SEVEN YEAR GLOBAL PLAN CONSTITUTING NEXT STAGE MASTER’S STEADILY UNFOLDING DIVINE PLAN. CONFIDENT MOMENTOUS DECISION TAKEN IN MIDST SEVERE CRISIS SHAKING CRADLE FAITH AND WHILE EFFORTS BAHÁ’Í WORLD COMMUNITY ARE STRENUOUSLY BENT UPON FULFILMENT GOALS FIVE YEAR PLAN WILL RELEASE OUTPOURING SPIRITUAL ENERGY ACCELERATE DESTINED PROGRESS BAHÁ’Í WORLD COMMUNITY NOW GRADUALLY APPEARING IN SHARPER RELIEF BEFORE EYES OF A BEWILDERED HUMANITY FLOUNDERING IN DEPTHS OF CONFLICT AND MORAL DEGRADATION.

DETAILS PLANS NATIONAL COMMUNITIES FOR INITIAL TWO-YEAR PHASE NEW PLAN NOW BEING EVOLVED IN CONSULTATION WITH INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE WILL SHORTLY BE ANNOUNCED TO EACH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. THIS INITIAL PHASE WILL CALL FOR GREATER PROCLAMATION, CONTINUED CONSOLIDATION AND WIDER EXPANSION. NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES ARE THEREFORE URGED ENSURE THAT TEACHING ACTIVITIES ARE PURSUED WITH CONTINUING VIGOUR INTO OPENING YEARS NEW PLAN, THAT PIONEERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REMAIN AT THEIR POSTS, THAT PROCESS DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY LIFE IS UNINTERRUPTEDLY SUSTAINED, AND THAT MOMENTUM NOW IMPELLING BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY FORWARD IS MAINTAINED.

URGE ALL NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES SHARE THIS MESSAGE IMMEDIATELY WITH FRIENDS UNDER THEIR JURISDICTION INVITING THEM MAKE SPECIAL EFFORT ATTEND NATIONAL CONVENTIONS NEXT RIḌVÁN CELEBRATE VICTORIOUS CONCLUSION FIVE YEAR PLAN SIMULTANEOUSLY INAUGURATE SEVEN YEAR PLAN.

OWING IMPORTANCE NEXT CONVENTION REQUEST NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES CONSIDER EXTENDING WHEREVER PRACTICABLE ITS DURATION BY ONE OR TWO DAYS. WE ARE CALLING ON COUNSELLORS IN ADDITION TO THEIR OWN PARTICIPATION TO ENCOURAGE AUXILIARY BOARD MEMBERS TO ATTEND THESE PORTENTOUS CONVENTIONS.

AS THE TURMOIL OF AN AGITATED WORLD SURGES ABOUT THEM THE SUPPORTERS OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S MAJESTICALLY RISING FAITH MUST, AS THE BELOVED GUARDIAN SO CLEARLY INDICATED, SCALE NOBLER HEIGHTS OF HEROISM, SERENELY CONFIDENT THAT THE HOUR OF THEIR MIGHTIEST EXERTIONS MUST COINCIDE WITH THE LOWEST EBB OF MANKIND’S FAST DECLINING FORTUNES.

FERVENTLY SUPPLICATING BAHÁ’U’LLÁH BOUNTIFULLY BLESS STRENUOUS EFFORTS HIS DEVOTED SERVANTS EVERY LAND WIN EVERY GOAL FIVE YEAR PLAN ENSURE FIRM FOUNDATION NEXT STAGE WORLDWIDE DEVELOPMENT GOD’S HOLY CAUSE.

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE December 26, 1978

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Contents

Progress report
Construction on the Seat of the Universal House of Justice	2
Raising the flag of international peace
Bahá’ís and the United Nations	3
A statement on racism
Presented to the World Conference on Racism	7
A statement on disarmament
Presented to the Special UN Session on Disarmament	9
Around the world
News from Bahá’í communities in every corner of the globe	12

Cover

This issue of Bahá’í News is devoted to the activities of the Bahá’í International Community at the United Nations. The photo on the cover shows United Nations Headquarters in New York City. On the back cover, top, is a photo of the United Nations General Assembly Hall, also located in New York City. The bottom photo on the back cover shows the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland, the Palais des Nations, once the headquarters for the League of Nations.

Change of address should be reported directly to Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates: one year, U.S. $8; two years, U.S. $15. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091.Copyright © 1979, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Bahá’í News is published monthly for circulation among Bahá’ís only by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A.

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Seat of the Universal House of Justice

Right, French artisans who are installing marble for the permanent Seat of the Universal House of Justice on Mt. Carmel guide a capital into place atop one of the building’s 58 columns. The Photographs on the left, taken January 24, 1979, show all 58 columns erected. In the top left photograph, portions of the marble entablature can be seen installed on top of the Corinthian capitals of the columns, as well as part of the marble facing on the drum of the dome. The bottom left photograph shows the marble facing installed on the outside wall of the upper basement level.

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Raising the flag of international peace: Bahá’ís and the United Nations

The close relationship shared by the Bahá’í Faith and the United Nations (UN) has its roots in ‘Abdu’l-Bahás’s visit to the United States in 1912.

On the morning of October 26, 1912, in the crowded Assembly Hall of the Hotel Sacramento in Sacramento, California, He spoke about the need for international peace. “The greatest need in the world today,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “is international peace. The time is ripe. It is time for abolition of warfare, the unification of nations and governments. It is the time for love. It is time for cementing together the east and the west ... May the first flag of international peace be upraised in this state.”¹

Thirty-three years later, as the Centenary Celebrations for the Birth of the Bahá’í Faith were drawing to a close, the Bahá’ís in California were busy making plans to proclaim the Faith during the Allied Nations Conference, scheduled to begin in San Francisco on April 21, 1945. “The calling of the Allied Nations Conference at San Francisco,” said a report in the April-May 1945 issue of Bahá’í News, “unexpectedly and most gloriously provided the unique occasion of occasions to promulgate the Bahá’í principles on universal peace. This international action filled the hearts of the believers to overflowing, as they saw in it the providential fulfillment of the Master’s mission in America, His fertilizing of the continent with the seeds of the future order, and His prophetic utterances and promises concerning America’s role; and His words concerning California.”²

The Bahá’í proclamation activities included:

• radio broadcasts
• extensive newspaper coverage
• “the largest meeting(650 in attendance) of any peace organization held in San Francisco during the Peace Conference”³
• a special banquet for dignitaries attending the conference
• publication of a Bahá’í Peace Pamphlet⁴ which was distributed to all persons connected with the conference, to the “leading citizens of the San Francisco area,”⁵ and was used ina local teaching effort
• exhibits that featured a model of the Bahá’í House of Worship, Bahá’í literature, maps, and placards
• the appointment of official Bahá’í observers at the Allied Nations Conference—Marion Holley and Sylvia Ioas

The conference met for two months and drafted the United Nations Charter, completing its work in June 1945. The Charter came into effect on October 24 of that year, almost 33 years to the day from the time ‘Abdu’l-Bahá prayed that the flag of international peace would be raised in California.

The Bahá’í participation in the Allied Nations Conference made a lasting impression on many official delegates there. One, Sir Ramaswami Mudaliár, the representative from India, wrote: “A little group of Bahá’ís who were at the conference and met me afterwards, congratulated me on having given expression on that world platform to some of the beliefs they held dear. That is how I have become acquainted and soon deeply interested in the Bahá’í

Below, one of the many Bahá’í exhibits used for proclamation of the Faith during the Allied Nations Conference. This one was in the Yazdi Bookstore in San Francisco.

[Page 4] Top, Ugo Giachery and Mildred Mottahedeh were two of the first official representatives of the Bahá’í International Community. This picture was taken in 1948, at the first United Nations Conference that the International Community ever attended. Bottom, Sir Ramaswami Mudaliár (left), the official delegate from India at the Allied Nations Conference, and his secretary, Mr. Nadar, visiting the Bahá’í House of Worship in 1945. Sir Mudaliar first heard about the Bahá’í Faith at the conference.

Faith ... The Bahá’í Faith remarkably speaks not of one Prophet for all time but of a succession of prophets as Divine Dispensation sees the need for them ... How much the world needs such a spirit today.”⁶

The Bahá’ís in North America continued to maintain an active interest in the development of the United Nations until, in the spring of 1947, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada became affiliated with the United Nations Office of Public Information (OPI) as a national non- governmental organization (NGO).

The National Assembly then established a United Nations Committee, appointed official observers, and, as an NGO, sub- mitted two formal statements to different UN bodies.

The first, “A Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights,”⁷ was presented to the Human Rights Commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. The Commission was at that time drafting a world bill of rights. The second statement, submitted to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, dealt with the Bahá’í view of the rights of women.⁸

It was during this period, also, that Shoghi Effendi, at the request of the UN Commission on Palestine, submitted a statement explaining the relationship between the Bahá’í Faith and the Holy Land. In the statement, he also elucidated the principles and aims of the Faith.

A short time afterward, under the direction of the Guardian, the eight existing National Spiritual Assemblies, represented by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, applied for recognition as an international NGO, under the name “Bahá’í International Community.”⁹ This affiliation with the OPI was granted in March 1948.

“Recognition extended to the Faith by United Nations as an international non-governmental body,” cabled Shoghi Effendi, “enabling appointment of accredited representatives to United Nations conferences is heralding world recognition for a universal proclamation of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.”¹⁰

1948 was the first year that the United States and Canada elected separate National Spiritual Assemblies. In his cable to the convention in the United States, the Guardian included internationally-based recognition of the Faith by the United Nations as one of the outstanding achievements of the American

[Page 5] community, “... whose spokesmen are securing recognition of the institutions of Bahá’u’lláh’s rising world order in the United Nations.”¹¹

The Bahá’í International Community first officially participated in a United Nations conference in May of 1948, at an NGO conference on human rights. Ugo Giachery, Mildred Mottahedeh, and Mason Remey represented the Bahá’í International Community. They presented a prepared statement to the delegates attending the conference, and introduced resolutions based on Bahá’í principles that were adopted by the body of the conference.

Mildred Mottahedeh continued on as the official UN observer until 1967, when the Universal House of Justice took over supervision of the Bahá’í International Community office from the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. Dr. Victor de Araujo was then appointed as the first full-time accredited representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations.

The Universal House of Justice has continued the policy established more than 30 years ago by Shoghi Effendi, and places great importance on strengthening the relationship between the Bahá’í Faith and the UN. There have been several significant milestones in this relationship recently, beginning in 1970 when the Bahá’í International Community was granted consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). “Joyfully announce Bahá’í world,” cabled the Universal House of Justice on February 18, “attainment consultative status United Nations Economic and Social Council thereby fulfilling long cherished hope beloved Guardian and World Centre goal Nine Year Plan. Sustained persistent efforts more than twenty years accredited representatives Bahá’í International Community United Nations devoted support Bahá’í communities throughout world finally rewarded. Significant achievement adds prestige influence recognition ever advancing Faith Bahá’u’lláh.”¹²

Other milestones include the Bahá’í International Community’s affiliation, in 1973, with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and, in 1976, the achievement of consultative status with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The Bahá’í International Community office staff at UN head-quarters in New York has currently been expanded to six full-time

At the far right is Dr. Victor de Araujo, the first full-time accredited representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations. At Dr. de Araujo’s right is Kurt Waldheim, Secretary General of the United Nations.

[Page 6] positions, responsible for maintaining close contact with the UN as well as with Bahá’í communities throughout the world. Bahá’í representatives have also been appointed to participate in regular activities at the UN office in Geneva, Switzerland, and with UNEP in Nairobi.

Over the years, the Bahá’í International Community has participated in hundreds of UN-sponsored events, and has had, in the words of the Guardian, the “opportunity of contacting prominent and progressive-minded people from different countries and calling the Faith and its principles to their attention.”¹³

“Bahá’ís feel that the UN is a worldwide institution,” commented a recent two-page article in Secretariat News, the staff publication at United Nations Headquarters, “where the themes of unity of mankind, of global interdependence, and of international social and economic undertakings are most evident. The attitudes and activities of the Bahá’í International Community represent a ‘grass-roots’ involvement in the aims of the Charter and occupy, therefore, a noteworthy place in its support of the broad aims and programs of the UN.”¹⁴

The relationship between the United Nations and the Bahá’í International Community has dramatically expanded in scope during the last 30 years. The International Community’s current involvement in UN activities includes the areas of human rights, social development, status of women, environment, human settlements, world food, science and technology for development, population, law of the sea, crime prevention, narcotic drugs, youth, the family, and the UN university. It has furnished information, submitted statements and reports, or published brochures on most of these subjects, presenting them at different UN world conferences and congresses, regional conferences, and seminars.

The Bahá’í International Community has also continued to cooperate fully in UN public information programs both at UN headquarters in New York as well as on a local community level around the world by observing such annual events as UN Day, World Development Information Day, Human Rights Day, Universal Children’s Day, and World Environment Day. Bahá’í communities around the globe have also become well known for their vigorous support of UN special years, such as International Women’s Year, or the current International Year of the Child.

“Daily the doors open to further evolution in our collective relationship to UN,” wrote the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States in September 1948, “and, through it, in our contacts with other organizations. These possibilities are to be cherished by every believer. United Nations is vital to the establishment of the Lesser Peace, and in this role it is part of the destiny unfolding within mankind under the guidance of Bahá’u’lláh.”¹⁵

“If the work of the United Nations,” commented the October 1975 issue of Bahá’í News,“—eighty-five percent of it in the economic and social areas—represents a preparation for the Lesser Peace, so does that of the Bahá’í world community. We are building the Most Great Peace; but as the Guardian explained so many years ago, the work Bahá’ís do is also essential for the coming into being of the Lesser Peace: ‘He (the Guardian) cannot urge you all sufficiently, and through you the ... believers, the importance of Bahá’ís realizing that direct, concentrated and efficiently carried out Bahá’í work is not only their supreme duty but the best way they can serve the interests of humanity and hasten the day when at least the Lesser Peace will become a reality.’ ”¹⁶

One of the ways in which Bahá’ís around the world help support the broad aims of the United Nations Charter is by participating in the observance of special UN events. 1979 is the International Year of the Child, and many Bahá’í communities around the world have planned special activities to help celebrate it. At the left, children from five continents ring the Peace Bell at the United Nations, in honor of Universal Children’s Day, October 10.

1. The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 371.
2. Bahá’í News, No. 174, April-May 1945, p 3.
3. Bahá’í News, No. 176, August 1945, p. 8.
4. The Bahá’í Peace Program, available Bay the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A.
5. Bahá’í News, No. 176, August 1945, p. 8.
6. Bahá’í News, No. 213, November 1948, p. 3.
7. A Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights, available from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A.
8. World Order Magazine, Vol. XIII, 1947-48, pp. 231-232.
9. “While the Bahá’í International Community is, in a sense, merely a name for a non-governmental organization cooperating closely with the United Nations to achieve the goals expressed in the UN Charter—world peace, universal human rights, and the full economic and social development of the peoples of the planet—it is, in its broader sense, immensely more than that. It represents the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in its current stage of development.” Bahá’í News, No. 547, October 1975, p. 10.
10. Bahá’í News, No. 211, September 1948, p. 9.
11. Bahá’í News, No. 197, July 1947, p. 7.
12. Messages from The Universal House of Justice, p. 50.
13. ibid.
14. Secretariat News, October 31, 1978, p. 7.
15. Bahá’í News, No. 211, September 1948, p. 10.
16. Bahá’í News, No. 547, October 1975, p. 10.

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The Bahá’í International Community’s statement to the World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination

The Bahá’í International Community wishes the World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination all possible success in its deliberations. The observations that follow, resulting from the experience of Bahá’í communities around the world in the progressive eradication of all kinds of prejudice and discrimination—including those based on race—are offered as a contribution to the Conference proceedings.

Since, in the view of the Bahá’í International Community,

the progress of the world, the development of nations, the tranquility of peoples, and the peace of all

who dwell on earth are among the principles and ordinances of God,¹

the elimination of prejudice and discrimination—whether of race; nationality, sex, creed, or class—cannot be achieved without proper education, without proper attitudes and values, without proper motivation. It is possible to achieve the organic unity of the entire human race—the fundamental need of our world and the goal of the Bahá’í world community—but it cannot be done without appropriate guidance and will.

In the Bahá’í view, the elimination of racism and racial discrimination is dependent on a consciousness of world unity. It involves a spiritual awakening of the peoples of the world to the realization that, first of all, the attainment of even their own happiness is dependent upon the realization of a like condition for all others in the human family. Beyond this change in attitude, and underlying it, there must be a conscious recognition of our human dependence upon one God and a desire to become educated to values and teachings which today can alone rescue man from his pursuit of selfish interests and the oppression of his fellow beings.

The Bahá’í International Community is multi-national, multi-racial, and multi-lingual. Bahá’ís regard all people as invaluable members of society, whose talents and unique contributions, as individuals and groups—whether in the minority or the majority—are equally important factors in building a world order; and they regard their individual culture, heritage, and mother-tongue with pride and admiration, but at the same time are conscious of their existence in a diversified world in which other peoples, cultures, languages, and heritages must live in harmony.

The Bahá’í world community is attempting to put into practice the Teachings and principles of Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, which it has accepted as the source of spiritual education for humanity and the guidance for the well-being and happiness of all members of the human race. It is oriented to the new Standards of life in every aspect, and believes that in a world society, “science and religion, the two most potent forces in human life,” must be reconciled, cooperate, and develop harmoniously.

Today, more than 1,600 tribes and ethnic groups are represented in the more than 80,000 centers of the growing Bahá’í world community. Thus, in more than 300 countries and territories (151 of these independent nations), Bahá’í communities

[Page 8] are experiencing the joy of bringing into unity people of the most diverse backgrounds.

Minorities and indigenous peoples in many cultures and territories have become part of the Bahá’í International Community, sometimes in great numbers. Every Bahá’í community, in fact,

should feel it to be its first and inescapable obligation

to nurture, encourage, and safeguard every minority

belonging to any faith, race, class or nation within it.²

In addition, Bahá’ís are aware that

to discriminate against any race, on the ground of its

being socially backward, politically immature, and

numerically in a minority, is a flagrant violation of

the spirit that animates the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh ...

If any discrimination is to be at all tolerated, it should

be a discrimination not against, but rather in favor of

the minority, be it racial or otherwise.³

A few passages from the Bahá’í Writings will serve to illustrate even more clearly the Bahá’í position on race:

Close your eyes to racial differences, and welcome

all with the light of oneness.⁴

Man is endowed with powers to investigate reality,

and the reality is that humanity is one in mind and

equal in the creative plan. Therefore false distinctions of race and nativity which are factors and

causes of warfare must be abandoned.⁵

In the estimation of God, all men are equal. There is

no distinction or preference for any soul, in the realm

of His justice and equity.⁶

The central obstacle preventing the abolition of racism and racial discrimination is, in the view of the Bahá’í International Community, a limited understanding of the nature of the human being and the source of his happiness. As a being not only endowed with body, but with mind and spirit—a physical, intellectual, and spiritual person—the aspirations—and the happiness—of a human being depend on the development of his high spiritual potentialities, individually and socially.

The qualities that are inherent in all peoples, and that need nurturing and full expression in society, are love and compassion, justice, and such moral qualities as trust, honesty, and truthfulness. The development of these virtues is the basis for unity, and can provide a true appreciation of the spiritual value and worth of all human beings.

The education that Bahá’ís recognize as essential in the elimination of prejudice is therefore the recognition of divine teachings and law, and obedience to them. A clear view of the progressive nature of religion and the gradual unfoldment of a divine plan destined to bring about world peace and a world civilization enables Bahá’ís to strive for the elimination of prejudice in themselves and in their communities. In actuality,

this universal, this transcending love which the followers of the Bahá’í Faith feel for their fellow-men,

of whatever race, creed, class, or nation, is neither

mysterious nor can it be said to have been artificially

stimulated. It is both spontaneous and genuine. They

whose hearts are warmed by the energizing influence

of God’s creative love, cherish His creatures for His

sake, and recognize in every human face a sign of His

reflected glory.⁷

The goal for which the Bahá’í International Community is striving is, therefore, in essence, a world society in which

national rivalries, hatreds, and intrigues will cease,

and racial animosity and prejudice will be replaced

by racial amity, understanding and cooperation.⁸

1. Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 129-130.
2. The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 29.
3. ibid.
4. ibid., p. 31.
5. The Promulgation of Univeral Peace, p. 114.
6. The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 31.
7. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 197-198.
8. ibid., p. 204.

[Page 9]

The Bahá’í International Community’s statement to the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly Devoted to Disarmament

The Bahá’í International Community, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has the pleasure of submitting the following observations, and excerpts from the Bahá’í Writings, as a contribution to the important work of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly Devoted to Disarmament:

In the view of the Bahá’í International Community, disarmament is essential for the abolition of war as a solution to human problems. It is a goal for both governments and peoples. We—one interdependent race—live on one small planet, in an age of transition between nationalism and globalism, when the needs of one country and its people are still set above the needs of humanity as a whole.

General and complete disarmament by the nations of the world demands, then, that governments and peoples increase their awareness of the organic oneness of the human race: every person as a cell in the body of humanity, each nation an aggregate of cells in the body of the planet, all living in health and happiness only when the body itself is well.

Disarmament requires also the creation of a world federation, with the necessary organs to rule with justice on behalf of all governments and peoples. The health of both the nation-state and the world as a whole, in the Bahá’í view, will continue to suffer until all governments agree to establish such a supra-national body, an institution with power to control—and gradually eliminate—the disunity between nations.

Such a world body must have at its command enough arms and armed forces to prevent one nation from attacking another or, if this occurs, to put down the aggressor; and each nation will retain only sufficient arms to keep internal order. Only then will a devastating world war become impossible and limited wars be stopped permanently. Nations will join with one another to resolve not only the global problems of education, food, employment, etc., but also those crucial issues of international morality, law, and order, without which there can be no lasting peace.

The Bahá’í International Community recognizes that there is no easy road to world peace. National governments certainly bear a responsibility to prevent war, to seek ways to unite and disarm, reaching out to a political agreement—the first stage of world peace:

Today, the task befitting great rulers is to establish

peace, for in this lies the freedom of all peoples.¹

Ultimately, however, it is also the task of each person, through an awareness of his real nature as a servant of one Creator and member of one human family, to fulfill the divine will of bringing all peoples into harmony and peace, freeing the planet from poverty and war. In this second stage—of true world unity and peace—individual and social well-being will be expressed in a civilization reflecting the spiritual values of love, compassion and

[Page 10] justice.

For more than a century, the Bahá’í International Community has been implementing the plan established by Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, for the creation of a world order based on justice and the unity of all peoples. Representing already a cross-section of humanity, with roots in more than 300 countries and territories, among persons who come from more than 1,600 ethnic backgrounds, its members, who are loyal to the national governments under which they live, seek by constructive means to advance society toward that world consciousness that must underlie eventual peace and a world civilization.

Disarmament, Peace, and True Civilization

Bahá’u’lláh ... wrote to all the kings and rulers encouraging, advising and admonishing them in regard to the establishment of peace; making it evident by conclusive proofs that the happiness and glory of humanity can only be assured through disarmament and arbitration.²

By a general agreement all the governments of the world must disarm simultaneously. It will not do if one lays down its arms and the others refuse to do so. The nations of the world must concur with each other concerning this supremely important subject, so that they may abandon together the deadly weapons of human slaughter. As long as one nation increases her military and naval budget other nations will be forced into this crazed competition through their natural and supposed interests.³

How many thousands have given up their work in useful industries and are laboring day and night to produce new and deadlier weapons which would spill out the blood of the race more copiously than before ... Each day they invent a new bomb or explosive and then the governments must abandon their obsolete arms and begin producing the new, since the old weapons cannot hold their own against the new ... The staggering cost of it all must be borne by the hapless masses.⁴

The following words of Bahá’u’lláh are indeed significant as we pause to reflect upon the present state of a strangely disordered world: “How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of society? The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective.⁵

True civilization will unfurl its banner in the midmost heart of the world whenever a certain number of its distinguished and high-minded sovereigns—the shining exemplars of devotion and determination—shall, for the good and happiness of all mankind, arise, with firm resolve and clear vision, to establish the Cause of Universal Peace. They must make the Cause of Peace the object of general consultation, and seek by every means in their power to establish a Union of the nations of the world. They must conclude a binding treaty and establish a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound, inviolable and definite. They must proclaim it to all the world and obtain for it the sanction of all the human race. This supreme and noble undertaking—the real source of the peace and well-being of all the world—should be regarded as sacred by all that dwell on earth. All the forces of humanity must be mobilized to ensure the stability and permanence of this Most Great Covenant. In this all-embracing Pact the limits and frontiers of each and every nation should be clearly fixed, the principles underlying the relations of governments towards one another definitely laid down, and all international agreements and obligations ascertained. In like manner, the size of the armaments of every government should be strictly limited, for if the preparations for war and the military forces of any nation should be allowed to increase, they will arouse the suspicion of others. The fundamental principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so fixed that if any government later violate any one of its provisions, all the governments on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission, nay the human race as a whole should resolve, with every power at its disposal, to destroy that government. Should this greatest of all remedies be applied to the sick body of the world, it will assuredly recover from its ills and will remain eternally safe and secure.

Observe that if such a happy situation be forthcoming, no government would need continually to pile up weapons of war, nor feel itself obliged to produce ever new military weapons with which to conquer the human race. A small force for the purposes of internal security, the correction of criminal and disorderly elements and the prevention of local disturbances, would be required—no more. In this way the entire population would, first of all, be relieved of the crushing burden of expenditure currently imposed for military purposes, and secondly, great numbers of people would cease to devote their time to the continual devising of new weapons of destruction—those testimonials of greed and bloodthirstiness, so inconsistent with the gift of life—and would instead bend their efforts to the production of whatever will foster human existence and peace and well-being, and would become the cause of universal development and prosperity. Then every nation on earth will reign in honor, and every people will be cradled in tranquillity and content.

A few, unaware of the power latent in human endeavor, consider this matter as highly impracticable, nay even beyond the scope of man’s utmost efforts. Such is not the case, however. On the contrary, thanks to the unfailing grace of God, the loving-kindness of His favored ones, the unrivaled endeavors of wise and capable souls, and the thoughts and ideas of the peerless leaders of this age, nothing whatsoever can be regarded as unattainable. Endeavor, ceaseless endeavor, is required. Nothing short of an indomitable determination can possibly achieve it. Many a cause which past ages have regarded as purely visionary, yet in this day has become most easy and practicable. Why should this most great and lofty Cause—the day-star of the firmament of true ''Civilization and the cause of the glory, the advancement, the well-being and the success of all humanity—be regarded as impossible of achievement? Surely the day will come when its beauteous light shall shed illumination upon the assemblage of man.⁶

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The Oneness of Mankind

“The Tabernacle of Unity,” Bahá’u’lláh proclaims in His Message to all mankind, “has been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers... Of one tree are all ye the fruit and of one bough the leaves... The world is but one country and mankind its citizens... Let not a man glory in that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”⁷

Let there be no mistake. The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve—is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence. It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes a challenge, at once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creeds—creeds that have had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely superior to what the world has already conceived. It calls for no less than the reconstruction and demilitarization of the whole civilized world—a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units. It represents the consummation of human evolution—an evolution that has had its earliest beginnings in the birth of family life, its subsequent development in the achievement of tribal solidarity, leading in turn to the constitution of the city-state, and expanding later into the institution of independent and sovereign nations.

The principle of the Oneness of Mankind, as proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, carries with it no more and no less than a solemn assertion that attainment to this final stage in this stupendous evolution is not only necessary but inevitable, that its realization is fast approaching, and that nothing short of a power that is born of God can succeed in establishing it.⁸

A World Super-State

Some form of a world Super-State must needs be developed, in whose favor all the nations of the world will have willingly ceded every claim to make war, certain rights to impose taxation and all rights to maintain armaments, except for the purposes of maintaining internal order within their respective dominions. Such a state will have to include within its orbit an International Executive adequate to enforce supreme and unchallengeable authority on every recalcitrant member of the commonwealth; a World Parliament whose members shall be elected by the people in their respective countries and whose election shall be confirmed by their respective governments; and a Supreme Tribunal whose judgment will have a binding effect even in such cases where the parties concerned did not voluntarily agree to submit their case to its consideration. A world community in which all economic barriers will have been permanently demolished and the interdependence of Capital and Labor definitely recognized; in which the clamor of religious fanaticism and strife will have been forever stilled; in which the flame of racial animosity will have been finally extinguished; in which a single code of international law—the product of the considered judgment of the world’s federated representatives—shall have as its sanction the instant and coercive intervention of the combined forces of the federated units; and finally a world community in which the fury of a capricious and militant nationalism will have been transmuted into an abiding consciousness of world citizenship—such indeed, appears, in its broadest outline, the order anticipated by Bahá’u’lláh, an Order that shall come to be regarded as the fairest fruit of a slowly maturing age.⁹

1. The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 71.
2. Foundations of World Unity, p. 25.
3. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, p. 175.
4. The Secret of Divine Civilization, pp. 61-62.
5. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 32.
6. The Secret of Divine Civilization, pp. 64-67.
7. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 41.
8. ibid., pp. 42-43.
9. ibid., pp. 40-41.

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Around the World

Bahá’í World Centre

The Department of Publishing at the Bahá’í World Centre has been requested to gather original poetry, essays and music with or inspired by Bahá’í themes for consideration by the Editorial Committee in compiling the volumes of The Bahá’í World.

Believers who have composed poetry, essays or music that they feel have merit are invited to submit their compositions, whether or not they have been published previously, together with a letter consenting to their publication by the World Centre if they are selected for inclusion.

Copyright clearance should be obtained where necessary. Submission of material to the World Centre does not preclude submission of the same material to other sources of publication, Bahá’í or non-Bahá’í. Although only a small selection can be used, a necessity dictated by the limited size of the international record, all material will be considered and its receipt acknowledged.

Kindly address submissions to the Department of Publishing, Bahá’í World Centre, P.O. Box 155, Haifa 31-000, Israel.

Peru

On October 28, Continental Counsellor Mas’ud Khamsi, members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Peru, and more than 60 members of the Peruvian Bahá’í community met with 83-year-old Dr. Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, the newly-elected president of Peru’s Assembly of the Constituent.

The Assembly of the Constituent is formulating a new constitution for Peru, especially focusing on laws governing the election of future presidents of the republic. The purpose of the Bahá’í visit was to present Bahá’í viewpoints on justice and administration that might prove helpful to the lawmakers in drawing up the new constitution.

President de la Torre was impressed with the diversity of the Bahá’í delegation that included young and old, men and women, Indians and whites, villagers and city people.

“I receive with much sympathy this visit,” he said, “because it represents ideals that we also profess, even though imperfectly...”

One hundred members of the Assembly of the Constituent were given a Bahá’í pamphlet and brief statement of Bahá’í administrative, elective and consultative principles.

Permission to visit the president was given less than 24 hours after the request was made by the National Spiritual Assembly. The visit received coverage in some newspapers.

Dr. Victor Raul Haya de la Torre (right), president of the Assembly of the Constituent in Peru, shakes hands with Continental Counsellor Mas’ud Khamsi, a member of the Bahá’í delegation that met with him October 28. Isabel de Sánchez, secretary of the Peruvian National Spiritual Assembly, is standing to the president’s right.

Among the Bahá’ís who visited Peruvian President Victor Raul Haya de la Torre October 28 were (right to left) Auxiliary Board member Fernando Schiantarelli; Grover Gonzales, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Peru; and a newly-enrolled Shipibo Indian Bahá’í woman from the Peruvian Amazon.

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Thailand

While waiting for harvest time, Thong Di, a Bahá’í in the Baan Don Klang village of Thailand, decided to look up a long-lost friend and do some teaching at the same time.

Mr. Di, a shy man, went to the Bahá’í Center in his village, prayed for assistance, and set out for Baan Thung Nang Ohk village to find his friend, Boon Si. Once there, Thong Di greeted his friend humbly, told him briefly about the Faith, and asked that he investigate it for himself. He advised his friend to go to the Bahá’í Center for more information.

Boon Si was so excited about what he had learned that he returned to his village and told others. Soon he came to the Bahá’í Center with a paper on which eight of his neighbors had indicated that they wished to become Bahá’ís. He asked the believers to accompany him to Baan Thung Nang Ohk.

Eleven of the villagers were waiting to be enrolled, and wanted to form a Local Spiritual Assembly immediately. They did so and elected officers the same day. The next morning, all of them reported that they had had “the most beautiful dreams in their lives,” and that they were more relaxed and happy than they had ever been before.

One of the new believers took some teaching material, in the form of an album, and walked around the village, sharing the news of the Bahá’í Faith with the other villagers. The others, too, promised to share the Faith with their families and relatives.

That evening, a meeting and deepening class was held at which the new believers studied Bahá’í prayers and The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh. About 20 men and 15 women attended. The separate discussion held by the women was conducted by Boon Si’s daughter, who, like the others, had been enrolled as a Bahá’í for exactly one day.

“Their knowledge and understanding of the Writings was deep, simple, and pure,” a witness to the event reported. “One of them said, ‘God is in our hearts if we love and obey Him; if we disobey, He goes away.’ ” They studied the short obligatory prayer word for word.

Meanwhile, Mr. Di is going to other villages, hoping to tell other long-lost friends about Bahá’u’lláh. “Soon the Faith will encompass this whole region,” one person reported.

South Africa

An arts and crafts competition was held during the National Teaching Conference at Umgababa, South Africa, October 14-15. Helping to judge the various entries are (from the left) Mrs. Anisa Cumberbatch of Durban, Mrs. Tabitha Tombisa of Pretoria, Auxiliary Board member Mrs. Cecilia Nodada of Transkei, and Miss Dawn Jensen, a newly-arrived pioneer from California. The Teaching Conference also included a demonstration children’s class as part of its activities.

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Republic of Cape Verde

Last August, a month-long teaching trip to the Republic of Cape Verde by Jack and Wandra Harmsen, U.S. pioneers to Portugal, resulted in the establishment of a Local Spiritual Assembly at Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, for the first time in 20 years.

The Republic of Cape Verde is an archipelago of nine islands off the coast of West Africa. The islands received their independence from Portugal in 1975. Cape Verde does not have a National Spiritual Assembly yet, but is under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of Senégal.

Cape Verde was opened to the Faith in 1954, during the Ten Year Crusade, by Howard and Joanne Menking, both of whom are Knights of Bahá’u’lláh.

The Menkings were instrumental in helping to form the first Spiritual Assembly in the islands, at Praia. Owing to restrictions placed on the Bahá’ís by the government, however, the Assembly was unable to function after 1957 and Bahá’í community life in the islands came to a virtual standstill.

With independence came greater religious freedom, and the Bahá’ís of Praia once again were eager to form their Local Assembly. One purpose of the Harmsens’ visit was to help in its formation.

Upon the Harmsens’ arrival on August 5, plans were made to re-establish the Assembly before the end of that month.

Nine public meetings were held. The friends in Cape Verde participated actively by bringing a steady flow of non-Bahá’í friends and relatives. One meeting was attended by 35 adults and 15 children.

Within two weeks, 14 Cape Verdians had accepted Bahá’u’lláh. Deepening classes soon were set up for the new believers.

On August 18, the first election in 20 years of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Praia was held. Every adult Bahá’í in the community took part in the election, and two days later all nine members of the newly-elected Assembly were present for the election of its officers.

The Cape Verdian Bahá’ís are being confirmed for the long years they patiently kept the fire of Bahá’u’lláh’s Cause alive in their hearts, and are confident and excited about the prospects for the Faith in their country.—Jack Harmsen

Top, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Praia, Republic of Cape Verde, elected last August 18. Fourteen Cape Verdians accepted Bahá’u’lláh during that month, making the Praia community (left) large enough to form its first Assembly in 20 years. Below, children entertain the adults during the Nineteen Day Feast of Asma (Names) last August 20.

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Solomon Islands

Eleven of the 50 Bahá’í women who attended a special conference October 29-30 in Tawaimane, South Malaita, in the Solomon Islands offered either one or two weeks of their time for teaching, deepening and consolidation work among Bahá’í communities in remote areas.

After a special training session, the teams would travel and teach, returning to share their experiences as an inspiration to other women who could arise and take a more active role in the teaching work in the Solomons.

The conference included discussions and presentations about teaching and living the Bahá’í life. During the sessions, men cared for the 13 children who attended. Men also prepared the meals. An evening program of audio-visual and musical presentations attracted many non-Bahá’ís and a total audience of about 150.

More than 300 people attended a United Nations Day celebration October 24 sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Solomon Islands. The Solomons became the 150th member of the United Nations last September 17.

The Governor General of the Solomons, Baddeley Devesi, and the secretary of Foreign Affairs and UN representative, Francis Bugotu, headed the delegation of government commissioners and deputies, other UN representatives, British and Australian diplomatic personnel, representatives of religious and civic groups, teachers, students, and others. The celebration was held in the auditorium of the Solomon Islands Training College in Honiara.

The program included the Solomons’ national anthem, two other songs, a Bahá’í prayer for unity, and some remarks by Earl Cameron, who presided on behalf of the Bahá’í community. Mr. Bugotu was the featured speaker for the event.

Ireland

The Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum lunched with a number of prominent citizens of Belfast, Ireland, last September including Nobel Prize winner Mairead Corrigan and Kieran McKeon, the leader of an organization dedicated to the cause of peace.

The luncheon followed a Victory Conference for Northern Ireland in Belfast at which she was one of the speakers. The conference, held September 9-10, was attended by about 200 Bahá’ís from throughout the British Isles.

Also present at the conference were Continental Counsellor Adib Taherzadeh, representatives of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and an Auxiliary Board member.

The conference produced 11 offers to pioneer to Northern Ireland by believers from the United Kingdom, and another 20 volunteers for teaching projects there.

Following the conference, a public meeting in the town of Carrickfergus resulted in two enrollments.

The next day, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum met with the Lord Mayor of Belfast, presenting him with a copy of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. A photo of the presentation appeared in the province’s leading daily newspaper.

Thomas Craig (center), the mayor of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, plants a ‘tree for peace’ at a city park as Mrs. Vida Lake, chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Londonderry, and Richard St. Barbre Baker look on. Dr. St. Barbre Baker, who was on a teaching tour last summer in Britain and Northern Ireland, is a Bahá’í who founded the worldwide conservation organization, ‘The Men of the Trees.’ In Londonderry he met with civic leaders and lectured to more than 60 people at the local university on ‘My Life, My Trees,’ mentioning the Faith in the course of his address. His activities resulted in considerable press coverage for the local Bahá’í community.

[Page 16]

Sweden

Portello, Sweden, was the site of a recent conference at which the friends enjoyed the presence of the Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery.

The conference, held on November 12, the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, inaugurated a week of intensive teaching and proclamation work throughout Sweden. Dr. Giachery’s talks on the life of Bahá’u’lláh were an inspiration to the 44 Bahá’ís who were present.

Beginning last September, each of the eight primary goal cities in Sweden planned an “intensive week” of teaching every month. The special efforts, to continue until Riḍván, include all feasible proclamation and personal teaching strategies and are being aided by traveling teachers.

During October, Mrs. Betty Reed, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in Europe, visited goal cities in northern and southern Sweden. In Umeå, she established excellent contact with the principal and two teachers at an agricultural college. In Luleå, she was instrumental in inspiring the declaration of faith and subsequent enrollment of no less than 11 individuals.

Dagens Nyheter, one of Sweden’s leading national newspapers, published a large advertisement about the Faith on November 12. The ad was prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly. Similar efforts were carried out in many local communities.

In response to a request by the National Assembly, the importance of prayer was specially emphasized during the week. A new teaching brochure that was released by its Bahá’í Publishing Trust just before the national week of intensive teaching was found to be extremely effective, as it was written and designed primarily for use in Sweden.

In Uppsala, Auxiliary Board member Hadi Afsahi recently presented the Faith to more than 100 teachers and students from throughout Sweden who attend the local university there. The talk was arranged by a member of the faculty who has been friendly to the Bahá’ís for more than 18 years.

Sweden continues its participation in an “Arctic Prayer Chain” that includes six other countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Each Bahá’í month, believers in all of the countries concentrate special prayers on one of the individual countries. “Certainly these prayers are warming the hearts of everyone in these regions,” one participant commented.

Swaziland

The Times of Swaziland, the only English-language newspaper in that country, recently published a long letter written by the National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland that outlined many of the beliefs, principles and laws of the Bahá’í Faith.

“The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Swaziland would like to clarify the status of the Bahá’í Faith as regards several very important concepts and asks for comments from interested people,” the letter said. Following was a point-by-point summary of the history and Teachings of the Faith.

Bermuda

The Bermuda Teaching Committee arranged a meeting with the Governor of Bermuda, Sir Peter Ramsbotham, December 5 at the time of a visit to Bermuda by a traveling teacher, Miss Shamsi Sedaghat from Trinidad. This delegation presented him the Bahá’í World Volume XV and a United Nations Human Rights Day proclamation. Shown here (from left to right) are June Saltus, Shamsi Sedaghat, Sir Peter Ramsbotham, Lady Ramsbotham, Georgia Sanchez, Jordy Walker, and Joya Johnson. Also present was Mary Walker. During the 40-minute visit with the governor, a warm and friendly atmosphere prevailed.

[Page 17]

India

Among a number of special teaching projects recently launched, says the National Spiritual Assembly of India, the following report from Orissa captures something of the new spirit that is “setting alight many pure-hearted souls in the villages”:

“Progress of the Faith in Maskaguda is marvelous. The people are very much interested. Children’s classes are being held every evening, and it seems the children are as receptive as the adults...

“There are about 40 families in the village, and as all the villagers have accepted the Faith, Maskaguda may be considered our first full Bahá’í village.

“They have proven their deep faith and confidence in Bahá’u’lláh. When two policemen who had come to Maskaguda to investigate a property case saw the Bahá’í teachers, they asked the villagers who these outsiders were and why they were there. All replied fearlessly that they were Bahá’ís and had come to teach a message of love and unity.

“The police officers became very interested. They were given some literature, and we hope that they, too, will soon join the family of Bahá’u’lláh.

“The villagers received the Nineteen Day Feast letter and a circular for the celebration of the Birthday of the Báb, and were so touched that they took them from place to place showing them to all the people.

“The Birthday of the Báb was celebrated grandly here. Everyone had promised to be present, but as darkness came there was no sign of them. As we were becoming discouraged, we suddenly heard the sound of drums, and we saw the people coming with music and drums, calling out the Name of Bahá’u’lláh. Soon all were gathered, songs were sung, drums were played, refreshments were served, and everyone was told about the significance of this blessed Day.”

An intensive eight-day teaching campaign by more than 30 Bahá’ís last October in 56 villages in the Kanpur District of South India resulted in more than 8,000 declarations.

The strategy was to concentrate primarily on villages and to strive for “entry by troops” by proclaiming everywhere the Name of Bahá’u’lláh and His Teachings. The response was immediate and enthusiastic.

The full-time teachers included Auxiliary Board members, their assistants, and members of the South India Teaching Committee. As the campaign progressed the ranks of these full-time teachers swelled to more than 100.

Another group of teachers had the special task of presenting the Faith in schools and among the educated. In two colleges, the principals, all teachers, and most of the students embraced the Faith.

Brazil

Mrs. Guity Milani, an Auxiliary Board member who lives in Vitoria in Brazil’s Santo Province, visited the local television station managers recently to ask if they might be interested in an interview about the Faith.

Granted only 20 minutes, it was later expanded to 45 minutes, all during prime time. She was then asked if she would like to have 20 minutes of prime time every week, without charge, to present Bahá’í programs.

Mrs. Milani is marshaling the forces of the mothers, children, young musicians, and others in her own and nearby communities, and is gathering every sort of visual material she can find to take advantage of this remarkable opportunity to spread the Faith throughout the region.

A new member of the Bahá’í community in Brazil is 120-year-old Bernadina de Piedade of Cipriano, Minas Gerais State, whose tearful response on first hearing the Teachings was “How much I have suffered to finally hear of Bahá’u’lláh!”

Only one of her seven children is still living, and she has lost count of the number of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Cyprus

Nearly 40 Bahá’ís attended a teaching conference September 20 in Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus, whose National Spiritual Assembly was one of seven formed for the first time at Riḍván 1978, recently formed its fourth Local Spiritual Assembly.