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The number of incorporated Assemblies, both local and national, in various continents of the globe, has been raised to one hundred and sixty-eight, the latest additions being the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly and the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Brussels, Tokyo, Liverpool, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Quincy, Basel, Zürich, Geneva, Heidelberg, Buenos Aires, Saigon, Suva, Malacca and Addis Ababa.
The number of the pillars of the Universal House of Justice has been raised to twelve through the successive formation of the Canadian, the Central American, the South American and the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies.
Yet another task, of extreme urgency and of great spiritual significance, is the selection and purchase of the site of the future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Sweden, as well as the appropriation of sufficient funds during the coming two years, for the establishment, on however modest a scale, of a national Hazíratu’l-Quds in Anchorage, Alaska, in Panama City and in the capital of Peru, in Suva, in Tokyo and in Johannesburg, and the lending of financial assistance to the Italo-Swiss National Assembly, the proud daughter of the American Bahá’í Community, for the erection of a similar national center in the Italian and Swiss capitals.
I feel impelled, on this historic occasion, when the members of the American, the British, the German and the newly formed Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as representatives of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom, of Eire, of Germany, of Austria, of the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, of the Iberian Peninsula, of Italy, of Switzerland, of France and of Finland are assembled, to pay a warm tribute to the valiant labors of the early British and French Bahá’í pioneers, who at the very dawn of the Faith in Europe, strove with such diligence, consecration and resolution, to fan into flame that holy fire which the hand of the appointed Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant had kindled in the northwest extremity of that continent on the morrow of His Father’s ascension.
To the Kampala Conference a representative of each of the United States, the British, the Persian, the North-East African, the Indian and the Iráqí National Spiritual Assemblies; to the Chicago Conference a representative of each of the United States, the Canadian, and Latin American National Spiritual Assemblies; to the Frankfurt Conference a representative of each of the British, the German, the Italo-Swiss and the United States National Spiritual Assemblies; and to the Djakarta Conference a representative of each of the United States, the Canadian, the Persian, the Indian, the Australian and the Iráqí National Spiritual Assemblies, should be sent in the capacity of an official participant.
Carmel, as well as in Latin America; the repeated contributions made for the erection of that Sepulcher, for the extension of Bahá’í international endowments and the institution of the Hazíratu’l-Quds in Kampala; the marvellous loyalty demonstrated in connection with the repeated defection of members of the Holy Family and the nefarious activities of Covenant-breakers, both old and new; as well as the share a number of these Hands have had in administering a stunning defeat to the enemies of the Faith who, so boldly and shamelessly sought, through legal action, to challenge the authority of the Guardian of the Faith, and to publicly humiliate, the institution created through the provisions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament; the further unfoldment of the European project through the initiation of the two historic Conferences held in the Low Countries and in the Iberian Peninsula, and the convocation of the fateful Conference in Rome, heralding the formation of the Italo-Swiss National Assembly—the fairest fruit of that mighty Project—these stand out as the distinctive, the unforgettable, the infinitely meritorious achievements which posterity will record as the noblest exploits immortalizing the concluding years of the Second Seven Year Plan, and conferring untold benefits on its executors throughout the length and breadth of the Great Republic of the West.
The process of multiplication of Bahá’í local Assemblies in the ten goal countries of Europe, and particularly in Italy and Switzerland, and the preparatory measures required to ensure the success of the twin historic assemblages destined to commemorate the last year of the Seven Year enterprise launched in the European continent—the European Teaching Conference in Luxemburg and the Italo-Swiss Convention in Florence—must be pushed forward with extreme care, vigilance and vigor.
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