- 1922-02-19 —
Shoghi Effendi called together a group of well-known Bahá'ís to discuss the future development of the Faith and the possible election of the Universal House of Justice. It was the commonly held opinion of the members of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's family, the British officials in Palestine, many believers and indeed Shoghi Effendi himself as evidenced by his letter to Persia dated 16 January, 1922, that the Universal House of Justice would be elected. [BBRSM:120, 126; EJR207; PP247-8]
- Those invited to attend were: Major Tudor Pole, Ethel Rosenberg and Lady Blomfield from England; Emogene Hoagg (she had been living in Haifa for some time at this point), Laura and Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney from France, Consul and Alice Schwarz from Germany, Siyyid Mustafá Rúmí of Burma, Roy Wilhelm, Mountfort Mills, Mason Remey, from North America as well as Corinne True and her daughter Katherine. Two well-known Bahá'í teachers from Persia, Avarih and Fazel had been invited to attend but due to complications their arrival was long delayed. [EJR207-8; PP55]
- In a letter dated the 5th of March, 1922 Shoghi Effendi urged the Bahá'ís to subordinate firmly and definitely all personal likings and local interests to the interests and requirements of the Cause. He called for the establishment of local spiritual assemblies in every locality where the number of adult believers exceeded nine. He also described the tasks and functions of the assemblies saying that they would evolve into the local and national Houses of Justice. [PP248; SBR66]
- See UD3-9; BA17-25 for the letter.
- 1963-04-21 —
Establishment of the Universal House of Justice
- The Universal House of Justice was elected for the first time. [BW14:427; MoC424]
Those elected were: Charles Wolcott, ‘Alí’ Nakhjavani, H. Barrah Kavelin, Ian Semple, Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím, David Hofman, Hugh Chance, Amoz Gibson, and Ḥushmand Fatheazam. [BW14p425]
- The election was held at 9:30 in the morning at the home of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 7 Haparsim Street, Haifa. [BW14:427; MoC425]
- Ballots were received from all 56 national spiritual assemblies. [BW14:427]
- 288 members of 51 national spiritual assemblies were present at the election. [BW14:427]
- For a list of the electors see MoC406–13.
- For details of the election see BW14:425–9 and MoC20–1.
- The election marked the end of the Second Epoch during which time the Faith had spread globally. The Third Epoch began.
- 1964-11-01 —
The Universal House of Justice announced that 'there is no way to appoint, or to legislate to make it possible to appoint, Hands of the Cause of God'. [WG41]
- For decisions of the Universal House of Justice regarding the development of the institution of the Hands of the Cause of God see WG40–3.
- 1967-10-01 —
A special edition of The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh was published by the Universal House of Justice for presentation to 140 heads of state. [BW14:204–6; CB406]
- For a picture of the book see BW14:194.
- For pictures and descriptions of some of the rulers addressed by Bahá'u'lláh see BW14:196–203.
- For responses from present-day leaders to the book, and pictures, see BW14:207–10.
- 1968-06-21 —
The Universal House of Justice established the Continental Boards of Counsellors to continue the functions of the Hands of the Cause in the protection and propagation of the Faith. [BBD58–9, 97; BW15:611–13; BW17:319; MUHJ4–5; WG141, Mess63-86p130, 21 June, 1968, CEBF112]
- For details of the eleven Boards and their membership see BW15:612 and WG140–4.
- Among the eleven people named to the Boards
in Africa were three native believers: Oloro Epyeru and Kolonario Oule in Uganda, and
Seewoosumbur-Jeehiba Appa in Mauritius.
- For pictures of the Counsellors see BW15:614, 615, 618, 619, 622, 623, 625, 627.
- For a history of the development of the institutions of the International Teaching Centre and the Continental boards of Counsellors see BW20p673-693.
- 1971-08-00 — The Universal House of Justice erected an obelisk on the site of the future House of Worship of the Holy Land on land that was purchased in 1953 with a gift of $50,000 from Milly Collins. [MBW63, 78-79, BBD 172; BW15:177–8; DH175; MUHJ83–4, SES18-20]
- 1972-11-26 —
- 1973-06-05 —
The International Teaching Centre was established at the Bahá'í World Centre for the purpose of continuing the work of the Hands of the Cause of God into the future. [BBD118–19; BBRSM132–3; BW16:134, 411–14; BW17:322–5; VV16, CEBF200; Wikipedia]
- For cable of the Universal House of Justice see BW16:413.
- Hands of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, 'Alí-Akbar Furútan, Paul Haney and Abu'l-Qásim Faizí and Counsellor members Hooper Dunbar, Florence Mayberry and Aziz Yazdí were appointed. [BW16:413]
- For pictures see BW16:412 and VV16.
- The duties and the organization of the International Teaching Centre were deliniated in the Message from the Universal House of Justice of June 8th, 1973.
- See Wikipedia article for the names of the Counsellor members since its inception.
- 1973-06-08 —
The Universal House of Justice permitted the Continental Boards of Counsellors to authorize individual Auxiliary Board members to appoint assistants. [BW17:322]
- Mrs. Zena Sorabjee was appointed Trustee of the new Continental Fund of South Central Asia, while Mr. Hushang Ahdieh and Mr. Mas'úd Khamsí were appointed the new Trustees of the Continental Funds of Central and East Africa and South America respectively. 8 June, 1973
- 1973-10-07 —
The Universal House of Justice announced that the number of Auxiliary Board members throughout the world was to be raised to 270, of whom 81 will serve on the Auxiliary Boards for the Protection of the Faith and 189 will serve on the Auxiliary Boards for the Propagation of the Faith. In all there will be 54 Auxiliary Board members in Africa, 81 in the Western Hemisphere, 81 in Asia, 18 in Australasia and 36 in Europe.-
Each Continental Board of Counsellors was given the discretion to authorize individual Auxiliary Board members to appoint assistants and given broad latitude in this matter.
[Message from the Universal House of Justice 7 October, 1973]
- 1983-01-01 —
The Seat of the Universal House of Justice was completed; the Universal House of Justice officially occupied the building. [BBD204; BW19:23; VV62]
- For a description and history of the building see BW19:24–6.
- Marble for the Seat of the Universal House of Justice was quarried from Mount Pentelikon, just north of Athens and was cut and chiseled by Margraf, a firm from Chiampo, Italy formerly known as Industria Marmi Vincentini. [BWNS1223]
- For pictures see BW18:466–72 and Construction.
- See video called Ark of Destiny.
- 1985-10-24 —
In anticipation of the United Nations International Year of Peace, and on the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations, the Universal House of Justice addressed a message "To the Peoples of the World" inviting them to consider that a new social order can be fostered by all peoples' seeing themselves as members of one universal family. This message, The Promise of World Peace was presented to world leaders and countless others during the United Nations International Year of Peace. [BBD174, 187–8; BW19:139, 155; VV59, 86–8, The Promise of World Peace]
- See BW20p131 for the logistics involved in distributing it throughout the world.
- Within six months national spiritual assemblies present copies to 167 world leaders, including 140 to leaders of independent countries. [BW19:139, 334–6]
- For pictures see BW19:337–44.
- For text see BW19:324–33.
- See the compilation on Peace compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice.
- See the oral statement from the Bahá'í International Community of the 17th of April 1986 addressed to the NGO committee for the University of Peace.
- See the Message of the Universal House of Justice dated 18 January 2019 on the subject of world peace.
- 2001-03-00 — The publication of Century of Light, a statement by the Universal House of Justice. The purpose of the book is to provide members of the Faith with a perspective on two defining processes that unfolded during the 20th century; on the one hand, the sequence of events that made the unification of humanity the principal feature of modern history and, on the other, the emergence from obscurity of the Cause of God and its Administrative order. It is primarily a resource for Bahá'í study and deepening. It is not a public information publication. [TP777-778]
- 2002-04-21 —
The Universal House of Justice issued a letter addressed to the world's religious leaders warning of "the danger posed by "the rising fires of religious prejudice" and called for decisive action against fanaticism and intolerance". [One Country Vol.14 Issue 1]
- For the text of the letter see To the World's Religious Leaders.
- Also see One Country Vol.14 Issue 1 for an abridged version.
- See also BWNS200; BWNS168, BWNS200; BW'02-'03pg79-98.
- The essential message was that God is one and all religions are from that same God and that recognition of these truths is a prerequisite that must be at the heart of all religious discourse. Bahá'i institutions throughout the world delivered thousands of copies of this message to influential figures and the major faith communities. Although some were dismissed out of hand, in general the message was warmly welcomed. [One Common Faith p.ii]
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