To the faithful Bahá'ís under
the Guardianship throughout the world.
Through Hand of the Cause, Marilyn Meyer, Secretary,
National Bahá'í Council' of the United States.
PROCLAMATION
22 September 2006
It gives me great pleasure on the occasion of 88th birthday to proclaim the appointment of the Third International Bahá’í Council—the embryonic Universal House of Justice—with the membership listed below. In this appointment, those believers, who have displayed an exemplary fidelity to the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh and the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, during the many years since the passing of Shoghi Effendi, in their faithful, steadfast and devoted support of and exemplary service to the living Guardian of the Cause of God, may now be assured that I have clearly identified my successor and thereby provided, following the termination of my ministry, for the continuance of the Guardianship in strict compliance with the terms of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Unlike the action taken by the first and second Guardians of the Faith, who did not assume the Presidency of the International Bahá’í Councils appointed by them, I shall assume the Presidency of the third International Bahá’í Council as an actively functioning administrative body that can function, as such, thanks particularly to the facility of the internet, without its members being assembled in one location.
I am taking the opportunity provided in the appointment of this third International Bahá’í Council to identify my appointed successor. His identity is found in the one whom I have designated below as the single Vice President of the Council who will succeed to the Presidency, and thereby the Guardianship, upon my passing, or prior thereto, in the event of any incapacitation in the future that may preclude my being able to continue functioning as the Guardian of the Faith, either as determined and announced by myself or, if unable to make such a determination, as may be announced by my successor on the basis of a decision rendered by competent medical authority.
As the future event of a catastrophic nature prophesied by Bahá’u’lláh may seriously affect the membership of the Council, as shown below, it should be understood that, if the Vice President named below should not survive such an event, succession to the Guardianship will be inherited, in turn, by the surviving member of the Council, in the order named below:
President, Joel Bray Marangella
Vice President, Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand
Secretary General, Franklin Schlatter
Assistant Secretary, David Maxwell
Assistant Secretary, Daniel Havner
Assistant Secretary, Y.H. Taylor
Treasurer: Jeffrey Goldberg
Member: Ross Campbell
Member: Joel Jani Marangella
I also take this opportunity to announce with great pleasure the elevation of the following faithful believers to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God:
Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand
Ross Campbell
Jeffrey Goldberg
David Maxwell
Y.H. Taylor
Future declarations submitted by believers enrolling in the Orthodox Bahá’í Faith who reside in countries and other localities that are not under the administrative jurisdiction of one of the Provisional National Bahá’í Councils or Mother Bahá’í Councils will be submitted to the International Bahá’í Council for acceptance, acknowledgement and matter of record. The Secretary General of the Council will upon receipt of this proclamation publish his email and mailing address.
Copies of future issues of the Bahá’í newsletter, Star of the Covenant, published by the Provisional National Bahá’í Council of the United States, will be sent by that Council to the Secretary General of the International Bahá’í Council for translation by the appropriate Assistant Secretary of all or a part thereof, as determined desirable by the Secretary General, and subsequent distribution to the faithful believers residing in those countries and localities outside of the United States.
The Treasurer of the Council will establish an account under the name of "International Bahá’í Fund" to which contributions may be made by the faithful friends to cover such expenses as the cost of mailing newsletters and other material.
The Secretary of the International Bahá’í Council, Hand of the Cause, Frank Schlatter, will henceforth prepare the annual Ridván letter previously prepared by myself, recounting, for the information of the faithful friends, significant achievements that have taken place during the past Bahá’í Year. To enable him to do this, Provisional National Bahá’í Councils and Mother Bahá’í Councils are enjoined to periodically inform the International Bahá’í Council of significant developments that have taken place in their countries so that the Secretary General of the Council may be able to include a summary of same in this Ridván letter.
Joel Bray Marangella.
Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith
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