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Canary Islands

From Bahaipedia
Canary Islands
Canary Islands Bahá’í Summer School, 1957.
Location of Canary Islands
National AssemblyCanary Islands
History:
Firsts
 -  Pioneers 1953, George True
1953, Marguerite True
1953, Gertrude Eisenberg
1954, Shoghi Riaz Rouhani 
 -  Local Assembly 1955, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 
 -  National Assembly 1984 
Related media
Categories: Canary Islands • People

The Canary Islands are an autonomous community of Spain located in the Atlantic Ocean made up of eight inhabited islands and several smaller uninhabited islands.

The islands have been inhabited since prehistory and were colonized by Spain in the 15th Century. In 1833 they became a Province of Spain and in 1982 they became an autonomous community.

The Bahá’í community of the Canary Islands was established in 1953 and experienced a period of rapid growth in the early 1980s leading to the establishment of an independent National Spiritual Assembly. The community remains active to the present day.

History[edit]

In 1953 Shoghi Effendi launched the Ten Year Crusade which aimed to establish Bahá’í communities across the world and the Canary Islands were named a goal territory of the Crusade for Bahá’í pioneers to settle in. George and Peggy True arrived in the islands in October, 1953, settling on the island of Tenerife,[1] in November Gertrude Eisenberg settled on Grand Canary Island,[2] and in April, 1954, Shoghi Riaz Rouhani arrived in Cabo Juby with all of them being named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh by Shoghi Effendi.[3]

Governmental restrictions initially made teaching the Faith difficult,[1] however in 1955 the first Local Spiritual Assembly in the Canary Islands was formed in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.[2] In 1956 the first Inter-Island Bahá’í Conference for the Canary and Madeira Islands was held in Las Palmas,[4] and in 1957 a Bahá’í Summer School for the Canary Islands was held.[5]

In 1969 and 1970 the Faith received some media coverage in the Canary Islands which assisted teaching efforts.[6][7] In 1973 a Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Arucas on Grand Canary Island,[8][9] and in 1974 year a young Canadian Bahá’í made the first teaching trip to Graciosa island in the Canaries opening them to the Faith.[10] In 1975 a Regional Bahá’í Youth School was held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife which was the first of its kind in the region.[11] In 1978 two Local Spiritual Assemblies were established in the Canaries,[12] one of them being in Telde where teaching efforts were particularly successful with a teaching conference being held in the town that year which was attended by sixty people and the towns Bahá’í community began to develop deepening materials.[13]

Teaching efforts accelerated in the Canaries in the 1980's. In 1980 a Bahá’í was able to deliver a lecture on the Faith at the University of La Laguna,[14] in 1982 a Bahá’í booth at a book fair in Santa Cruz de Tenerife sold over one hundred Bahá’í books,[15] and in 1983 the Bahá’í community of Arucas was able to host its first public Bahá’í meeting having previously been unable to secure a venue due to hostility to the Faith.[8] In 1983 a Regional Spiritualization Conference was held in the Canary Islands sponsored by the National Teaching Committee of Spain,[16] and as of 1984 there were seven Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Canary Islands.[17]

In 1984 the independent National Spiritual Assembly of the Canary Islands was established with Hand of the Cause ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan representing the Universal House of Justice at the establishment of the body. Two Local Spiritual Assemblies were established the same year.[17] In 1985 the newly formed National Assembly sponsored the first Children's Bahá’í Summer School of the Islands.[18]

In 1994 the Bahá’í community of the Canary Islands sponsored a roundtable discussion on health,[19] and in 1996 the Bahá’í youth of Tenerife dedicated a period of service to the wider community during which they visited a center for people with mental disabilities, a hospital, and an aged care facility.[20] In 1997 the Canary Islands National Committee for Bahá’í Education and Family Life conducted a seminar on family life at the National Bahá’í Center in Tenerife.[21]

In 2000 the Bahá’í community of the Canary Islands was officially recognized as an official religion with the National Spiritual Assembly being incorporated by the Spanish government.[22] In 2003 the 50th Anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith in the Canary Islands was celebrated at an event in Las Palmas at which a documentary about the history of the Islands Bahá’í community was screened.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, pp 385-386.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 387.
  3. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 389.
  4. ↑ Baha'i News (July 1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 317, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 323, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1969). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 460, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1970). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 470, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Baha'i News (1983). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 625, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1974). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 518, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1974). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 517, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1975). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 532, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 566, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1979). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 583, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ {[citebn|591|17}}
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1982). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 617, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1983). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 633, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Baha'i News (1984). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 642, Pg(s) 15. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1986). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 658, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 152. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 69. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 105. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2002). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 29 (2000-2001), Pg(s) 76. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2005). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 32 (2003-2004), Pg(s) 72. View as PDF.


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