East Timor

East Timor
East Timor
	Location of East Timor
National Assembly	Timor-Leste
History:; Firsts
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	Categories: East Timor • People

East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, is a country located on the eastern half of the Island of Timor in the Indian Ocean. It was governed by Portugal and known as Portuguese Timor until 1975.

According to one source there were 200 Bahá'í's in East Timor in 1970 and 1,200 in 2010.^[1]

History[edit]

Shoghi Effendi assigned the goal of opening Portuguese Timor to the Bahá'í Faith to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand in 1953, in a message delivered to the Intercontinental Teaching Conference in New Delhi.^[2] The first Bahá'ís to pioneer to Portuguese Timor were Harold Fitzner, his wife Florence Fitzner, and Jose Moucho who moved to the country from Australia in 1954 and were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh for doing so.^[3]^[4]

In 1959 the responsibility of administrating the Faith in Portuguese Timor was transferred from the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia to the newly formed Regional Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia.^[5] The first Timorese Local Spiritual Assembly was formed in Dili, the nations capital, in 1963.^[4]

When Portugese Timor was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 the Bahá'í community was dissolved, with the Faith being outlawed under Indonesian law.^[6] The country was under Indonesian rule until 1999, and became formally independent in 2002.

In 2011 Jose Ramos-Horta, the President of East Timor, co-authored an open letter calling for the Iranian government to release seven imprisoned Bahá'í educators.^[7]

The Riḍván 2021 letter from the Universal House of Justice announced the creation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Timor-Leste with its seat in Dili at Riḍván 2021. ^[8]

References[edit]

↑ Melton, J. Gordon (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. ABC-CLIO. p. 2872. ISBN 159884203X.
↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 273, Pg(s) 6-21 February 2018. View as PDF.
↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2000). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 27 (1998-1999), Pg(s) 310. View as PDF.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 449-451. View as PDF.
↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 339, Pg(s) 14-21 February 2018. View as PDF.
↑ And the Trees Clapped their Hands: Stories of Bahá'í Pioneers, ed. Clair Vreeland, pages 320-332, Oxford: George Ronald, 1994: https://bahai-library.com/hassall_fitzners_portuguese_timor
↑ http://news.bahai.org/story/852/
↑ Universal House of Justice, Riḍván Letter 2021.

[1] Melton, J. Gordon (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. ABC-CLIO. p. 2872. ISBN 159884203X.

[2] Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 273, Pg(s) 6-21 February 2018. View as PDF.

[3] The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2000). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 27 (1998-1999), Pg(s) 310. View as PDF.

[bw15-4] 4.0 ^4.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 449-451. View as PDF.

[5] Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 339, Pg(s) 14-21 February 2018. View as PDF.

[6] And the Trees Clapped their Hands: Stories of Bahá'í Pioneers, ed. Clair Vreeland, pages 320-332, Oxford: George Ronald, 1994: https://bahai-library.com/hassall_fitzners_portuguese_timor

[7] ttp://news.bahai.org/story/852/

[8] Universal House of Justice, Riḍván Letter 2021.

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East Timor

History[edit]

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References[edit]