Lithuania
 Lithuania |
||
|---|---|---|
 Delegates at the 25th National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Lithuania, 2024.
|
||
| Location of Lithuania
|
||
| National Assembly | Lithuania | |
| Statistics: | ||
| Total Population | ||
| - | UN 2021[1] | 2,786,651 |
| Bahá'í pop. | ||
| - | Bahá'í source | |
| - | Non-Bahá'í source | 221 |
| History: Firsts |
||
| - | Bahá'í to visit | 1927, Martha Root |
| - | Pioneers | 1989, Helen Smith |
| - | Local Assembly | 1990, Vilnius |
| - | National Assembly | 1999 |
| Official Website | http://www.bahai.lt/ | |
 Related media
|
||
| Categories: Lithuania • People | ||
The Republic of Lithuania is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Christianity is the predominant religion and Lithuanian is the official language.
In recent history the region declared independence from the Russian Empire in 1918 however it was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union during the Second World War. It remained under a Soviet government until 1990 when it became the first Soviet Republic to declare independence.
The Bahá’í Faith was first proclaimed in Lithuania in 1927 and a handful of Lithuanians joined the religion in the early 1930s. A community was firmly established in the 1990s.
History[edit]
Martha Root visited Lithuania in 1927 when she toured the Baltic states spending time in Kaunas. She was unable to deliver public talks as significant advance notice was required however she was able to meet with a Professor at Litva University and present Bahá’í literature to the country's Minister of foreign affairs, which were to be given to the President of Lithuania.[2]
Hermann and Anna Grossmann were able to teach the Faith to Lithuanians who they were in contact with through Esperanto via correspondence and by the early 1930's there were four Bahá’ís in Lithuania due to their efforts.[3] Martha Root visited Kaunas again in 1934 attending the countries National Esperanto Congress,[4] and made a third visit to the city in 1935.[5]
The outbreak of the Second World War prevented efforts to establish a Bahá’í community in Lithuania, and the incorporation of the state into the Soviet Union made teaching the Faith impossible as the Soviet Union had outlawed Bahá’í administration and meetings in 1938.[6]
In the late 1980's the Soviet Union began to relax religious restrictions in its territories and Helen Smith became the first pioneer to Lithuania in 1989.[7][8] The Local Spiritual Assembly of Vilnius was established in September 1990 as the first in the country. In January 1992 Project Kaunas, the first large scale teaching project in Lithuania, was launched sponsored by the International Goals Committee of Sweden,[9] and the same year the joint Regional Spiritual Assembly for the Baltic States was established which was responsible for administrating the Faith in Lithuania.[10]
In 1994 a teaching team of twenty-four youth from North America and Europe visited Lithuania to support teaching efforts,[11] and in December 1995 the first Bahá’í Teaching Conference of Lithuania was held.[12] From 1996 to 1997 projects to teach the Faith were undertaken in Kaunas, Vilnius, Ukmerge, Plunge, and Jelgava,[13] and as of 1999 the community had developed to the point an independent National Spiritual Assembly was established.[14]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
- ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: The Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 272
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 196. View as PDF.
- ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: The Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 402
- ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: The Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 412
- ↑ Moojan Momen, Russia, 1995, published at Bahai-Library Online, accessed 31 October 2022
- ↑ Helen Smith at histories.bahai.org.uk
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2001). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 28 (1999-2000), Pg(s) 46. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 215. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 215. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 170. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1997). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 24 (1995-1996), Pg(s) 110. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 105. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2001). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 28 (1999-2000), Pg(s) 45. View as PDF.
