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Portugal

From Bahaipedia
 Portugal
Bahá’í National Convention of Portugal, 1970.
Location of Portugal
National AssemblyPortugal
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[2] 10,290,103
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source 445 [1] 
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 1,994
History:
Firsts
 -  Bahá'í to visit 1926, Martha Root 
 -  Local Assembly 1949, Lisbon 
 -  National Assembly 1962 
How to contact:
 -  Phone +351 21 759 0474 
 -  Fax +351 21 757 1808 
 -  Email aen@bahai.pt
 -  Address Rua Cidade de Nova Lisboa, nº 17
1800 - 107 LISBOA
PORTUGAL 
Official Website http://www.bahai.pt/
Related media
Categories: Portugal • People

The Portuguese Republic, generally referred to as Portugal, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Christianity is the predominant religion and Portuguese is the official language.

In recent history Portugal has been an independent nation. It was a monarchy up until 1910 when a Republic was established however an authoritarian regime assumed power in 1926 with the country remaining under authoritarian rule until 1974 when democracy was restored.

The Bahá’í Faith was first present in Portugal in 1926 and a community was established in the late 1940s. Increased religious freedom in Portugal in 1975 increased the ability of the Bahá’í community to be active in the wider community with the Portuguese Bahá’ís remaining active to the present day.

History[edit]

Martha Root visited Portugal in late 1926 however due to local circumstances she was unable to teach by delivering public talks on the Faith while in the country and little is known about her visit.[3] Two other Bahá’ís also visited during 1926 and were interviewed by the newspapers Diário de Notícias and Diário de Lisboa, gave speeches at the Rotary Club, and donated books to the National Library and Polytechnic University.[4]

In December 1946 Virginia Orbison flew to Lisbon from South America then established her residence in Spain aiming to teach in both Portugal and Spain.[5] In December 1947 Valeria Nichols pioneered to Lisbon in Portugal itself,[6] and in January 1948 she was joined by Louise Baker. Dorothy Baker visited in early 1948 during a travel teaching tour of Europe,[7][8] in 1949 Charlotte Stirrat pioneered to the country,[9] and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Lisbon was established that year.[10]

As of 1950 there were three pioneers in Portugal and in March that year Edward and Mary Bode pioneered to Lisbon for several months bringing the total to five.[11][12][13] Rafi Mottahedeh visited the country in 1951 and assisted with teaching efforts in Lisbon and Porto,[14] and in 1952 he visited Porto to teach again with his wife Mildred and Albert Danneberg pioneered to the city resulting in the establishment of a Local Spiritual Assembly before the end of the year.[15] In September 1952 the Regional Teaching Conference for Iberia was held in Lisbon,[16] and in 1955 a Conference for the Portuguese Bahá’í community was held in Porto.[17]

In 1957 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Iberian Peninsula was established which assumed responsibility for administrating the Faith in Spain and Portugal,[18] and a National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds was acquired in Lisbon.[19] As of 1958 Portugal had two Local Spiritual Assemblies and one Bahá’í group and the secretary of the Iberian National Assembly stressed a need for teaching work in Portugal at that years Iberian Convention.[20] Another Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Portimao and another city in 1959 and ten people declared in Portugal that year.[21][22][23] Additional Local Spiritual Assemblies were established in Queluz in 1960,[24] Oeiras and Espinho in 1961,[25] [26] with the independent National Spiritual Assembly of Portugal being established in 1962.[27]

The Bahá’í community of Portugal continued to grow during the 1960's and by 1968 there were seven Local Spiritual Assemblies in the country and Bahá’ís living in an additional eleven localities.[28] Growth accelerated in the early 1970's with the country having fourteen Local Spiritual Assemblies by 1973 and the size of the community quadrupling from 1970 to 1973,[29] and Enoch Olinga developed a teaching campaign for 1973 and 1974 with the National Assembly in 1973.[30] The authoritarian regime of Portugal lost power in 1974 and a Religious Freedom Act was passed in 1975 ending a period in which the Bahá’í community had been under police surveillance, restricted in its gatherings, and banned from undertaking public activities.[31] Upheaval in the country prevented a National Convention from being held in 1974 but the Assembly was still elected via correspondence and before the end of the year a National Teaching Conference was held, public proclamation campaigns undertaken, summer schools held,[30] and the National Spiritual Assembly was officially registered with the government in 1976.[32]

In the early 1980's proclamation efforts continued in Portugal with newspaper articles, public exhibitions, and television programmes on the Faith being produced,[33] and in 1988 a major Iberian Youth Conference was held in Lisbon attended by over one hundred youth from nine countries across Europe.[34] In 1989 Bahá’ís participated in a religious studies week held at the New University in Lisbon and in 1992 a member of the National Spiritual Assembly spoke on the Faith at a Congress on Religious Studies at the University.[35] In 1994 a group of Bahá’í youth organized discussion groups for social issues in Portugal,[36] and Bahá’í artists made an exhibition on the life of Bahá’u’lláh and the Hidden Words which was visited by over three thousand people in Portimao.[37]

In 1996 a celebration of the 50th Anniverary of the Bahá’í Faith in Portugal was held in Lisbon and attended by around three hundred people including Rúḥíyyih Khánum and Violette Nakhjavani.[38] and Rúḥíyyih Khánum was interviewed by the press and a thirty minute documentary about the Faith in Portugal was broadcast on national television.[39] In 1997 a seminar under the name Focusing All Efforts organized by the European Bahá’í Youth Council was held in Figueira de Foz in Portugal.[40] In 1999 the Bahá’í community of Portugal began facilitating an elective class titled World Citizenship: Morals and Religion According to the Bahá’í Teachings in public high schools across the country with the approval of the Ministry of Education.[41]

In 2019 the Bahá’í community of Portugal produced a six part telivision program on the life and teachings of the Báb to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb,[42] and small grassroots conferences were held across the country in 2022 as part of the Global Conferences intiative of the international Bahá’í community.[43]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Sources:
    • NSA Anual Report 177 (data according to SRP3, created by Baha'i World Center)
  2. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  3. ↑ M.R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 260
  4. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/moreira_comuidade_bahai_portugal
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1947). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 191, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 691. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 204, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 206, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Edith & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 110
  10. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 47
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 229, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 233, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 230, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 240, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 257, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 262, Pg(s) 18. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 302, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 316, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 396. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 329, Pg(s) 22. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 341, Pg(s) 15. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 347, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 354, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  24. ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 353, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 368, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  26. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 371, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  27. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 376, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  28. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 167. View as PDF.
  29. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 287. View as PDF.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 310. View as PDF.
  31. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/moreira_comuidade_bahai_portugal
  32. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 353. View as PDF.
  33. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 192. View as PDF.
  34. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 353. View as PDF.
  35. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 365. View as PDF.
  36. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 183. View as PDF.
  37. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 262. View as PDF.
  38. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 63. View as PDF.
  39. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 64. View as PDF.
  40. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 142. View as PDF.
  41. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2001). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 28 (1999-2000), Pg(s) 97. View as PDF.
  42. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1345/
  43. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1592/slideshow/27/
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