Home ›

Toronto to host the 38th Annual Conference of the Association for Baha’i Studies

A session at last year's conference in Irvine, Calfornia. © Association for Baha'i Studies Toronto, Ontario, 22 April 2014 (CBNS) — The 38th annual conference of the Association for Baha’i Studies will take place in Toronto, Ontario, 7–10 August 2014. Titled “Scholarship and the Life of Society,” the conference will focus on scholarship and its potential to contribute to the life of society.

Baha’i communities celebrate the most important Baha’i Holy Day

Shrine of Baha'u'llah. © Baha'i International Community Toronto, Ontario, 14 April 2014 (CBNS) — On 21 April, Baha’is across Canada will celebrate the first day of the Festival of Ridvan — also known as “the King of Festivals” — the most important of the Baha’i holy days. Lasting for twelve days, the festival commemorates the public announcement by Baha’u’llah in 1863 that He was a Messenger of God. Baha’u’llah is the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith.

In an unprecedented symbolic act senior cleric calls for religious co-existence in Iran

Members Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani perfecting an illuminated work of calligraphy. The words used in this piece are from the writings of Baha’u’llah. New York, 7 April 2014 (BWNS) — In a symbolic and unprecedented move, Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, a prominent Muslim cleric in Iran announced today that he has gifted to the Baha’is of the world an illuminated work of calligraphy of a paragraph from the writings of Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-founder of the Baha’i Faith.

Jean-Baptiste Louis Bourgeois (1856 – 1930)

This article is part of a series on a few historical figures in the Canadian Baha’i Community who were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the community in Canada. Over the course of this year, the Canadian Baha’i News Service will be posting one biography every month.

Jean-Baptiste Louis Bourgeois. Photo: Courtesy of the Baha’is of the United States Montréal, Quebec, 7 April 2014 (CBNS) — Louis Bourgeois designed the first Baha’i House of Worship in the West, located on the shores of Lake Michigan just north of Chicago. It is now one of the protected historical sites in the United States, a building of extraordinary beauty and fascinating detail.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final National Event concludes in Edmonton

Members of the Baha'i Community of Canada Sama Imamverdi, Allison Healy, Leva Ikhbali, beside art depicting the residential school experience, by Mel Dacheagea, Doig River First Nation. © Pat Verge Edmonton, Alberta, 1 April 2014 (CBNS) — Baha’is from Alberta and elsewhere joined their Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal neighbours in Edmonton March 27–30 for the final national event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). They attended the event to listen, learn, bear witness, show solidarity, and reflect on ways to contribute to reconciliation.

The passing of Dr. Ross Woodman

Dr. Ross Woodman. © Baha'i Community of Canada London, Ontario, 27 March 2014 (CBNS) — Ross Woodman, Professor Emeritus at Western University in London, Ontario, passed away this week at the age of 91. He was a member of the first National Spiritual Assembly, the governing council of the Baha’i Community of Canada, elected in 1948.

Concern over persecution of Iranian Baha’is at UN Human Rights Council

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré. Geneva, 22 March 2014 (BWNS) — Overall, human rights in Iran have not improved substantially since the election of President Hassan Rouhani last year, despite his promises to grant citizens more rights and to end discriminatory practices, according to Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s expert on the issue.

Celebrating the New Year with spring

Dakhká Kwaán Dancers at Naw-Ruz celebration in Whitehorse, Yukon. © Tyrone Larkin Montréal, Quebec, 20 March 2014 (CBNS) — The first day of spring — 21 March — marks the beginning of the New Year for Baha’is all around the world. This occasion, also called Naw-Ruz, symbolizes the renewal brought by all the great religions throughout the ages.

George Spendlove (1897 – 1962)

This article is part of a series on a few historical figures in the Canadian Baha’i Community who were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the community in Canada. Over the course of this year, the Canadian Baha’i News Service will be posting one biography every month.

George Spendlove. © Baha'i Community of Canada Toronto, Ontario, 10 March 2014 (CBNS) — George Spendlove was born in Montréal on 23 April 1897. Educated privately by tutors, he showed particular interest in art history. At the age of 19, he enlisted in the military during World War I and served in Europe, suffering a severe concussion that injured the nerves in his ears, leaving him with a hearing impairment that was to plague him the rest of his life. In 1919, he returned to Montréal but was unable to work for two years. It was during the latter part of this period that he read a book on comparative religion and became interested in the teachings of the Baha’i Faith.

Victoria Baha’is participate in storytelling project

Storytelling performance participants. © Sheila Flood Victoria, British Columbia, 7 March 2014 (CBNS) — In late February, the Victoria, British Columbia, Baha’i community, along with other local faith groups, participated in a storytelling performance and workshop organized by the Inter-Cultural Association of Victoria (ICA).