##### First International Baha'i Council / Guardian Charles Mason Remey # **Comment on *A New Baha'i Era (The Chicago Manifesto)*** #### Excerpt from *An Appeal to the Hands of the Faith in the Holy Land Made Strictly in Private to These Friends Residing in the Holy Land* #### **April 1960, unpublished, privately circulated.** *** **That Chicago Manifesto** Many Baha’is in America and even abroad know of the Manifesto circulated from Chicago in the early days of this period of “Baha’i Interregnum.” It was issued and signed by the three Hands of the Faith then in America, Mrs. True, Horace Holley, and Paul Haney, in cahoots with the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the U.S.A. In this document it was stated that the Guardianship of the Faith was definitely ended forever with the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi and that after him there would never be another Guardian of the Faith! Mrs True, because of her infirmities, was not in the first conclave, so it must have been through one of the other Hands of the Faith that this leak occurred and it became know to the National Spiritual Assembly of America that although there was no mention of the Guardianship in the Proclamation sent forth from Bahjí, that it was the unannounced intent of the majority of the Hands that the Guardianship be forever closed. How and why the N.S.A. of the U.S.A. came into the picture of this Manifesto issued from Chicago was never explained but this Manifesto did reveal the fact, unmentioned in the Proclamation\[1], that the Hands considered the Guardianship Bada\[2]. In other words, from the first Bahjí Conclave on, the majority of the Hands have wanted the Guardianship ended but they have not considered it wise to tell this to the Baha’i World, that is not yet awhile!! Manifestly for reasons of expediency. However some of the American Baha’is are questioning, why nothing was said in the Proclamation about the Guardianship — their suspicions are aroused! Why no mention of the all-important Guardianship around which revolved the meanings of The *Will and Testament* of the Master Abdu’l-Baha? Why all of this pussy-footing? They wanted to know and this Manifesto formulated in Chicago told them the exact truth of the sentiment of that first conclave; namely that in reality the Hands in conclave were decided that they — that is their ruling majority — wanted no more Guardianship. That the Hands of the Faith in The Holy Land concurred heartily with the abolition of the Guardianship as given in that Manifesto issued from Chicago entitled “A New Baha’i Era” is testified to in a letter written to Horace Holley by the Hands in The Holy Land dated March 10, 1958 in which they wrote, “The statement was excellent and with the exception of a few points there was little in it to which we took exception.” At the urgence of the Custodian Hands in Haifa that *Chicago Manifesto* was withdrawn from circulation not because they, that is the majority of these members, disagreed with what it contained, for I remember in that meeting of the Custodians the majority agreed with the substance of the thought of the *Manifesto*, but what they didn’t like about it was that this all came out in this way as a public announcement. In other words, these Hands considered that the people throughout the world were not then as yet sufficiently conditioned to the doctrine of the Faith without a Guardian, so not ready to be told what was really in the Minds of these Hands of the Faith. I have never heard any explanation of how it came about that the National Spiritual Assembly of America was called into co-operation with the three Hands of the Faith in America in the getting out of that *Manifesto*. The Custodian Hands in Haifa knew nothing about this document until just by chance a copy was received in Haifa from Germany. All of the consultations and deliberation of the Hands are supposed to be absolutely private and to be kept within the closed circle of the Hands! Why was the N.S.A. of the U.S.A. brought into this matter? This has yet to be explained. In the conference of the Custodians when this matter was discussed their objection was that the document was being circulated. I remember very clearly the discussion in the meeting in which I took no part. In a moment of depression I was silent. There was not voiced any objection to the substance of that *Manifesto*. In the Second Bahjí Conclave the subject of the Guardianship was sedulously avoided until I arose and urged its reconsideration. All listened to my plea but no one said anything to the point that I presented and the conclave closed. I being told that I was out of parliamentary order in bringing up a matter that had already been passed upon, therefore closed. Something must have happened to make a change in the thoughts of some of the Hands. I don’t know what brought about the change of thought but when the third conclave convened, I found that I was given the first call upon the floor to speak and I spoke at some length to several of the points that I am bringing out in this writ but all to no avail. The conclave was adamant and I stood alone. I adamant against the adamantine unity of all of the others. It was only at the last day of our sessions when I refused to sign my name to the message to the Baha’i world that I there arose again in the open upon the floor to hold to my stand. Thus was this stand maintained by me, one individual Hand against the unity of all the other Hands upon this point of the Guardianship — and there is where it now stands and I am preparing this writ, the reading the study of which I trust will awaken the Hands to the imperative necessity that a Guardian for our Faith be wanted by them and accepted by them. After this conclave was over I felt myself to have been thoroughly beaten but not one bit conquered in spirit. For I am sure that only the Guardian of the Faith can pull it out of this present mire and mud of violation in which we now find ourselves enmeshed so now my only course is to maintain my stand with the assurance that I have of eventual victory that will save the Faith. But why, O why, are these Hands thus closing the doors of their minds towards the Guardianship? They act as if the Guardianship were actually repugnant to them — such is their condition that I see it to be. *** **Endnotes** **1.** \[Editors note: The first "proclamation" of the Hands was dated November 25, 1957. It was a public statement from the session, or conclave (secret meeting) that had begun on November 18. This meeting is also referred to as "the first Bahji Conclave." The Hands met in total of six conclaves following the passing of Shoghi Effendi.] **2.** \[Editors note: "Bada" is the word used by the Persian Hands in the Conclave to say, in essence, that God changed his mind — that the guardianship had come to an end. For more read Charles Mason Remey's [[1960-06-01 Explanation of the Word "Bada"| Explanation of BADA.]]] *** `Posted: 9 September 2025`