BAHA'I WORLD CENTRE — Donald Rogers, a former member of the International Teaching Centre, passed away in the early hours of this morning in Canada. He was 83 years old.

The Universal House of Justice sent the following message to all National Spiritual Assemblies today.

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With deep sadness we mourn the passing of Donald Rogers, ardent teacher of the Faith whose attraction to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh as a young man shaped several decades lived in devoted service. He was a highly accomplished artist of international standing, and his work demonstrated a profound relationship to the sacred; his prodigious talents were often the means through which other souls became acquainted with the dawning of the new Day of God. The years he served as an Auxiliary Board member and then as a Continental Counsellor were followed by the decade he spent as a member of the International Teaching Centre. In his later years he continued his consecrated endeavours, including on the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada. Unstinting in his efforts to serve the Faith and with great accomplishments to his name, he remained a man of humility and selflessness, gracious and gentle.

We offer our heartfelt condolences to his dear wife, Barbara, and to his children Klee, Sasha, and Julie, and we assure them of our supplications in the Holy Shrines for the progress of his illumined soul throughout the eternal realms. All Bahá’í communities are asked to hold memorial gatherings in his honour, including in every House of Worship.

The Universal House of Justice