BAHÁ’Í WORLD CENTRE — The Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors commenced this morning.

The gathering of the senior officers of the Bahá’í Faith began with the reading of a major message from the Universal House of Justice addressed to the conference. The message highlights the priorities before the worldwide Bahá’í community in its efforts to foster social transformation and provides insights for the community’s future development.

In the opening lines of its message, the House of Justice calls to mind one of Bahá’u’lláh’s statements about the purpose for which all human beings have been created: “that they may work for the betterment of the world and live together in concord and harmony.”

The message states: “Building a society that consciously pursues this collective purpose is the work of not only this generation, but of many generations to come.”

Describing the attitude of Bahá’ís toward the collective enterprise in which they are engaged, the message explains that they recognize how “true religion” can “transform hearts and overcome distrust,” and so, “with confidence in what the future holds, they labor to cultivate the conditions in which progress can occur.”

In their deliberations on the message of the House of Justice, the Counsellors will reflect on how the society-building power of the Bahá’í teachings can enable humanity’s movement toward a more peaceful world in the coming decades.

Every five years, the Universal House of Justice appoints a total of 90 Counsellors around the world, who organize their work through five Continental Boards.

The Counsellors work to support elected Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies by promoting learning within the Bahá’í community and stimulating the development of a vibrant pattern of community life. In the institution of the Counsellors, the Bahá’í community has a system through which the lessons learned in the remotest spots on the globe can benefit the worldwide Bahá’í community in its efforts to apply the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.