Divinely appointed Institution of the Hands of the Cause, invested by virtue of the authority conferred by the Testament of the Center of the Covenant with the twin functions of protecting and propagating the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, now entering new phase in the process of the unfoldment of its sacred mission. To its newly assured responsibility to assist National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’í world in the specific purpose of effectively prosecuting the World Spiritual Crusade, the primary obligation to watch over and insure protection to the Bahá’í world community, in close collaboration with these same National Assemblies, is now added. Recent events, the triumphant consummation of a series of historic enterprises, such as the construction of the superstructure of the Báb’s Sepulcher, the dedication of the Mother Temple of the West, the world-wide celebrations of the Holy Year, the convocation of four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences launching the Ten Year Crusade, the unprecedented dispersal of its valiant prosecutors over the face of the globe, the extraordinary progress of the African and Pacific campaigns, the rise of the administrative order in the Arabian Peninsula in the heart of the Islámic world, the discomfiture of the powerful antagonists in the Cradle of the Faith, the erection of the International Archives, heralding the establishment of the seat of the World Administrative Order in the Holy Land, served to inflame the unquenchable animosity of its Muslim opponents and raised up a new set of adversaries in the Christian fold and roused internal enemies, old and new Covenant-breakers, to fresh attempts to arrest the march of the Cause of God, misrepresent its purpose, disrupt its administrative institutions, dampen the zeal and sap the loyalty of its supporters. Evidences of increasing hostility without, persistent machinations within, foreshadowing dire contests destined to range the Army of Light against the forces of darkness, both secular and religious, predicted in unequivocal language by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, necessitate in this crucial hour closer association of the Hands of the five continents and the bodies of the elected representatives of the national Bahá’í communities the world over for joint investigation of the nefarious activities of internal enemies and the adoption of wise, effective measures to counteract their treacherous schemes, protect the mass of the believers, and arrest the spread of their evil influence.