anized
assault launched by a triumphant Communist state upon the Greek Orthodox
Church in Russia, and the consequent disestablishment, disendowment and
persecution of the state religion; the dismemberment of the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy which owed its allegiance to the Church of Rome
and powerfully supported its institutions; the ordeal to which that same
Church has been subjected in Spain and in Mexico; the wave of
secularization which, at present, is engulfing the Catholic, the Anglican
and the Presbyterian Missions in non-Christian lands; the forces of an
aggressive paganism which are assailing the ancient citadels of the
Catholic, the Greek Orthodox and the Lutheran Churches in Western, in
Central and Eastern Europe, in the Balkans and in the Baltic and
Scandinavian states--these stand out as the most conspicuous manifestations
of the decline in the fortunes of the ecclesiastical leaders of
Christendom, leaders who, heedless of the voice of Baha'u'llah, have
interposed themselves between the Christ returned in the glory of the
Father and their respective congregations.

Nor can we fail to note the progressive deterioration in the authority,
wielded by the ecclesiastical leaders of the Jewish and Zoroastrian
Faiths, ever since the voice of Baha'u'llah was raised, announcing, in no
uncertain terms, that the "Most Great Law is come," that the Ancient
Beauty "ruleth upon the throne of David," and that "whatsoever hath been
announced in the Books (Zoroastrian Holy Writ) hath been revealed and made
clear." The evidences of increasing revolt against clerical authority; the
disrespect and indifference shown to time-honored observances, rituals and
ceremonials; the repeated inroads made by the forces of an aggressive and
often hostile nationalism into the spheres of clerical jurisdiction; and
the general apathy with which, particularly in the case of the professed
adherents of the Zoroastrian Faith, these encroachments are regarded--all
provide, beyond the shadow of a doubt, further justification of the
warnings and predictions uttered by Baha'u'llah in His historic addresses
to the world's ecclesiastical leaders.

Such in sum are the awful evidences of God's retributive justice that have
afflicted kings as well as ecclesiastics, in both the East and the West,
as a direct consequence of either their active opposition to the Faith of
Baha'u'llah, or of their lamentable failure to respond to His call, to
inquire into His Mes