April 14. On this date in 1994, Carmen de Burafato died Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. Along with her husband Samuel Burafato, she pioneered to Mexico in 1957 and the two were elected to the inaugural NSA of Mexico in 1961. She also served as a Counsellor on the Continental Boards of Central America and the Americas.

April 14. On this date in 1994, Carmen de Burafato died Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. Along with her husband Samuel Burafato, she pioneered to Mexico in 1957 and the two were elected to the inaugural NSA of Mexico in 1961. She also served as a Counsellor on the Continental Boards of Central America and the Americas.

Details of Carmens early life are scarce, other than that she was from Mexico. She became a Bahá'í in the San Francisco Bay area in 1948, and married US veteran Samuel Burafato in 1950. The two pioneered to Mexico in 1957 during the Ten Year Crusade after Carmen wrote a letter to Shoghi Effendi asking how they could serve the Faith and received a reply saying that she should return to Mexico. Sam became a Bahá'í shortly after the move.

In 1961 Carmen and her husband were elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico with Samuel serving as Chairman and Carmen serving as recording secretary. When Enoch Olinga visited Mexico in May, 1961, Carmen served as interpreter for him accompanying him to several pastoral villages. In 1964 she was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for propagation of the Faith assisting Ugo Giachery with his work as Hand of the Cause in Mexico, Central America and the Antilles. In 1967 she assisted in organizing an International Conference in Panama where the cornerstone of the Panama Temple was laid, delivering invitations to embassies and consulates.

In 1968 Carmen was appointed an inaugural Counsellor for Central America by the Universal House of Justice. In 1980 she was appointed for a five year term to the Continental Board of the Americas, formed when the Board for Central America was merged with the Boards for North and South America. She was re-elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico after her term as Counsellor ended and served on the body until 1992. She served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of San Miguel Allende until passing in 1994.

The Universal House of Justice cabled the following to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico following her Assembly:

DEEPLY SADDENED LOSS OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH CARMEN BURAFATO. HER EXTENSIVE TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES, CROWNED BY HER MANY YEARS AS COUNSELLOR IN THE AMERICAS, ARE UNFORGETTABLE. MAY HER EXAMPLE INSPIRE THE MEXICAN BELIEVERS NEW HEIGHTS OF DEDICATION. ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL MEETINGS MEXICO. OFFERING FERVENT PRAYERS PROGRESS HER NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. KINDLY CONVEY HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES HER HUSBAND, RELATIVES AND FRIENDS.

January 10. On this date in 2009, two of the conferences among a series of 41 regional conferences of the Five Year Plan took place, one in Toronto, Canada, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico.

January 10. On this date in 2009, two of the conferences among a series of 41 regional conferences of the Five Year Plan took place, one in Toronto, Canada, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Universal House of Justice member Peter Khan would later give a talk on July 3, 2009, later published as "Reflections on the Ridvan 2009 Message," stating,

As you are, I am sure, aware, that series of conferences had a galvanizing effect on the Bahá'í Community throughout the world and ultimately on the larger society. It was a tangible demonstration of the global spread of the Faith and it created a most welcome surge toward the goal of 1500 Intensive Programs of Growth by the end of the present plan.

How does membership in the International Teaching Centre lead to election to the Universal House of Justice?

How is it that with its nine members elected every five years from the male membership in good standing of the worldwide Bahá'í community by an electoral college consisting of all the members of each Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly throughout the world, the membership of the Universal House of Justice consists exclusively of men who have previously been appointed to the International Teaching Centre by the Universal House of Justice?

With no overt campaigning or politicking permitted, upon what does the electoral college base its election of new members to the Universal House of Justice?

In the Bahá'í electoral system, the exposure of potential candidates to electors is a premium. Members of the International Teaching Centre routinely travel throughout the world, giving them vital face-time with members of the National Spiritual Assemblies who serve as electors for the Universal House of Justice.

Consider the cases of Stephen Birkland and Stephen Hall. Stephen Birkland was appointed to the International Teaching Centre in 2008 and elected to the Universal House of Justice in 2010. Stephen Hall was appointed to the International Teaching Centre in 2005 and elected to the Universal House of Justice in 2010.

In a letter dated October 20, 2008, the Universal House of Justice called for a series of 41RegionalConferences intended to mark the mid-point of the Five Year Plan and motivate participants to re-dedicate themselves to the goals of the Plan upon returning home. The RegionalConferences were held from November 1, 2008 through March 1, 2009.
 
In that period, Stephen Birkland attended the following Bahá'í RegionalConferences...

Date	Location of Bahá'í Regional Conference
November 1-2, 2008	Lusaka, Zambia
November 8-9, 2008	Johannesburg, South Africa
November 29-30, 2008	Antofagasta, Chile
December 6-7, 2008	Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
January 17-18, 2009	Vancouver, Canada
February 7-8, 2009	Frankfurt, Germany
February 21-22, 2009	Accra, Ghana

Source: Bahá'í World News Service search for "Stephen Birkland"

In that period, Stephen Hall attended the following Bahá'í RegionalConferences...

Date	Location of Bahá'í Regional Conference
November 15-16, 2008	Bangui, Central African Republic
November 22-23, 2008	Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
November 29-30, 2008	Yaoundé, Cameroon
December 6-7, 2008	Portland, Oregon, United States of America
December 13-14, 2008	Stamford, Connecticut, United States of America
January 3-4, 2009	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
January 17-18, 2009	Lae, Papua New Guinea
January 24-25, 2009	Sydney, Australia
January 31-February 1, 2009	Auckland, New Zealand
February 7-8, 2009	Frankfurt, Germany

Source: Bahá'í World News Service search for "Stephen Hall"

No other Bahá'ís receive as much exposure to electors of the Universal House of Justice as do members of the International Teaching Centre.

With the turnover of the Universal House of Justice's nine members and with the International Teaching Centre's being composed of nine members, some of whom are women and therefore ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice, a man's appointment to the International Teaching Centre serves as a presumption to eventual election to the Universal House of Justice.

When the Universal House of Justice appoints members to the International Teaching Centre, they are in fact selecting their own replacements.

In the Bahá'í electoral system, with no overt campaigning and politicking permitted, the exposure of potential candidates to electors is a premium. The nine members of the International Teaching Centre routinely travel throughout the world, giving them vital face-time with members of the National Spiritual Assemblies who serve as electors for the Universal House of Justice. In fact, every single one of the current members of the Universal House of Justice previously served as a Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre.

With the turnover of the Universal House of Justice's nine members and with the International Teaching Centre's being composed of nine members, some of whom are women and therefore ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice, a man's appointment to the International Teaching Centre serves as a presumption to eventual election to the Universal House of Justice.
To illustrate further, in a letter dated October 20, 2008, the Universal House of Justice called for a series of 41 Regional Conferences intended to mark the mid-point of the Five Year Plan and motivate participants to re-dedicate themselves to the goals of the Plan upon returning home. The RegionalConferences were held from November 1, 2008 through March 1, 2009.

Each of the 41 Regional Conferences was attended by two Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre with the exception of the Conference held at Uvira, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which had only one representative. The Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre at the time of the RegionalConferences were Juan Francisco Mora, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Hall, Stephen Birkland, Zenaida Ramirez, Joan Lincoln, Rachel Ndegwa, Uransaikhan Baatar, and Penelope Walker.
  
Of this cohort of Counsellors, the five lady members (Zenaida Ramirez, Joan Lincoln, Rachel Ndegwa, Uransaikhan Baatar, and Penelope Walker) were ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice.

Of the four male members at the time of the 41RegionalConferences (Juan Francisco Mora, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Hall, and Stephen Birkland), all have been elected to the Universal House of Justice.

In practice, the Bahá’í electoral system most closely resembles council democracy as it still exists in Cuba, wherein individuals elect Local Spiritual Assemblies, who then elect National Spiritual Assemblies, who then elect the Universal House of Justice. With no politicking or partisanship allowed, there is little turnover in leadership and Universal House of Justice members almost invariably serve until retirement or death. In the people's democracies of the Eastern Bloc, these career bureaucrats were known as the nomenklatura.

The next member elected to the Universal House of Justice will be Andrej Donoval, who is the longest tenured male member of the International Teaching Centre, having been appointed to that body in 2013.

December 19. On this date in 1982, a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico addressed "why the circulation of Bahá'í News should be restricted to Bahá'ís," responding "that "A Bahá'í news bulletin assumes that the reader is a Bahá'í and it would therefore normally contain items which are purely of a domestic nature of no interest to the general public and which, in some cases, may give the wrong impression to those not familiar with the Bahá'í teachings."

December 19. On this date in 1982, a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico addressed "why the circulation of Bahá'í News should be restricted to Bahá'ís," responding "that "A Bahá'í news bulletin assumes that the reader is a Bahá'í and it would therefore normally contain items which are purely of a domestic nature of no interest to the general public and which, in some cases, may give the wrong impression to those not familiar with the Bahá'í teachings."

360. Bahá'í Newsletters and Bulletins--Why Circulation is Restricted to "Bahá'ís Only")
"In reply to your inquiry of 18th November 1982 about Bahá'í newsletters and bulletins being for Bahá'ís only, we are asked by the Universal House of Justice to quote below from letters written by the Universal House of Justice or at its instruction to other National Assemblies which have asked similar questions.
'With reference to your letter of October 31st asking why the circulation of Bahá'í News should be restricted to Bahá'ís we wish to point out that the same reasons that make it necessary to restrict the attendance at a Nineteen Day Feast to Bahá'ís only apply also to the circulation of Bahá'í Newsletters.
'A Bahá'í news bulletin assumes that the reader is a Bahá'í and it would therefore normally contain items which are purely of a domestic nature of no interest to the general public and which, in some cases, may give the wrong impression to those not familiar with the Bahá'í teachings. However, there is no objection to the friends showing their newsletters to non-Bahá'ís if they so wish or find it useful at times. Furthermore, if the words 'For Bahá'ís Only' which appear on some newsletters are found to be offensive to the non-Bahá'í, there is no requirement for these words to appear on every copy of the newsletter.
'In answer to your query concerning the policy of keeping "Bahá'í News" for Bahá'ís only, the House of Justice instructs us to explain that the circulation of Bahá'í Newsletters is restricted to Bahá'ís because they are vehicles of news that is primarily of internal interest to the friends and the Assembly should be able to write freely to the believers without having to so word the information that it would be easily understandable to a non-Bahá'í reader. In other words, a Bahá'í newsletter is not secret but is an internal journal intended for an informed readership.'"
(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico, December 19, 1982)

April 14. On this date in 1994, Carmen de Burafato died Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. Along with her husband Samuel Burafato, she pioneered to Mexico in 1957 and the two were elected to the inaugural NSA of Mexico in 1961. She also served as a Counsellor on the Continental Boards of Central America and the Americas.

April 14. On this date in 1994, Carmen de Burafato died Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. Along with her husband Samuel Burafato, she pioneered to Mexico in 1957 and the two were elected to the inaugural NSA of Mexico in 1961. She also served as a Counsellor on the Continental Boards of Central America and the Americas.

Details of Carmens early life are scarce, other than that she was from Mexico. She became a Bahá'í in the San Francisco Bay area in 1948, and married US veteran Samuel Burafato in 1950. The two pioneered to Mexico in 1957 during the Ten Year Crusade after Carmen wrote a letter to Shoghi Effendi asking how they could serve the Faith and received a reply saying that she should return to Mexico. Sam became a Bahá'í shortly after the move.

In 1961 Carmen and her husband were elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico with Samuel serving as Chairman and Carmen serving as recording secretary. When Enoch Olinga visited Mexico in May, 1961, Carmen served as interpreter for him accompanying him to several pastoral villages. In 1964 she was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for propagation of the Faith assisting Ugo Giachery with his work as Hand of the Cause in Mexico, Central America and the Antilles. In 1967 she assisted in organizing an International Conference in Panama where the cornerstone of the Panama Temple was laid, delivering invitations to embassies and consulates.
In 1968 Carmen was appointed an inaugural Counsellor for Central America by the Universal House of Justice. In 1980 she was appointed for a five year term to the Continental Board of the Americas, formed when the Board for Central America was merged with the Boards for North and South America. She was re-elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico after her term as Counsellor ended and served on the body until 1992. She served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of San Miguel Allende until passing in 1994.

The Universal House of Justice cabled the following to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico following her Assembly:

DEEPLY SADDENED LOSS OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH CARMEN BURAFATO. HER EXTENSIVE TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES, CROWNED BY HER MANY YEARS AS COUNSELLOR IN THE AMERICAS, ARE UNFORGETTABLE. MAY HER EXAMPLE INSPIRE THE MEXICAN BELIEVERS NEW HEIGHTS OF DEDICATION. ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL MEETINGS MEXICO. OFFERING FERVENT PRAYERS PROGRESS HER NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. KINDLY CONVEY HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES HER HUSBAND, RELATIVES AND FRIENDS.

January 10. On this date in 2009, two of the conferences among a series of 41 regional conferences of the Five Year Plan took place, one in Toronto, Canada, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico.

January 10. On this date in 2009, two of the conferences among a series of 41 regional conferences of the Five Year Plan took place, one in Toronto, Canada, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Universal House of Justice member Peter Khan would later give a talk on July 3, 2009, later published as "Reflections on the Ridvan 2009 Message," stating,

As you are, I am sure, aware, that series of conferences had a galvanizing effect on the Bahá'í Community throughout the world and ultimately on the larger society. It was a tangible demonstration of the global spread of the Faith and it created a most welcome surge toward the goal of 1500 Intensive Programs of Growth by the end of the present plan.

How does membership in the International Teaching Centre lead to election to the Universal House of Justice?

How is it that with its nine members elected every five years from the male membership in good standing of the worldwide Bahá'í community by an electoral college consisting of all the members of each Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly throughout the world, the membership of the Universal House of Justice consists exclusively of men who have previously been appointed to the International Teaching Centre by the Universal House of Justice?

With no overt campaigning or politicking permitted, upon what does the electoral college base its election of new members to the Universal House of Justice?

In the Bahá'í electoral system, the exposure of potential candidates to electors is a premium. Members of the International Teaching Centre routinely travel throughout the world, giving them vital face-time with members of the National Spiritual Assemblies who serve as electors for the Universal House of Justice.

Consider the cases of Stephen Birkland and Stephen Hall. Stephen Birkland was appointed to the International Teaching Centre in 2008 and elected to the Universal House of Justice in 2010. Stephen Hall was appointed to the International Teaching Centre in 2005 and elected to the Universal House of Justice in 2010.

In a letter dated October 20, 2008, the Universal House of Justice called for a series of 41RegionalConferences intended to mark the mid-point of the Five Year Plan and motivate participants to re-dedicate themselves to the goals of the Plan upon returning home. The RegionalConferences were held from November 1, 2008 through March 1, 2009.

In that period, Stephen Birkland attended the following Bahá'í RegionalConferences...

Date	Location of Bahá'í Regional Conference
November 1-2, 2008	Lusaka, Zambia
November 8-9, 2008	Johannesburg, South Africa
November 29-30, 2008	Antofagasta, Chile
December 6-7, 2008	Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
January 17-18, 2009	Vancouver, Canada
February 7-8, 2009	Frankfurt, Germany
February 21-22, 2009	Accra, Ghana

Source: Bahá'í World News Service search for "Stephen Birkland"

In that period, Stephen Hall attended the following Bahá'í RegionalConferences...

Date	Location of Bahá'í Regional Conference
November 15-16, 2008	Bangui, Central African Republic
November 22-23, 2008	Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
November 29-30, 2008	Yaoundé, Cameroon
December 6-7, 2008	Portland, Oregon, United States of America
December 13-14, 2008	Stamford, Connecticut, United States of America
January 3-4, 2009	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
January 17-18, 2009	Lae, Papua New Guinea
January 24-25, 2009	Sydney, Australia
January 31-February 1, 2009	Auckland, New Zealand
February 7-8, 2009	Frankfurt, Germany

Source: Bahá'í World News Service search for "Stephen Hall"

No other Bahá'ís receive as much exposure to electors of the Universal House of Justice as do members of the International Teaching Centre.

With the turnover of the Universal House of Justice's nine members and with the International Teaching Centre's being composed of nine members, some of whom are women and therefore ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice, a man's appointment to the International Teaching Centre serves as a presumption to eventual election to the Universal House of Justice.

When the Universal House of Justice appoints members to the International Teaching Centre, they are in fact selecting their own replacements.

In the Bahá'í electoral system, with no overt campaigning and politicking permitted, the exposure of potential candidates to electors is a premium. The nine members of the International Teaching Centre routinely travel throughout the world, giving them vital face-time with members of the National Spiritual Assemblies who serve as electors for the Universal House of Justice. In fact, every single one of the current members of the Universal House of Justice previously served as a Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre.

With the turnover of the Universal House of Justice's nine members and with the International Teaching Centre's being composed of nine members, some of whom are women and therefore ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice, a man's appointment to the International Teaching Centre serves as a presumption to eventual election to the Universal House of Justice.

To illustrate further, in a letter dated October 20, 2008, the Universal House of Justice called for a series of 41 Regional Conferences intended to mark the mid-point of the Five Year Plan and motivate participants to re-dedicate themselves to the goals of the Plan upon returning home. The Regional Conferences were held from November 1, 2008 through March 1, 2009.

Each of the 41RegionalConferences was attended by two Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre with the exception of the Conference held at Uvira, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which had only one representative. The Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre at the time of the RegionalConferences were Juan Francisco Mora, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Hall, Stephen Birkland, Zenaida Ramirez, Joan Lincoln, Rachel Ndegwa, Uransaikhan Baatar, and Penelope Walker.

Of this cohort of Counsellors, the five lady members (Zenaida Ramirez, Joan Lincoln, Rachel Ndegwa, Uransaikhan Baatar, and Penelope Walker) were ineligible for election to the Universal House of Justice.

Of the four male members at the time of the 41RegionalConferences (Juan Francisco Mora, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Hall, and Stephen Birkland), all have been elected to the Universal House of Justice.

In practice, the Bahá’í electoral system most closely resembles council democracy as it still exists in Cuba, wherein individuals elect Local Spiritual Assemblies, who then elect National Spiritual Assemblies, who then elect the Universal House of Justice. With no politicking or partisanship allowed, there is little turnover in leadership and Universal House of Justice members almost invariably serve until retirement or death. In the people's democracies of the Eastern Bloc, these career bureaucrats were known as the nomenklatura.

The next member elected to the Universal House of Justice will be Andrej Donoval, who is the longest tenured male member of the International Teaching Centre, having been appointed to that body in 2013. 

December 19. On this date in 1982, a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico addressed "why the circulation of Bahá'í News should be restricted to Bahá'ís," responding that "A Bahá'í news bulletin assumes that the reader is a Bahá'í and it would therefore normally contain items which are purely of a domestic nature of no interest to the general public and which, in some cases, may give the wrong impression to those not familiar with the Bahá'í teachings."

December 19. On this date in 1982, a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico addressed "why the circulation of Bahá'í News should be restricted to Bahá'ís," responding that "A Bahá'í news bulletin assumes that the reader is a Bahá'í and it would therefore normally contain items which are purely of a domestic nature of no interest to the general public and which, in some cases, may give the wrong impression to those not familiar with the Bahá'í teachings."

360. Bahá'í Newsletters and Bulletins--Why Circulation is Restricted to "Bahá'ís Only"
"In reply to your inquiry of 18th November 1982 about Bahá'í newsletters and bulletins being for Bahá'ís only, we are asked by the Universal House of Justice to quote below from letters written by the Universal House of Justice or at its instruction to other National Assemblies which have asked similar questions.
'With reference to your letter of October 31st asking why the circulation of Bahá'í News should be restricted to Bahá'ís we wish to point out that the same reasons that make it necessary to restrict the attendance at a Nineteen Day Feast to Bahá'ís only apply also to the circulation of Bahá'í Newsletters.
'A Bahá'í news bulletin assumes that the reader is a Bahá'í and it would therefore normally contain items which are purely of a domestic nature of no interest to the general public and which, in some cases, may give the wrong impression to those not familiar with the Bahá'í teachings. However, there is no objection to the friends showing their newsletters to non-Bahá'ís if they so wish or find it useful at times. Furthermore, if the words 'For Bahá'ís Only' which appear on some newsletters are found to be offensive to the non-Bahá'í, there is no requirement for these words to appear on every copy of the newsletter.
'In answer to your query concerning the policy of keeping "Bahá'í News" for Bahá'ís only, the House of Justice instructs us to explain that the circulation of Bahá'í Newsletters is restricted to Bahá'ís because they are vehicles of news that is primarily of internal interest to the friends and the Assembly should be able to write freely to the believers without having to so word the information that it would be easily understandable to a non-Bahá'í reader. In other words, a Bahá'í newsletter is not secret but is an internal journal intended for an informed readership.'"
(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico, December 19, 1982)