2017 was a year of far-reaching developments in the Bahá’í world, notably in the areas of:

• Houses of Worship. Less than a year after the inauguration of the last continental House of Worship in 2016, the first local Bahá’í Temple was dedicated in Battambang, Cambodia, in September.
• Bicentenary. The 200th anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s birth created a moment of pause. It offered not only a chance to celebrate His life, but also an opportunity to reflect on the implications of His teachings for the life of humanity and to look back at the emergence of the world religion He founded.
• Engaging with society. Messages from some 200 public officials written on the occasion of the bicentenary, including over 30 from heads of state and government, were received by Bahá’í communities around the world.
• Arts, culture, and publications. From exhibitions at well-known museums to celebrations of the contributions of artists, 2017 provided a glimpse of the power of the spiritual to inspire art.
• Persecution of the Bahá’í community. Bahá’í communities in Iran and Yemen continued to face persecution, even as authorities in Iran began to release unjustly imprisoned former members of the Yárán, an ad-hoc leadership group that had administered the affairs of the Bahá’í community in Iran.

For a detailed report with many images, go to: news.bahai.org/story/1231/

See the Bahá’í World News Service for regularly posted articles from around the world.