In March 1930 Shoghi Effendi wrote that Baha'u'llah and
'Abdu'l-Baha had "in unequivocal and emphatic language, appointed those
twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship as their
chosen Successors, destined to apply the principles, promulgate the laws,
protect the institutions, adapt loyally and intelligently the Faith to the
requirements of progressive society, and consummate the incorruptible
inheritance which the Founders of the Faith have bequeathed to the world."
After long and prayerful consultation, the House of Justice, as the friends
have already been informed, found that there is no way in which it can
legislate for a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi. The Universal House
of Justice has therefore begun, in humble obedience to the Will of God, and
strengthened by daily prayer in the Holy Shrines, to undertake the heavy tasks
laid upon it. In the words of our beloved Guardian it "will guide,
organize and unify the affairs of the Movement throughout the world" and
"will have to consider afresh the whole situation, and lay down the
principle which shall direct, so long as it deems advisable, the affairs of the
Cause."
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated October 1963
to the Followers of Baha'u'llah throughout the World; ‘Messages from the
Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)
