The statement "any Zarathushti can become a mobed… in North America,” made by Ervad Tehemton F. Mirza, president of the North American Mobeds Council (NAMC) at the 12th World Zoroastrian Congress in New York in July 2022, resurfaced last month on social media. The online orthodox periodical, The Parsee Voice took strong objection demanding that the High Priests, the scholar priests and the Athornan Mandal that oversees the activities of Zoroastrian priests in India "take a firm stand and decry these nefarious developments by making a strong and unambiguous public statement to that effect and also not permit any person ‘ordained’ by NAMC to practice mobedi in India.
Ervad Tehemton Mirza: "let’s grow”
"We are ready to extend whatever assistance is required in this regard including garnering public support,” assured The Parsee Voice editor Rita Doctor, associate editor Ervad Bahadur Sanjana and correspondent Hanoz Mistry. Mirza’s spirited assertion over two years ago that "Change is here, let’s embrace it, let’s grow with it, let’s make it happen,” made the trio comment, "While it may be contended by some that these are issues which North America has to grapple with and India is not affected by any of this… these happenings are bound to find resonance in some members of our local populace which comprises fringe elements who keep parroting about ‘moving with the times’ on ecclesiastical matters in spite of having neither the required intellect nor the spiritual authority to make those changes.”
The letter elicited a response from an authorized signatory of Athornan Mandal declaring their organization "is fully in consonance with all the time-tested customs and traditions of the Zoroastrian religion and is always in support of the pristine perpetuity of the Parsi and Iranian community. It endorses in every way the time-tested practice of hereditary priesthood only, and that of having only the sons of Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian parents to be initiated navar and maratab, as per the long-standing traditions.”
In response to Parsiana’s queries, Mirza’s email of November 8, 2024 mentioned that this "clip on social media… is heavily edited, without context, of a response at one of the World Congress events in New York… By the end of next month, we will unveil NAMC’s ‘Athravan’ initiative for initiating Zoroastrian clergy in North America that will provide additional information and clarity on the subject. This initiative is for the benefit of Zoroastrians in North America.”