Editing Mason Remey (section)

===First Conclave===
Later the Hands of the Cause met in a private conclave at Bahjí on 20 November. They decided that the situation of the [[Guardian (Baháʼí Faith)|Guardian]] having died without being able to appoint a successor was a situation not dealt with in the texts that define the Baháʼí administration, and that the matter would need to be reviewed and adjudicated by the [[Universal House of Justice]], an institution envisaged by Baha'u'llah that had not yet been elected.{{sfn|Warburg|2006|p=205}}{{sfn|Gallagher|Ashcraft|2006|p=200}} Their unanimous proclamation made 25 November stated,{{sfn|Rabbani|1992|pp=28–30}}
{{blockquote
|text=Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, passed away... without having appointed his successor;

AND WHEREAS it is now fallen upon us... to preserve the unity, the security and the development of the Baháʼí World Community and all its institutions;

AND WHEREAS in accordance with the Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá...;

We nominate and appoint from our own number to act on our behalf as the Custodians of the Baháʼí World Faith [list of nine] to exercise... all such functions, rights and powers in succession to the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith... as are necessary to serve the interests of the Baháʼí World Faith, and this until such time as the Universal House of Justice, upon being duly established and elected... may otherwise determine.
}}

Remey signed the declaration that Shoghi Effendi died "without having appointed his successor" and was also appointed as one of the Custodians to stay in Haifa.{{sfn|Stockman|1995}} Several other proclamations were made that day specifying the authority and procedural functioning of the Hands and the Custodians. Among them were,{{sfn|Rabbani|1992|p=34}}
*"That the entire body of the Hands of the Cause, meeting annually or whenever convened by the nine Hands, shall determine when and how the International Baháʼí Council shall pass through the successive stages outlined by Shoghi Effendi culminating in the election of the Universal House of Justice;"
*"That the authority to expel violators from the Faith shall be vested in the body of nine Hands..."

A longer proclamation, also signed by all the Hands, was sent to the Baháʼís of the world on 25 November, which mentioned several points about the continuation of authority of the Baháʼí Faith:{{sfn|Rabbani|1992|pp=35–39}}
{{blockquote
|text= The [[Aghsán]] (branches) one and all are either dead or have been declared violators of the Covenant by the Guardian... The first effect of the realization that no successor to Shoghi Effendi could have been appointed by him was to plunge the Hands of the Cause into the very abyss of despair.
...we Hands of the Cause have constituted a body of nine Hands to serve at the Baháʼí World Centre. This body of nine Hands will energetically deal with the protection of the Faith whenever attacks, whether from within or outside the Baháʼí community, are reported by Hands from their areas or by National or Regional Assemblies or whether they arise within the Holy Land.
...
As to the International Baháʼí Council... that body will in the course of time finally fulfil its purpose through the formation of the Universal House of Justice... The main work of the Council has been to act as the Guardian's representative in matters involving the Israeli Government and its courts of law.
...
Meanwhile the entire body of the Hands... will decide when and how the International Baháʼí Council is to evolve through the successive stages outlined by the Guardian, culminating in the call to election of the Universal House of Justice by the membership of all National Spiritual Assemblies.
When that divinely ordained body comes into existence, all the conditions of the Faith can be examined anew...
}}

Following these events ''Time'' magazine reported that there were debates about two possible candidates for Guardian.<ref>Time Magazine Dec. 9, 1957 [https://web.archive.org/web/20071121210823/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810155,00.html "In the Hands of the Hands"]</ref> Though the Hands dedicated to not disclose any details of the conclaves, Remey later revealed memoirs with details of the events.{{sfn|Johnson|2020|p=11}} He wrote that his status as president of the International Baha'i Council was never mentioned in any of the conclaves,{{sfn|Schlatter|2005|p=59}} and that the idea of not having another Guardian was introduced by [[Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir]].{{sfn|Johnson|2020|pp=10–12}}

The idea of no single person as the supreme head of the religion was disturbing to some Baháʼí of the time.{{sfn|Warburg|2006|p=205}} In 1958 two American Hands, [[Paul Haney]] and [[Corinne True]], and the NSA began circulating a document expressing their belief that the "door to the appointment of a second Guardian... is closed", but it was blocked by an urgent cablegram from the custodial Hands in Haifa, indicating that they were "greatly disturbed" and to delete all references to it.{{sfn|Rabbani|1992|pp=60–61}}