Charles Mason Remey was appointed a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi. Later he was appointed to the First International Bahai Council which Shoghi Effendi proclaimed to be the embryonic Universal House of Justice, and still later was appointed by Shoghi Effendi to be the President of the embryonic Universal House of Justice.
When Shoghi Effendi passed away in 1957, the other Hands of the Cause determined that there could never be another Guardian, and called for the election of the Universal House of Justice which presently governs those who followed the Hands. Mason Remey is considered by the larger group to be a Covenant-Breaker and his followers are shunned by that group. (See also: Baha'i Faith)
Mason Remey in 1960 proclaimed that Shoghi Effendi had appointed him to be the second Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith in the life-time of Shoghi Effendi by means of his appointment as President of the not yet activated embryonic Universal House of Justice. He stated that only the Guardian could be the President of the Universal House of Justice and that with the death of Shoghi Effendi, the full Presidency of that House had passed to him. Those that followed Mason Remey became known as the Orthodox Bahai Faith.
His period of service as the Second Guardian of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith was from 1957 to October 1965. In 1964 Mason Remey appointed Joel Bray Marangella President of the Second International Bahai Council, and then activated the Council in October 1965 thereby making its President the third Guardian of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith.
The appointment of Marangella is disputed, and the Remeyites have undergone further schism. See Minor Baha'i divisions for more information
