April 8. On this date in 1960, Mason Remey, the architect of the several Bahá'í Houses of Worship who Shoghi Effendi had appointed a Hand of the Cause and President of the International Bahá'í Council, issued a written announcement claiming that he was the second Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.

April 8. On this date in 1960, Mason Remey, the architect of the Bahá'í Houses of Worship in Uganda and Australia who Shoghi Effendi had appointed a Hand of the Cause and President of the International Bahá'í Council, issued a written announcement (also here and here) claiming that he was the second Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. He based his claim on the idea that by appointing him as President of the International Bahá'í Council, the embryonic form of the Universal House of Justice which would be led by the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi had in fact implicitly named him as the second Guardian. Mason Remey's claim was largely rejected with several notable exceptions, including five members of the National Spiritual Assembly of France lead by Joel Marangella. The remaining 26 Hands of the Cause unanimously declared Remey and whoever followed him Covenant-breakers.

Shoghi Effendi wrote in The World Order of Baha'u'llah: 

Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Baha’u’llah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as Abdu’l-Baha has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. …Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.

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The Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha said: 

It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should the first-born of the Guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words:—“The child is the secret essence of its sire,” that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the Guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he, (the Guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him.

Because Shoghi Effendi apparently failed to obey Abdu'l-Baha's command in this instance, and because he as Guardian of the Cause of God was considered to be infallible, Charles Mason Remey deluded himself into assuming that when Shoghi Effendi made him President of the International Baha'i Council, he was also making him the future Guardian. But Remey was older than Shoghi Effendi. Wouldn't you expect the successor of the first Guardian to be younger than the first?

The other Hands of the Cause of God argued that Shoghi Effendi made no explicit proclamation regarding who would be the next Guardian, therefore the issue would have to be settled by the Universal House of Justice, which had not yet been established. Therefore, they condemned Remey and anyone who followed him as the second Guardian as a Covenant-breaker, denying his claim to the Guardianship. They did indeed have authority to do this. Again, from the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha:

The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the Guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in such wise as the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished (i.e., secret ballot).

O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command. Should any, within or without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God disobey and seek division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him, for he will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God.

Commenting on this matter, I said:

Since Shoghi Effendi did not obey Abdul-Baha, as I showed, that may have justified in Remey’s mind his attempt to claim the Guardianship despite not being a descendant of Baha’ullah. In this case, he simply lost a popularity contest.