Who’s Missing from the Wall?

Fr. Leo McCarthy, O.Carm., in seeing the Provincial Wall of Honor that now adorns the Communications Center’s main office area, brought to our attention a piece of little known Carmelite history. In the last issue of Carmelite Review, Fr. Leo wrote:

One of our provincials died while in office on April 26th (year withheld), so on May 5th (of that same year) a new Provincial was elected (on the third ballot). He resigned though from that office two days later, on May 7th, citing his “inability to cope with the serious problems that confront the Province.” Therefore on May 8th, a different Carmelite was elected Provincial (this time on the first ballot).

Question: Who was this Prior Provincial who died in office on April 26, 1914?
Answer: Dionysus Best.

Question: Who was the PCM (Chicago Province) Provincial who served the shortest term in office and is missing from the wall?
Answer: Hillary Doswald.

Question: Why does his name not appear in our list of “Provincial Superiors” in the Carmelite Directory, nor on the “Wall of Honor” of past superiors?
Answer: He was elected on May 5, 1914 and resigned on May 7th before his election could be confirmed by the Prior General in Rome.

Question: What office did this Carmelite subsequently accept?
Answer: Hillary Doswald was later elected Prior General of the Order in 1931 and served until 1947.

A big thank you to Fr. Leo McCarthy, O.Carm., for this piece of interesting Carmelite history.