sentences:  He completed his theological studies and was ordained in 1956, afterwards teaching in seminaries in the Midwestern United States.He received a Master's degree in Spanish literature in 1958 and then in 1961 his doctorate in history, both from St. Louis University.Although his focus had been American and European history, Poole's dissertation was titled "The Indian Problem in the Third Mexican Provincial Council, 1585" in which he analyzed recently found documents from the first Provincial Councils of the Catholic Church in Mexico.