Provinces

1. A province consists of a least three convents, two of which must contain at least ten eight voters. Furthermore, each province must have at least forty voters.
2. A province must have its own territory distinct from the territory of other provinces.

I.

1. The Master of the Order, with the consent of his council, may establish a vice-province. It ought to have, in the territory assigned to it, two convents properly so called and twenty-five voters; furthermore, it should be able to provide from its own resources so that it may have the conditions for the stability of the new province to be established.
2. A vice-provincial presides as major superior over a vice-province; he is elected by the chapter of the vice-province. A vice-province has the obligations and rights of a province.

II. In a territory where there is no province or vice-province, and where there are local needs or a well-founded hope of making a permanent foundation of the Order, the Master of the Order may, with the consent of his council, erect a general vicariate with specific territory. He must first have consulted the brothers due to be assigned to the vicariate and the council of the relevant province. The statues by which the general vicariate is governed shall be prepared by the vicariate and approved by the Master of the Order and his council.
In this case, after the brothers of the vicariate have been consulted, a vicar general is appointed, in the first instance, by the Master of the Order for four years.
Relations between this general vicariate and other vicariates which may exist in the same place shall be determined according to n. 395.

1. If any Province or Vice Province for a period of three years to the norm of n. 253 or n. 257 § I does not fulfill the conditions requisite, the General Chapter or Master of the Order consulting with his council may declare it hardly large enough to enjoy the rights of the Province or Vice Province, saving always the right to participate in a General Chapter already convoked. If, for a period of three years, a province does not have three convents or thirty-five voters assigned in that province and habitually living there, the Master of the Order, having consulted his council, shall declare that it no longer enjoys the right to take part in general chapters as a province and shall reduce it to a vice-province in accordance with n. 257, unless a general chapter has already been convoked.
2. This declaration having been published, if the Province fulfills the requisite conditions by the norm of n. 257 § I, it would enjoy the rights and is bound to the obligations of a Vice Province. Otherwise the Master of the Order in and over this Province or Vice Province msy institute a vicar (cf. n. 400) for four years, who would have all the requisite conditions for a Prior Provincial, and rules this entity according to the norms established by the Master of the Order. This declaration having been published, if the Province fulfills the requisite conditions by the norm of n. 257 § I, it would enjoy the rights and is bound to the obligations of a Vice Province. Otherwise the Master of the Order in and over this Province or Vice Province msy institute a vicar (cf. n. 400) for four years, who would have all the requisite conditions for a Prior Provincial, and rules this entity according to the norms established by the Master of the Order.
3. If afterwards the Province or Vice Province about which in § I fulfills the requisite conditions by the norm of n. 257 § I, the General Chapter or Master of the Order with the consent of his council may declare it to enjoy the rights of a Vice Province and to be bound to its obligations.
4. In regions where, because of adverse circumstances, a provincial chapter cannot be held, the Master of the Order, with the consent of his council, may provide for its equitable representation at the general chapter.