Provincial Officials

1. In each province there shall be a socius of the prior provincial who shall assist him in governing the province.
2. The socius shall be a priest who is at least thirty years old.
3. He shall be appointed by the prior provincial with the consent of the diffinitory of the provincial chapter.

Ordinarily the socius should not be a local superior or a parish priest.

1. In each province there shall be a bursar who shall have charge of the goods of the province in accordance with the norms established for administration.
2. The brother who will have fulfilled this office may be proposed immediately for a second term, but not a third, unless with the consent of the Master of the Order.

Neither the prior provincial nor a local superior may hold the office of provincial bursar.

It is the task of the provincial chapter to appoint various officials according to the needs of the province and to determine their duties.

An archivist, appointed by a provincial chapter, has charge of the archives of the province in which are stored:

1. documents which have been kept in the office of the prior provincial or of other officials and are no longer needed for ordinary government;
2. documents of convents which have been suppressed;
3. unpublished writings, letters, or other documents of deceased brothers or of other people which appear to be of value for the history of the province.

The prior provincial shall have a secret archive in which are kept secret documents, the import of which he is bound to convey to his successor. These documents shall be burned seventy years after the death of the brothers mentioned in them, provided this can be done without prejudice to those who are still alive, with due regard to civil law taking into account the requirements of civil law.

Documents pertaining to the actual government and administration of a province shall be kept either in the secretariat of the province or by the officials concerned. (See Appendix n. 15.)