Constitution

The vicar of the province has the same authority as the prior provincial.

1. A prior provincial may at will appoint any priest brother as his vicar whether over the whole province or over any part of it.
2. 
     1. A vicar provincial appointed in this way has whatever authority the prior provincial grants, except the appointment or removal of superiors;
     2. the vicar’s office expires with that of the prior provincial who made the appointment.

Ordinarily, a prior provincial takes office by canonical election confirmed by the superior, and he continues in that office for four years. He may be elected for another four years but not immediately for a third time unless the required interval of time has been dispensed.

The duties of the prior provincial include the following:

1. the should strive to do his utmost to promote in his province the spirit and authentic life of the Order. Discerning the signs of the times, he should encourage the brothers to serve the people of God in the ministry of the word as zealously as possible;
2. he should have the common good of the Order very much at heart. He should willingly report to the Master of the Order about the life of the brothers and their apostolate, and he should encourage collaboration between the provinces of the Order;
3. he should promote cooperation between the province and the hierarchy and between the province and other religious families so that the needs of the local Church may be appreciated more deeply and provided for more satisfactorily.

1. The prior provincial is a major superior and the proper ordinary of the brothers.
2. In his province he has power corresponding to that which the Master of the Order has in the whole Order and, by superior right, to the power a conventual prior has in his own convent.

1. After the brothers in the house have been con­sulted, the superior of a house is appointed for three years by the prior provincial, or by the regional prior, if the appoint­ment concerns a brother assigned in a regional vicariate and unless the statutes of the vicariate provide otherwise. He may be appointed in the same manner for a further three years, but not for a third term.
2. At the end of the three-year period, the prior provin­cial or regional prior is obliged to appoint a superior within a month. However, a superior of a house shall remain in office until his successor is present in the house, unless the prior provincial determines otherwise.  

In the provinces there should be no houses which do not have at least four brothers.

The bursar of the convent, under the direction of the prior, is the administrator of temporal goods; he exercises his office in accordance with the norms laid down for administration.

1. A conventual lector is elected for three years by the conventual chapter and is confirmed by the prior provincial.
2. It is the duty of a conventual lector, in accordance with the directives of the provincial chapter:
   1. to encourage the study of questions connected with the programme of apostolic work on which the conventual chapter has decided (n. 307);
      2. to ensure that in his convent the decisions made by the commission on the intellectual life of the province and confirmed by the prior provincial are carried out;
   2. 3. to organise discussion of contemporary questions;
   3. 4. to help the prior in fostering the ongoing formation of the community.

When a prior leaves office, the subprior is designated in capite, and from then until a new prior is present in the convent, the subprior by virtue of his office has the same authority and jurisdiction as a prior.