Ordination

Priors Provincial, Vice Provincials, Vicars General and heads of institutions under the immediate jurisdiction of the Master of the Order, assisted by their Syndics, are responsible for sending to the Master of the Order by 31 August each year the following two documents:

1. The Annual Economic Report. This is a comprehensive presentation of the economic situation of the entity. It shall include details of income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and annual budgets as well as major projects undertaken or planned. If the entity has different vicariates, convents, houses or institutes, this report shall give details of the economic situation of each one. The format of this report may vary according to local custom but must include all of the information requested above. A sample format shall be available from the Syndic of the Order.
2. The Contributions (tax-deduction) Questionnaire. This is used to calculate the annual contributions from the entities of the Order. On the basis of this questionnaire entities claim their allowable deductions for formation expenses, of medical expenses for brothers in poor health, and donations to other entities of the Order. The questionnaire shall be sent out each year by the Syndic of the Order and its format shall be the same for every entity.

1. The voters at a provincial chapter are:
   1. regional priors;
   2. vicars provincial elected in accordance with n. 389;
   3. conventual priors; if the prior cannot attend on account of sickness or another grave reason accepted by the prior provincial, the subprior may take his place.
   4. socii of priors going to the chapter, in accordance with n. 490;
   5. delegates of the brothers, in accordance with nn. 497-501;
   6. a prior provincial who immediately before the chapter completed his term of office in that province.
2. If the voters at a provincial chapter, elected in accordance with the constitutions, are fewer than twenty, the statute of the province may make provision for extra voters. It is obliged to do this if there are fewer than ten voters. These, of whom there may not be more than three, are to be constituted such by election and not by personal entitlement.

1. Each year, the respective syndics of a province, a vice-province and a general vicariate must present to their councils accurate and complete accounts of the revenues and expenses, debits and credits of their respective entities, the transactions they have made, and the economic condition of their respective entities; they must also propose budgets or estimates for the following year. Each of these accounts must be approved by the respective council. Furthermore, a syndic must submit his economic report to the superior of the entity each month.
2. Similarly, all regional priors and vicar provincials must send to their prior provincials an accurate report of their economic status, in the manner outlined in paragraph § I. These reports must be approved by their respective councils. 

1. The election is held according to the manner indicated in n. 452.
2. In convents where several socii are to be elected (see n. 490, § II), they are to be elected one after the other.
3. For each election, if by the third ballot no candidate has been given a clear majority of votes, in the fourth and last ballot the candidates are reduced to two: those who have received the most votes in the previous ballot, with due regard for n 450, §III.

I. The consultation of the voters shall be done by means of a letter which each of them shall send to the prior provincial, containing three names in order of preference.

II. The prior provincial shall appoint as vicar provincial one of the three who received the greater number of votes, unless he judges it to be more conducive to the Order’s good to appoint another brother.

1. It is the task of the provincial council or the re­gional council to determine for each electoral college whether the voters must come together specially to hold the election or vote by post.
2. If the election is to be held in a special assembly:
   1.  the president and place of the election shall be deter­mined by the provincial or regional council;
   2.  in the actual election, nn. 452 and 494, § III shall be observed;
   3.  after the election of a delegate, provision shall be made in the same manner for electing a substitute in case of neces­sity.
3.   If, however, the voters cannot gather together con­veniently, it is held according to the following norms:
   1. each voter shall write his vote on a ballot-paper and send it in a double envelope to the prior provincial or regional prior in accordance with n. 480, § III;
   2. when the time fixed for receiving ballot-papers has elapsed, the prior provincial or the regional prior with his council shall carry out the count according to the norm n. 480 § IV, 1-4;
   3. if the majority required for election is obtained, all voters shall be informed by letter of the result of the election;
   4. if, however, an absolute majority is not obtained in the first ballot, the provincial or regional prior with his council shall proceed according to n. 480, § IV, 6, and 7. In the final ballot, whether it is the second (n. 6), third or fourth (n.7), only those two may be presented who achieved the greater number of votes in the preceding ballot, and n. 450, § III must be observed.
   5. in the event of a delegate being incapacitated, the substitute shall be the one who in the final ballot obtained the second highest number of votes, and n. 450, § III, must be observed.

The following is the procedure for the election of superiors:

1. the electors shall meet at the appointed time and place and invoke the Holy Spirit; the president, tellers and secretary shall take the oath to fulfil their duty faithfully and, even after the election is over, to observe secrecy about the transactions in the sessions;
2. the secretary shall call the names of the individuals who by law must be present as electors; if they are present, they shall answer;
3. objections, if there are any, against the admission or exclusion of any voter must then be raised;
4. the president shall remind the voters that no one may validly vote for himself;
5. the ballot papers are distributed by the secretary, and voters write their vote in this manner: I elect or I postulate N.N., indicating both the given name and surname. In every case the complete formula, I elect or I postulate, shall be used;
6. if any voter present in the convent is confined to his room by illness, the tellers shall then go to him together, and obtain his written vote. If the sick person is unable to write, he may authorize someone else to write his vote, or he may even by word of mouth declare his vote to the tellers: they should immediately write it down;
7. the tellers and then the voters, one by one, beginning with the seniors, place their folded ballot-papers in an open container;
8. the ballots are counted by the tellers. If their number does not exceed the number of voters, they are then opened; otherwise, they shall be destroyed immediately, and the electors shall fill in a new ballot-paper;
9. the tellers read the ballot-papers and tabulate the votes;
10. the tellers compare their tabulations and after they have found them in agreement, the ballot-papers are destroyed;
11. then the president reads out in a clear voice the names of each one who has received a vote;
12. objections, if there are any, against the process of the election itself must then be raised;
13. with the consent of the majority, the election process may be interrupted between ballots, but the last ballot must be held on that same day;
14. if the required majority is obtained, the president shall declare brother N.N., to have been canonically elected or postulated for such and such office. If the president himself has been elected, the declaration shall be made by the first teller;
15. objections, if there are any, against the character of the one elected must then be raised;
16. the document of election is drawn up and signed by the president, the tellers, and the secretary.

Every brother who has business with the Holy See, whether for himself or for his house or province, shall conduct it through the mediation of the procurator of the Order whose duty it is to provide this service, without prejudice to the right everyone has to manifest his desires to the Roman Pontiff with full liberty (see Lumen Gentium, n. 37), and without prejudice to nn. 426, 3; 427, 5; and 434,1.

1. The voters at a provincial chapter are:
   1. regional priors;
   2. vicars provincial elected in accordance with n. 389;
   3. conventual priors; if the prior cannot attend on account of sickness or another grave reason accepted by the prior provincial, the subprior may take his place.
   4. socii of priors going to the chapter, in accordance with n. 490;
   5. delegates of the brothers, in accordance with nn. 497-501;
   6. a delegate of a non-prioral house with at least four brothers with active voting rights in the territory of any nation where there is no other house of the same province.
   7. a prior provincial who immediately before the chapter completed his term of office in that province.
2. If the voters at a provincial chapter, elected in accordance with the constitutions, are fewer than twenty, the statute of the province may make provision for extra voters. It is obliged to do this if there are fewer than ten voters. These, of whom there may not be more than three, are to be constituted such by election and not by personal entitlement.

Those brothers who have passed the Order’s examination for hearing confessions, by the fact of having a document of approval signed by the examiners, have delegated jurisdiction over those persons subject to the Order, except the nuns, and over those others who live day and night in our houses. (CCL 967-969).