Ordination

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 burned 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 burned 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.

The vocals of the provincial chapter are:

1.  
   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-priorial house with at least four brothers enjoying active voice in the territory of each nation where there is no other house of the same province.
   7. 6. a prior provincial who immediately before the chapter completed his term of office in that province.
2. If the vocals 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.
3. If it has been determined in the statute of the province, a non-priorial house can send one delegate to the provincial chapter, in the manner of a convent, when that house is erected in a foreign nation where no other presence of the same province exists.

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).

1. To be promoted a master in sacred theology, it is required that a brother:
   1. be commendable for his life and prudence;
   2. have been totally dedicated to intellectual work for at least ten years from the completion of his complementary studies;
   3. be presented to the provincial chapter by the commission for the intellectual life of the province of affiliation or of assignation of the brother, and be approved by two thirds of the vocals at the same chapter, or by the chapter of the province of affiliation according to the same manner of proceeding, or by the Master of the Order, if the brother is living in a convent or institute immediately subject to him;
   4. that a commission of at least three experts in the field of scientific specialisation, chosen by the Master of the Order, pronounce favourably on the value of his work and his capac­ity to pursue it;
   5. that he be promoted by a general chapter, or by the Master of the Order with his council;
   6. that the newly promoted master give a public lecture.
2. Nobody is to be promoted a master in sacred theology except in the aforesaid manner. 

1. To be promoted a master in sacred theology, it is required that a brother:
   1. be commendable for his life and prudence;
   2. have been totally dedicated to intellectual work for at least ten years from the completion of his complementary studies;
   3. be presented to the provincial chapter by the commission for the intellectual life of the province, and be approved by two thirds of the voters at the same chapter, or by the chapter of the province of affiliation or by the Master of the Order, if the brother is living in a convent or institute immediately subject to him;
   4. that a commission of at least three experts in the field of scientific specialisation, chosen by the Master of the Order, pronounce favourably on the value of his work and his capac­ity to pursue it;
   5. that he be promoted by a general chapter, or by the Master of the Order with his council;
   6. that the newly promoted master give a public lecture.
2. Nobody is to be promoted a master in sacred theology except in the aforesaid manner. 

The mastership in sacred theology is conferred on those brothers who are considered eminent in promoting the sciences, especially the sacred sciences. Excellence of this kind is established by an ability to develop and sustain doctrinal reflection and research, as well as by the publication of works of exceptional value; it is also established by an authority in the scientific field already acquired, even outside the Order.

A brother always needs the permission of a competent superior to travel.