Ordination

When brothers have an official position or work permanently in institutions, projects, or other establishments of this kind which do not belong to convents or provinces of the Order, the prior provincial should ensure that a contract be drawn up in which all the conditions are clearly set out.

1. In convents where only one socius is to be elected, the election is held according to the manner indicated in § IV, 2, and n. 452.
2. In convents where several socii are to be elected (see n. 490, § II), a secret vote must be cast to determine whether they are to be elected all together or one after the other.
3. If the majority agree, there can be a discussion about the candidates before the election.
4. The election is to take place as follows:
   1. if the socii are elected all together, the election is to be terminated in the seventh ballot, in which a relative majority suffices;
   2. if they are elected one after the other and 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.

1. Regarding the confirmation or cassation of the election of a vicar provincial and his acceptance, the norms in nn. 465-473 are to be observed.
2. The right of instituting a vicar provincial devolves to the prior provincial, respecting n. 373,1°:
   1. when the vicariate, at the time of a vacancy of the provincial vicar, does not have the conditions referred to in n. 384 §I; then, however, in the institution of a vicar, the vocals of the convents of the vicariate should be heard according to the norm of the vicariate statutes;
   2. when all the vocals have renounced their voices they should not be restored by the prior provincial;
   3. when, for whatever reason whatsoever within six months from a known vacancy, the vicar provincial has not been elected or postulated;
   4. when in the process of an election in a special gathering there have been seven unsuccessful ballots (cf. n. 480, §II, 2°);
   5. when in the process of an election by letters there have resulted two unsuccessful ballots (cf. n. 480 §IV, 2°), or three or four if the provincial chapter has so determined (cf. n. 455-bis §II, 7°);
   6. when the brethren, the first election having been cassated, elect the same brother again, unless the first election was cassated just because of procedure and not because of the person elected;
   7. when two or at most three elections have been taken and confirmed by the prior provincial but not accepted by the one elected; then, indeed, after the second election the prior provincial may, and after the third ought to appoint a vicar provincial.
3. If the prior provincial does not appoint a vicar provincial within a month of his being informed that it falls to him to do so, the right of providing for a vicar provincial devolves to the Master of the Order.

1. It is for the provincial council or the regional council to determine whether the voters must come together specially to hold the election or may vote by post.
2. If the election is carried out in a special assembly:
   1. the president and the place of the election shall be as in n. 477;
   2. in the actual process of the election, n. 464 shall be observed (see Appendix n. 18).
3. If, however, the voters cannot gather together conveniently, the following norms shall be used:
   1. within the time determined by the president (n. 477, § II), each voter shall write his vote on a ballot-paper in accordance with n. 452, 6;
   2. then, after placing the ballot-paper in an envelope, he shall write in his own hand his name and place of residence on the envelope and seal it carefully. After that, he shall enclose the first envelope in another envelope and send it to the president with a special marking so that it can be easily recognized.
4. When the time determined for receiving ballot-papers has elapsed, the president with the regional council shall conduct the count:
   1. when all the external envelopes have been opened in the presence of the council, the names of the electors written on the outside of the inner envelopes are examined to see whether each of them has the conditions required for active voice; if anyone does not, his vote shall be considered null and void;
   2. the number of voters and of envelopes is compared;
   3. the envelopes are opened and burned before the ballots are unfolded;
   4. the votes are then examined in accordance with n . 452, 9, 10, 11;
   5. if the majority required for election or postulation is obtained, a decree of election shall be drawn up by the president, and an authentic document of the election shall be prepared and sent to the prior provincial in accordance with n. 453, § I (see Appendix n. 24). All the voters shall be notified by letter of the result of the election;
   6. if, however, an absolute majority is not obtained in the first ballot, the president with the council shall fix the time for holding a new and final ballot; and shall inform by letter both the prior provincial and the voters of all that has taken place;
   7. a provincial chapter, however, may determine that a third or even a fourth ballot may be held if in the second or third an absolute majority is not obtained;
   8. if in the final ballot, whether it is the second (n. 6: or the third or the fourth (n. 7), an absolute majority is not obtained, it devolves upon the prior provincial to make provision for the office (see n. 464).

1. Without prejudice to n. 443, for a person to be elected validly as regional prior, it is required that:
   1. he be thirty years old and ten years from first profession; 
   2. he has not been regional prior in the same region for the two four-year terms immediately preceding.
2. If any brother cannot be elected because of the lack of one or more of the conditions mentioned in § I, 1 and 2, the brothers may postulate him to the prior provincial who may dispense from the interstices and make provision according to n. 467.

1. The president of the election is the brother who actually governs the vicariate in accordance with the norm of 385, § II, 2, or, if he is out of office, the senior in the Order among the superiors of that region.
2. After consulting the regional council, it is for him to determine the time of the election and to notify all the voters; he must do this within a month of knowing that the office is vacant.

The following may be used to foster collaboration among the provinces of a region or nation:

1. regular meetings between the priors provincial or differ­ent officials, such as the masters of novices, of students and of cooperator brothers, of regents, professors, promoters, etc.;
2. interprovincial conferences or commissions for the study of common problems;
3. national or regional promoters for different activities;
4. a common novitiate or studentate or common centres, according to norms to be approved by the Master of the Order; 
5. an agreement entered into with the consent of the Master of the Order for the erection of interprovincial convents and for making assignations from one province to another. 
6. an agreement between two provincial chapters or priors provincial for making direct assignations from one province to a house of the other province, with due respect for nn 270 § I and II, 497 § I and 600, the Master of the Order, however, having been notified (see Appendix 16). Such an agreement is to be reviewed at least once every five years by the priors provincial of the respective provinces.

1. In every vicariate there shall be a council whose consent or advice the regional prior must seek on more serious matters as laid down in the vicariate statute. The acts of this council must be sent to the prior provincial after it has met.
2. The number of these councillors and the manner of their election or appointment shall be determined by the vicariate statute.
3. When, in accordance with the prescriptions of the Book of Constitutions and Ordinations or the statute of the province or vicariate, the Prior Provincial, has to deal with matters which concern the vicariate, he must first consult the vicariate council before consulting the provincial council. When however it is a question of confirming, appointing, or removing the regional prior, he consults only the provincial council (see n. 373, 1).

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 after the death of the brothers mentioned in them, provided this can be done without prejudice to those who are still alive.

1. Two years after a prior provincial has been confirmed in office, At the first council at the time of the next meeting of the provincial council, the prior provincial must summon to a larger council, in addition to the members of the provincial council, the vicars provincial and conventual priors in the strict sense; unless the provincial chapter has determined otherwise regarding regional priors, vicars provincial, and priors in remote regions the statute of the province can determine whether vicars provincial and priors from remote regions are to be summoned, as well as designate others who, as the case may be, are to be summoned.
2. At this larger council meeting, which may exercise only a consultative vote, all topics are to be dealt with that seem to be useful for the good of the province; first of all, there shall be a review of whether the ordinations and exhortations of the last provincial chapter and general chapter have been put into practice.