A religious community of men or women desiring the official recognition of the Church shall submit for his approval its Rules and Constitution to the Bishop of the diocese wherein the Motherhouse of the community is situated. No change in the Rule or Constitution shall be made without his approval.
In such Constitution there shall be a distinct recognition of the doctrine, discipline, and worship of this Church as of supreme authority.
No religious community shall establish itself in another diocese without the permission of Bishop of that diocese.
The religious community shall be free to choose liturgical formularies within their chapels in conformity to their Rule and the monastic traditions of the Western Rite; but elsewhere they shall conform to the Canons on Worship and in the administration of the Sacraments shall conform to the Book of Common Prayer without alteration, save as it may be permitted by these canons.
Canon 7, Section 3 shall apply to a religious community in the same way that it applies to a parish.
Members of a religious community who are in Holy Orders shall be subject to all canonical regulations concerning the clergy.
Provision shall be made in the Constitution for the appointment of a Visitor, with the approval of the Bishop of the diocese in which the Motherhouse is situated, if the Bishop is himself unwilling to serve in this capacity. It shall be the duty of the Visitor to see that the Constitution and the Rule, as approved, are duly observed, and to receive and hear appeals either from the community or from individual members thereof as to transgressions of the Rule. No full member of a community shall be dismissed therefrom without appeal to the Visitor, nor shall any be released from his or her obligations thereto without the Visitor's sanction.
It shall not be within the power of a succeeding Bishop to withdraw the official recognition that has been given to a religious community, provided, that the conditions laid down in this canon are observed.
