Office of the Chancellor

In every curia a chancellor is to be appointed whose principal function, unless particular law establishes otherwise, is to take care that the acts (official diocesan documents) of the curia are gathered, arranged, and safeguarded in the archive of the curia." - Code of Canon Law

By church law, the Chancellor is also an ecclesiastical (Church) notary within the curia, whose signature establishes authenticity for any acts, for judicial acts only, or for acts of a specific case.

The Chancellor’s duties include:

• Drawing up the acts and instruments regarding decrees, dispositions, obligations, or other things which require their action;
• Recording faithfully in writing on any decree what has taken place and to sign it with a notation of the place, day, month, and year;
• Having observed what is required, to furnish acts or instruments to one who legitimately requests them from the records, and to declare copies of them to be in conformity with the original.

In the Diocese of Providence, the Chancellor is also the Bishop’s delegate for granting marriage dispensations and permissions, and works with the Vicars-General to advise and counsel the Bishop in the interpretation and application of canon law within the Diocese. The Chancellor also serves as secretary for diocesan (non-parish) corporations and authorizes the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and maintains records of those appointed.