What is the Pauline privilege?

The Pauline privilege permits the dissolution of a valid nonsacramental marriage between two unbaptized persons when one receives Baptism and the other refuses peaceful married life without offense to the faith.

Where it comes from. St. Paul addresses a marriage in which one spouse becomes Christian. If the unbelieving spouse is willing to live peacefully with the believer, they should remain married. But if the unbelieving spouse departs, Paul says, "the brother or sister is not bound in such cases" (1 Cor 7:12-15). The Church applies this apostolic teaching through the Pauline privilege.

The required conditions. At the time of the original wedding, both spouses must have been unbaptized. Their marriage must have been valid as a natural marriage. Later, one spouse receives Baptism. The unbaptized spouse then departs or refuses to live peacefully with the baptized spouse without offense to the Creator, unless the baptized spouse gave just cause for the departure (Canon 1143). Mere inconvenience, ordinary conflict, or a desire to marry someone else does not establish the privilege.

How the bond is dissolved. Baptism by itself does not dissolve the first marriage. Before a new marriage, the unbaptized spouse is ordinarily questioned about whether he or she wishes to receive Baptism or at least live peacefully with the baptized spouse (Canon 1144). This formal questioning is called an interpellation, although the local ordinary can dispense from it for a grave reason. The prior bond is dissolved when the baptized party validly contracts a new marriage under the conditions established by canon law.

How it differs from an annulment. An annulment is a declaration that no valid marriage arose from the original exchange of consent. The Pauline privilege concerns a marriage that was valid but nonsacramental. It is dissolved in favor of the baptized person's faith. By contrast, a valid, consummated sacramental marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death (CCC 1640; Canon 1141). If both spouses were baptized when they married, the Pauline privilege does not apply.

Anyone who thinks this privilege may apply should contact a diocesan tribunal. The tribunal will need baptismal records, marriage and divorce documents, testimony about both parties' baptismal status, and evidence concerning the unbaptized spouse's departure. A civil divorce alone does not establish freedom to marry in the Church.