pauline privilege
Pauline privilege. Eccles. law. The doctrine that a baptized person’s marriage to a never-baptized person may be dissolved under certain circumstances, when dissolution is beneficial to the church. • The privilege is ordinarily exercised when (1) the marriage was valid, (2) the baptized spouse now wishes to marry a Catholic, and (3) at the time of the marriage, both parties were unbaptized in any faith. Before the privilege can be exercised, (1) the unbaptized spouse must have deserted the baptized spouse without just cause, (2) the unbaptized spouse must still be unbaptized, (3) the baptized spouse must make the proper appeals to the church, and (4) the church must rule that the privilege is exercisable. There is uncertainty about the extent of the privilege. Cf. PETRINE PRIVILEGE.
