The Tribunal of the Roman Rota has exclusive competence to dispense from marriages ratum sed non consummatum,[2] which can only be granted for a "just reason".
This second theory had the support of early Christian writers, received the approval of Sovereign Pontiffs, particularly of Alexander III, and soon prevailed.
[10] Under the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the discipline of 1917 has been changed; a marriage ratum sed non consummatum can now be dissolved only by a dispensation from the pope or his delegate.
The administrative process for granting the favor of a dispensation from a marriage ratum et non consummatum was formerly the exclusive competence of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments[12] under article 58 §2 of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus.
However, in 2011, Pope Benedict XVI amended Pastor Bonus with the Motu Proprio Quaerit Semper, thereby transferring jurisdiction over ratified and non-consummated marriage from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to a special Office of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.