Mulvagh states that the church actually feared the diminution of its powers in a Home Rule context, particularly in the case of denominational education, and that the teacher-training colleges were the core concern for the hierarchy rather than the
Ne Temere decree.
"Ne Tem" was short for the "
Ne Temere" decree of Pope Pius X in 1907, which changed church law and made it a condition of validity that Catholics be married in the presence of a priest.
She refused to honour the infamous
Ne Temere pledge, which has since been scrapped.
The impact of the Catholic church's imposition of pre-nuptial promises relating to the raising as Catholics of children of inter-church marriages, exacted on foot of erroneous perceptions of the terms of the
Ne temere decree, are examined, as are Protestant attitudes to it.
THE
ne temere decree and mixed marriage situation that had resulted in a 25 per cent per generation or one per cent per annum drop in the number of Protestants.
Those who stayed watched their numbers decrease due to the papal ruling of
Ne Temere, which stated that children of mixed marriages must be brought up Catholic.
Written in 1955, during a quiet but dismal period for Irish Protestantism when most members of the minority communion in the Republic tended to keep their heads down and their mouths firmly shut, Butler's essay unpicks the damage that the
Ne Temere decree wreaked on the Irish social structure --the collateral damage of the Catholic Church's defensive marital stance.
This coincides with the lapsing of the campaign against
Ne Temere. (58)
He said the Vatican's
Ne Temere decree, ruling that children of mixed marriages must be brought up as Catholics, had a detrimental effect on the State's Protestant population.
At the time Sheila incurred the wrath of the local clergy when she refused to honour the infamous
Ne Temere pledge to raise her children as Roman Catholics and attend the local Catholic school.
For example, the essay on Religion (27-31) is preceded by an Irish Independent article concerning Protestant protests against the papal degree "
Ne Temere" on the subject of "Mixed Marriages," while the images include a photograph of King George V and Queen Mary with Cardinal Logue at Maynooth.
Sunday 13 November 2.30 pm The '
Ne Temere' Decree (1908): its civil and religious effects in Australia Fr Peter Blayney at St Mary's Cathedral