I was fascinated by a letter which appeared in this morning's Irish Times which (presumably) gave the Church's view on the subject of Ne Temere, a Church ruling which set up the requirements that all mixed marriages of Catholic and non-Catholic could only take place with the Church's blessing and by agreement that any children should be brought up Catholics.
It was a practice that led to the break-up of happy marriages and the removal of children if the church deemed it necessary.
Loaded phrases like "much more posi¬tive", "in the context of the overall good of the mar¬riage", "it is not uncommon", and the excuse that 'it was all the fault of the Reformation', makes it quite clear that the Church still considers itself in full control of the lives of the faithful.
In the light of continuing revelations of decades of child abuse and the fact that Ne Temere remains on the statute books, it's fairly obvious that the Christian Church remains every bit a potential threat to our well-being as any other given the opportunity.
As I have been suggesting, any religion with a modicum of power is likely to abuse that power in order to retain its grip on peoples'   
Jim Carroll

"Mixed marriages and 'Ne Temere'
Sir, -I was moved and saddened by Helga Faiers's letter (January 20th). The church of the past has a lot to answer for.
It was a time when relations between the churches were at an all-time low. Resulting from the legacy of the nuanced reformation, the churches had gone their antagonistic and separate ways.
Now, however, when inter-church relations are warm¬er the practices around mixed marriage are much more positive.
First, the question of the baptism of any children to a mixed marriage is much nuanced.
The rights and preferences of each party must be tak¬en into account in the context of the overall good of the marriage.
Second, it is not uncommon for the minister for the non-Catholic party to be the sole officiator in his/her church with the full blessing of the Catholic authorities.
We have come a long way since the bad old days, circa 1953.-
Yours, etc
Fr EDWARD DOWNES CC, The Presbytery, Valleymount, Co Wicklow."