In conjunction with the manufacture of a multilayer ceramic capacitor having nickel-containing internal electrodes involving a polishing step for exposing the end of the internal electrodes, a non-reducible dielectric ceramic material is prepared, for the purpose of preventing the polishing step from being prolonged, by furnishing a calcined material containing a compound oxide represented by the formula (I): [(CaxSr1−x)O]m[(TiyZr1−y)O2] wherein 0≦x≦1, 0≦y≦0.10, and 0.75≦m≦1.04, as a main component, adding 0.001-10 mol % based on the main component of MgO or rare earth oxide and firing the mixture. The ceramic material contains predetermined amounts of SiO2 and BaO and/or CaO, and MnO as auxiliary components.