A "near-masterpiece" about faith and doubt by the award-winning, international bestselling author (The New York Times).
In Rome, surrendering to secular pressures, the Fourth Vatican Council is stirring a revolution with their official denial of the church's core doctrines. They've abolished clerical dress and private confession; the Eucharist is recognized only as an outdated symbol; and they're merging with the tenets of Buddhism. They're also unsettled by the blind faith of devout pilgrims from around the world congregating on a remote island monastery in Ireland-the last spot on earth where Catholic traditions are defiantly alive. At the behest of the Vatican, Father James Kinsella has been dispatched to Muck Abbey with an ultimatum: Adhere to the new church or suffer the consequences.
But in Abbot Tomas O'Malley, Kinsella finds less an adversary than a man of bewildering contradictions-unyieldingly bound to his vows, yet long-questioning his devotion to God. Now, between Kinsella and O'Malley comes an unexpected challenge that will reveal their truths, their purpose, their faith, and their doubt.
"Told with . . . superb grace and wit," Catholics was adapted by Brian Moore for the 1973 film starring Martin Sheen and Trevor Howard (The New Yorker).
- ISBN10 022400767X
- ISBN13 9780224007672
- Publish Date 2 November 1972 (first published 1 January 1972)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 6 April 1993
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Vintage Publishing
- Imprint Jonathan Cape Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 102
- Language English