Catholics : a novel

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They’ve abolished clerical dress and private confession; the Eucharist is recognized only as an outdated symbol; and they’re merging with the tenets of Buddhism.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 TomÁs 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).