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 They've abolished clerical dress and private confession; the Eucharist is recognized only as an outdated symbol; and they're merging with the tenets of Buddhism.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

ブライアン・ムーアが描くのは、信仰の深淵です。伝統を死守する修道院と近代化を迫る組織の対立は、個人の魂の渇きと合理性が衝突する凄絶な実存ドラマ。神の沈黙に耐え、虚無を抱えつつ祈る修道院長の姿は、信じることの真の恐怖と気高さを我々に突きつけます。 著者自ら脚本を担った映画版は、小説の思索を荒涼たる風景と名優の熱演で肉体化しました。映像の視覚的孤独と原作の深遠な問いが響き合い、信仰なき世界の寒々しさを浮き彫りにします。両者を味わう体験は、読者の魂を激しく揺さぶるに違いありません。