Faith no more?

For some, ABC drama leaves 'Nothing Sacred'

Sister Maureen grasps her hands together, lifts her head to the heavens and says, "I just don't know anymore," and neither do some of the local leaders in the Catholic community.

A supporting character on the TV show "Nothing Sacred," the feminist Catholic nun recently struggled with her desire to be a female priest in a religion that currently will not allow her to do so. What some local Catholics are debating is whether the show is portraying modern Catholic clergy and the entire religion realistically.

"Mo," as the nun is often referred to on the show, is included in a cast of controversial characters in the ABC drama that is challenging Catholic beliefs in the modern world.

Although the show has been temporarily pulled from its Saturday line-up amidst cheers from many in the Catholic community, the war is not over.

"Nothing Sacred" will return in March after "sweeps week" -- when networks air programs designed to draw big ratings in order to set advertising rates -- and will once again attempt to balance contemporary living and traditional values within the Catholic community.

"Nothing Sacred deals with current issues," Amber Gereghty, senior publicist for ABC said. "It's about a human being as a priest."

Though a recent episode dealt with Sister Maureen's struggles in the church, most episodes focus on actor Kevin Anderson's portrayal of Father Ray, a young idealistic priest who faces the trials of life in an inner-city Catholic parish. Anderson was nominated for best actor in a television drama at this year's Golden Globe Awards.

Anderson's Father Ray is a modern-day priest who has done such things as question the existence of God, spoken openly about abortion and discussed matters of sexuality alongside Ann Dowd's Sister Maureen.

"Nothing Sacred" has received criticism from some Catholics who have been pushing for its withdrawal from the air because they believe it is an incorrect and stereotypical portrayal of the Catholic Church and its members.

"It's trying to present the faith in a whole new way, which is very offensive to Catholicism," said James M. Foster, associate pastor at St. Johns Evangelist Catholic Church, 134 E. Bishop St., Bellefonte.

The show's depiction of a priest giving out condoms, facing the issue of a teen debating suicide and the all-too-human desires when it comes to matters of the heart, have made "Nothing Sacred" one of this season's most controversial dramas.

On ABC's World Wide Web site for the show, reactions are mixed. Many praise the show for its modern approach to age-old problems facing Catholics; others say it gives the church a bad reputation. The show was denounced by archbishops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Newark, N.J.; while companies such as MCI, Kmart and Dunkin' Donuts all pulled their ads during the show's 8 p.m. time slot.

William Donohue, president of the national Catholic League, mobilized hundreds of thousands of members to campaign against series sponsors such as The Boston Beer Company, LL Bean and Burger King. Donohue plans to continue doing so until the show is permanently taken off the air or changes its representation of Catholics.

"Fear of (the Catholic Church) being misrepresented and (that) people are going to get the wrong idea (is what makes it so controversial)," said Laina Grabowski, president of the Newman Catholic Student Association.

Foster believes the image of priests has been "polished" by Hollywood directors, and is not based on actual Catholic teachings, he said.

"They want to take scandals of today's priests and magnify it, and say this is the state of churches now," he added.

ABC maintains that three out of the five writers for the show are Catholic and that "Nothing Sacred" is meant to represent the immediate concerns within the Catholic church in a realistic way, unlike similar shows currently on the air.

"Nothing Sacred," which turned out to be unique among the several spiritually based shows that began this season, plans to continue struggling with the meaning of life and all that it entails when it returns to the network's line-up, Gereghty said, revealing that Jennifer Beals, star of the '80s movie Flashdance, will join the cast when the series returns as the church's new director of religious education.

"We're not trying to be more controversial," she added, "just to continue our quality programming."