Catholic World News Service Nov 18
NEW YORK (CWN) The ABC television network announced on Monday that it will order a full season of the drama “Nothing Sacred” despite its poor ratings and continuing protests from Catholics who dispute the depiction of priests.
The Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights said that 27 advertisers have agreed not to sponsor the show after tens of thousands of Catholic viewers promised to boycott any sponsors. The show has also suffered low ratings during its run, ranking 94th in the Nielsen ratings system. Only four other shows on ABC, NBC, or CBS ranked lower and those have all been canceled.
Meanwhile, 117 priests and nuns signed their names to an ad on Monday in the trade magazine Advertising Age supporting the show. If you want your religion to be fantasy, then you can go watch “Touched By an Angel,” said Sister Maureen Fiedler of Hyattsville, Maryland, head of the organization Catholics Speak Out. If you want your religion to deal with the nitty-gritty issues of life, then you should watch “Nothing Sacred.” Four bishops were among those who signed onto the ad: Bishop Raymond Lucker of New Ulm, Minnesota, Auxiliary Bishop P. Francis Murphy of Baltimore, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, and Auxiliary Bishop Peter Rosazza of New Haven, Connecticut.