{"id":611,"date":"2011-05-10T09:19:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-10T13:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=611"},"modified":"2011-05-10T09:31:13","modified_gmt":"2011-05-10T13:31:13","slug":"jennifer-haighs-faith-takes-compassionate-look-at-catholic-abuse-scandals-plus-a-look-at-fox-tv-pilots-and-other-headlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2011\/05\/jennifer-haighs-faith-takes-compassionate-look-at-catholic-abuse-scandals-plus-a-look-at-fox-tv-pilots-and-other-headlines.html","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Haigh’s “Faith” takes compassionate look at Catholic abuse scandals; plus a look at Fox TV pilots and other headlines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faith<\/em> takes novel approach to Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandals. <\/strong>I’m in the middle of a very interesting new book (due out today, in fact) about the McGanns, a fictional Boston-based Catholic family for whom the scandals in the Church really hit home. When Sheila McGann’s half brother Fr. Art Breen finds himself accused, she seeks out the truth and, in the process, lays bare family secrets and emotional scars while also coming to terms with her own rejection of her childhood faith.<\/p>\n

I had the pleasure of talking with Jennifer Haigh, the author of Faith<\/em>, yesterday.\u00a0 This is her fourth novel. Her previous bestsellers include Mrs. Kimble<\/em><\/a> (winner of the PEN\/Hemingway Award for debut fiction), Baker Towers<\/em><\/a> (winner of the PEN\/L.L. Winship Award for outstanding book by a New England author) and The Condition<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Raised Catholic herself, Haigh says her latest work is not at all about her own family noting that she has no inclination to write auto biographically. On the other hand, the process of writing the book has led her to a deeper understanding of the faith she grew up in and of the sometimes difficult life of a priest.<\/p>\n

“Like a lot of Catholics,” she says, “I was floored by this (the clergy abuse scandals). I\u2019ve had wonderful experiences with priests and nuns both. It was astonishing.” She says, despite the scandals, she maintains a lot of affection for Catholics in general — who she says are often very good and well-intentioned people. “My respect for them,” she notes, “remains undiminished.”<\/p>\n

She also maintains affection toward the characters in her book — who are far from perfect but are not evil. “You figure out the characters in the process of writing,”<\/em> and, in that process, she ended liking the McGanns. “I never write about villains,”<\/em> she says. “These are flawed people,” <\/em>adding that “writing a novel, and reading a novel, is always, for me, an exercise in compassion. All good novels contribute to that. I never write with a ‘message’ in mind.” <\/em>She goes on, “Writing a novel is not about judging but about finding compassion.”<\/em><\/p>\n

However, Haigh admits, to having strong feelings on the subject.\u00a0 In preparing to write the book, she read a lot about the “horrible cases”<\/em> of sexual abuse by clergy and was truly stunned. “I certainly think the Church handled this badly,” <\/em>she says.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, she sees hope for the future. “I think Cardinal O\u2019Malley at the Boston Archdiocese has tried to create an atmosphere of \u00a0listening and healing and deserves a lot of credit for that (but) we\u2019ll have to see if things inside the Church have really changed.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On comparisons to her book and John Patrick Shanley’s play (and movie) Doubt<\/em><\/a>, she says the main difference is that Doubt<\/em> focuses on a pre-Vatican II era Church whereas Faith<\/em> is very much about the contemporary Church.<\/p>\n

As to the idea of a movie based on her book, she says that would be okay but she didn’t write the book to get a movie deal.\u00a0 She wrote the story she wanted to write and told it in the way she wanted to tell it. As the author sees it, the major upside of a movie would be to give the book an eventual second life so that more people would read it.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Haigh and her boyfriend Rob Arnold (a poet) took it upon themselves to produce a trailer which features music from the Dropkick Murphys, one of her favorite groups. The publisher didn’t ask them to make it, they just felt moved to do it and to post it on her website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here it is.\u00a0 Enjoy the video — and, especially, the book.<\/p>\n