Catholic Group Angry at Disney

Two months before the premiere of TV’s “Nothing Sacred,” a Catholic anti-defamation group is demanding the drama be pulled from ABC’s schedule for its “sick look” at priests.

“They’re belittling what is sacred,” Bernadette Brady, vice president of the Catholic League, said Friday.

ABC is standing by the show, which stars Kevin Anderson as a young priest in big-city parish. It is scheduled to air Thursdays starting in September.

The 350,000-member Catholic League can’t threaten a boycott against ABC’s parent Walt Disney Co. because one already exists: The group urged Catholics not to patronize Disney because of the 1995 movie “Priest.”

Catholic League President William Donohue hadn’t seen the show before calling for its cancellation. He was angry about a Disney news release describing Anderson’s character as an “irreverent priest who questions the existence of God, feels lust in his heart and touches people’s souls.”

Brady said she has seen “Nothing Sacred’s” pilot and was upset by its “very, very negative portrayal of the priesthood.”

ABC said that “Nothing Sacred” offers an honest portrayal of a young priest.

“It is our hope that through subsequent episodes, they’ll come to find that the series reflects positively on the issues of faith, for that is our intention,” ABC said in a statement.