Often, when one thinks of priests, they think of perfect Catholics: those people without sin or fault, basically saints who have yet to pass away. Priests in both real life and in novels or biographies are often seen as unrelatable to the common Christian. How can one be so faithful as a lay person? This is what I find most interesting about the novels that we read in class, especially when considering the class title, “Saints and Sinners in 20th Century Catholic Fiction.” Most of the priests throughout these novels are both saints and sinners. They’re average; they are holy people that try to believe to the best of their ability, but still fall into sin and despair. While I am aware that this also can paint an unrealistic image of priests as well, it also shows your average Christian that those we may put on a pedestal can fall, and those we do not look to for religious piety or behavior may rise to the top.
As with everything, there is an exception to my idea of the priests in the novels. I will begin with him, because he paints the most common image of a priest that one can imagine. This priest is the one from Brideshead Revisited. Father Mackay is the one that gives Julia’s father, Lord Marchmain (Alex), Last Rites before he passes away. Charles describes him as someone who remembers his answers to seemingly trivial questions (Waugh, 326), as well as a “simple, genial man” (339). He speaks of God in almost every sentence, and some could argue that it is indeed in every sentence. This is what many imagine as a stereotypical priest. Calm, simple, always speaking of God in everything he does. While some priests are exactly like this, it’s best not to put anyone on a pedestal, especially when it comes to religious figures.
Brideshead Revisited has a focus of A Twitch Upon the Thread, the title of the second book. This is the idea that no matter how far you roam, there is a thread connecting you to God. Whenever He so desires, He can twitch the thread and pull you back to Him. Almost every character in the novel is pulled back from roaming, although they still fall. This is the reason that this novel was most relatable as a lay person, because it was multitudes of lay people falling and getting back up again. Father Mackay is not one of these people, because he has seemingly always been close to God. We do not here anything of his past, and so he remains perfect and holy. He is the only character in all of the novels who seems perfect, and therefore is the priest I talk about the least.
For a lot of the other novels, the priests had different levels of “holiness”, one could say. Some showed their holiness outwardly but contained sin (sometimes, lots of them) internally. However, there were also some that were opposite, outwardly showing sin and disregard for religion and God, while inwardly seeking for Him and Goodness. These characters usually felt that twitch from God upon their thread, despite trying to run away from it. Throughout the rest of this paper, I will discuss examples of both in the novels we have read.
In The Power and the Glory, this theme was very ingrained—representation/imagination (idealism) versus reality. Idealism is forming or pursuing ideals, especially those that are unrealistic. Several of the characters in The Power and the Glory follows unrealistic ideals, disillusioned by their own imagination. However, the priest in this story tends to not get caught up in those illusions, simply because he has to face reality often when it comes to his own sins. The priest is often referred to as whisky priest, someone who is ordained but shows signs of moral weakness. While the priest is an alcoholic, he has many other vices that are seen in the story. Most notably, readers learn that he has had an affair that fostered a child. It is not often that priests are heard of to have had children, especially because of their vow of celibacy. This priest is not as squeaky clean as some imagine.
The whisky priest is on the run from the law because of the outlawing of Catholicism. The idea of priest comes the idea of cushioned living, preaching to those poor in spirit and in money. In fact, even the whisky priest himself acknowledges this, saying, “it is hard for the sleek and well-fed priest to praise poverty” (Greene, 71). We do not think of priests as being on the run. But, this priest is on the run and living in poverty, so he does not think like such often. He has faced such hardships that he has preached upon before. On page 69, he gives a homily about Heaven and poverty, just as one would imagine a priest giving. But, in reality, the mass was being held in secret, in an impoverished city, by an impoverished priest. This is the reality; this is not the “simple” life many people imagine that priests have.
Not only does this priest live on the run, in poverty, but he also struggles with sin, more so than your average person would imagine a priest to struggle with. Drinking is only one example, asking every household that he stays if they have any whisky for him. In addition, the whisky priest has an affair in his younger days with a woman named Maria, and bares a child. After this, he leaves her soon after, not even owning up to his sin. When he revisits, he almost gets caught by the law, but is not discovered. They take a man named Miguel in his place, even after the whisky priest offers his life for Miguel’s (77). Maria says to him, “Do you think God wants you to stay and die—a whisky priest like you?… What kind of martyr do you think you’ll be? It’s enough to make people mock” (79). Maria’s conception of priest is also someone squeaky clean and simple, of which the whisky priest falls short.
The whisky priest in this novel is definitely not a poster image for priest, but he also isn’t a perfect human being, like most people assume priests to be. The real image of a priest is someone who is there for God’s people, but ultimately puts God before himself (along with others, but God first). We can see this when the whisky priest is ultimately martyred at the end, keeping his faith but also feeling remorse for his sins, acknowledging that he could have done more in life for God. This is what a priest is, because they are human. Not perfect.
In The Power and the Glory, we see another priest. He is referred to as Padre José. This man is barely a priest, in that he has fallen so far that he does not even acknowledge his priesthood. He sins, but he also loses his faith. He apostatizes after being forced to by the government, taking up a wife (thanks to the government as well). When the whisky priest asks for him, seeking confession before he is to be executed, Padre José refuses him, refuses God. Padre José is neither idealized priest nor realistic priest.
A book filled with priests and religious figureheads is Death Comes for the Archbishop. This novel focuses heavily on religion—more specifically, what the correct way to act or think is in regard to Catholicism and being on the right path to faith and to God. This story follows scenes from the lives of Bishop Jean Marie Latour and his friend and vicar, Joseph Vaillant, and their interactions with others on their journey to New Mexico. This story mentions several notable priests.
Bishop Latour is another person whom one would think of when they hear the word “priest”. At all times, Latour is a gentleman, choosing to give himself to God’s people for the sake of God. He is handsome, generous, and spends a great deal in solitude for prayer and meditation. He, throughout his life, quietly encouraged the Catholic faith in his new diocese, which we can see through the author’s inclusion of his garden (Cather, 438).
Bishop Latour is a good man and a great priest. However, other figures in the book paint a less than happy picture of what a priest is. New Mexico has been without order for quite some time. Order is important for religion, especially the Catholic religion, which is a major theme in this novel. Disordered lives leads to incorrect priorities, meaning our focus is not on God. You can tell that this is important, simply because of the prologue. Three bishops of three different nationalities are trying to pick a candidate for the diocese of New Mexico. These three are somewhat disordered in that they want what’s best for their country and they want to have their candidate be chosen, instead of what would best help the new territory and its people. In the end, the French candidate wins, because a Cardinal argues that, “They are the best missionaries. Our Spanish fathers made good martyrs, but the French Jesuits accomplish more. They are great organizers… the French arrange! [They] have a sense of proportion and rational adjustment. They are always trying to discover the logical relation of things” (281). Essentially, what was needed was the poster child for “priest”, which doesn’t necessarily mean one that dies for his people in the name of faith.
Father Vaillant, on the other hand, is sort of an “equal” counterpart to Bishop Latours image. Where Latour is calm and distant, Vaillant is impulsive and passionate.