The more I read it, the more I love it.

As a student of the Bachelor's in English Literature, i read it long time (22 years ago) back. May be I did not get the full impact of it then. I was not a priest then. I was a seminarian. Now that I am a priest for 16 years, when I read the novel I could not but appreciate the novel better.

The questions addressed in the novel are very much appealing to anybody and especially to a Catholic Priest. The questions are:
Can the faith of a believer, especially that of a priest withstand fierce persecution?
Who is a real saint?
Can a bad priest (a whiskey priest) who is compelled by the sense of duty towards his flock, be a saint and a martyr? Can he be an example for the faithful or a scandal?

There are many places where Greene makes a tongue in cheek criticism of the Church. In fact such remarks hit at me as a priest.

I loved the fact that Greene presented the Catholic priest in a very human manner.

I am not able to write more. I will keep returning to this novel along with the other two best novels on priests - The Diary of a Country Priest and Death Comes for the Archbishop.

And I am also certain that this book must have served as an inspiration for Endo in writing Silence, another superb novel on faith in the midst of fierce persecution.

I am certain I have not said all that I wanted to say on this book. The emotions and the impact are still fresh and they cannot be transported to the words.

"It was for this world that Christ had died. It was too easy to die for what was good or beautiful, for home or for civilization. It needed a God to die for the half-hearted and corrupt."

"Christ had died for this man too. How could he pretend with his pride and lust and cowardice to be any more worthy? This man intended to betray him for money which he needed."

************

A expatriate dentist lives in a backwater port in Tabasco, Mexico, unable to leave as various revolutions thwart his plans. He meets a fugitive priest on the run from the Red Shirts, a socialist paramilitary group that enforces a religion ban and persecutes Catholics in the 1930's. Churches had been destroyed and clergy executed. The priest is called to attend a sick person and misses his boat to safety.

He is known as the whiskey priest due to his fondness for alcohol, then criminalized by the government. Another priest had renounced his faith and married to escape from the law. There are two contrasting families as well, a Mexican town family whose son rejects Christian teaching and a British plantation family whose daughter protects the whisky priest. A lieutenant is sent to capture him by taking hostages.

Across the state a search is begun and peasants brutalized. The priest's flight leads to a village where he had fathered a child. People hide him from the police. He's followed by the tramp, a Judas who covets his bounty. Jailed for drink he is spared by prisoners who recognize him. On the run he is plagued with self doubt. He allows the tramp to take him to the authorities yet mysteriously reappears three days later.

This is the second of Graham Greene's four 'Catholic' novels, although there are Catholic themes and characters in much of his work. He later became agnostic and there were often elements of losing or questioning faith in his writing. It was published in 1940 after he went to Mexico to report on forced secularization. Considered a masterpiece, his later novels seem more accomplished. A short work but a good story.

Romanzo di profonda intensità. Coinvolgente, drammatico e bellissimo.
Capolavoro.
Grande scrittore Graham Greene.

This was so sweetly twisted. I love me some moral relativism. I think religion (especially champion religion like catholicism) can do an excellent job complicating things and creating some really unnecessary moral dilemmas. In "The Power and the Glory" we have a priest who is so painfully human which was utterly inconvenient when you lived in 1930s Mexico.
I am afraid if I were in this book I would be the Lieutenant running around trigger-happy shouting "shoot'em all! The Church is the root of all evil!". Because things are so much nicer when they are either black or white.

The book had a definitely Latin American twist to it. It reminded me of some of Mario Vargas Llosa's works. It had this certain stuffy atmosphere with characters detached from reality.

Non si può controllare quel che si ama

Che sia ambientato in Messico lo avvalora la costante presenza degli avvoltoi vorticanti su nel cielo. In Messico da sempre si muore più frequentemente che altrove, i pennuti con il collo spiumato lo hanno scelto per l’abbondanza di cibo. Solo avendoli visti agire da sentinelle si poteva inserirli a più riprese nella narrazione. La morte e il Messico camminano a braccetto dal tempo degli Aztechi, lo fanno anche in questo romanzo di Graham Greene, scritto nel 1940. Ho fatto fatica a tenere traccia dei personaggi nei primi capitoli, non mi era successo con gli altri romanzi dello scrittore inglese. Chi è colui che fugge, un dottore corpulento o un prete minuto? In alcuni tratti ho galleggiato, in altri sono stato portato a largo dalla corrente: un romanzo filosofico, religioso e politico. Lo spunto che Greene segue è quello della persecuzione che i rossi rivoluzionari attuarono nei confronti del clero chiudendo le chiese e imponendo ai preti di sposarsi per avere salva la vita. Il prete minuto ha un nomignolo che sintetizza la sua passione più bruciante, si chiama “Padre Acquavite” ed è lui e non il barbiere corpulento a fuggire lungo tutto il romanzo. Fugge dal suo vizio, dai suoi sensi di colpa, fugge per salvarsi la vita, è l’ultimo prete della regione, vorrebbero acciuffarlo per estinguere la specie. Greene da sempre sa essere folgorante:
«anche un codardo ha il senso del dovere!»
Il senso del dovere del prete fuggiasco è il motore della narrazione. Ho trovato interessante la figura del luogotenente, un uomo fanatico e crudele che crede nel riscatto del proprio popolo, che è disposto ad uccidere per questo ideale e che poi mostra un’inaspettata compassione nei confronti del prete che ha attirato in trappola grazie ad un complice.
Ho letto un trafiletto interessante su Wikipedia che riporto di seguito
-L'opera destò scandalo e fu oggetto di un vivace dibattito all'interno della Chiesa Cattolica. Le implicazioni teologiche del personaggio di un prete alcolizzato erano poco ortodosse, sicuramente nella Chiesa Cattolica Romana di allora, più rigida e dogmatica di quella odierna. Il libro, pur fatto oggetto di indagine da parte del Sant'Uffizio, non fu mai messo all'Indice, anche grazie all'intervento dell'allora monsignor Montini - futuro papa Paolo VI - che manifestò apertamente la sua stima nei confronti dell'autore. Alla fine, Greene sintetizzò così la vicenda: «il prezzo della libertà, anche nella Chiesa, è l'eterna vigilanza, ma io mi domando se uno qualsiasi degli Stati totalitari, sia di destra o di sinistra, mi avrebbe trattato con la stessa gentilezza»-

Sicuramente il potere e la gloria non è un romanzo gentile, è aspro come un limone verde.

The life and times of a whisky priest who begs absolution... typical Graham Greene and tightly woven into suspenseful scenes...

Un viaggio nelle proprie debolezze

“Il potere e la gloria” è il libro ritenuto il capolavoro di Graham Greene.

Il protagonista è un sacerdote che vive in Messico all’inizio dello scorso secolo. Viene introdotto lentamente nel romanzo e ne facciamo la conoscenza passo passo, con il procedere degli eventi, così come avviene nella vita reale quando incontriamo qualcuno.

Durante un viaggio lungo e doloroso in un Messico caldo, umido, afoso, asfissiante, puzzolente, quasi un pianeta abbandonato, iniziamo a capire che il prete è tutt’altro che perfetto. E’ un ubriacone, è soprannominato il prete dell’acquavite, è un debole. Ha avuto una figlia da una relazione con una donna, è meschino; è un vigliacco. In un periodo in cui la polizia perseguita i cristiani ed i preti, invece di mostrare dignità, fugge, nonostante la sua fuga sia causa di uccisioni di innocenti.

Questo strano prete lo conosciamo attraverso gli occhi dei vari personaggi che incontra, che interagiscono con lui in modo differente mettendo in luce aspetti diversi del suo carattere. E in fondo Greene lascia a noi la possibilità di immedesimarci in uno o nell’altro personaggio e dare quindi una differente interpretazione del valore del sacerdote, che ha certamente limitazioni evidenti, ma anche lati positivi. Il prete è tormentato, patisce la sua debolezza, ma mostra una notevole umanità, sensibilità e tenerezza. In fondo è un uomo come tutti noi, né buono né cattivo, con difetti e pregi, che si macera nella consapevolezza della sua indegnità.

Greene è uno scrittore dichiaratamente cattolico. E si domanda in questo libro da chi sia rappresentato, qui sulla terra, in questo Messico ai confini del mondo, il potere e la gloria di cui si parla nella messa: "Tuo è il Regno, tua la potenza e la gloria nei secoli”. Il potere e la gloria, per Greene, si possono trovare anche incredibilmente nascosti sotto le vesti luride e stracciate di questo prete meschino e traditore continuamente in bilico tra bene e male. Un prete limitato, ma umano come noi, che soffre come noi, ma che alla fine decide di affrontare i suoi demoni e di fare finalmente il prete, smettendo di fuggire. Un prete che, nonostante la disperazione, mantiene la sua vocazione.

C’è un’altra domanda cui il libro forse tenta di rispondere: "c’è qualcuno che è in grado di ascoltare e condividere i problemi che ci opprimono?" Infatti tutte le figure che incontrano il prete hanno l’esigenza di parlargli, di raccontargli i propri problemi e le proprie disgrazie, di confessarsi. Ma anche lo stesso sacerdote “vive” questo perenne struggimento, perché anche lui cerca invano qualcuno cui poter confidare le sue sensazioni, i suoi disagi e le sue angosce. Qualcuno in grado di giudicare il male delle sue azioni ma nel contempo salvarne il bene.

"Il fatto ch'io sia un codardo, e tutto il resto, non ha molta importanza. Posso mettere Dio lo stesso nella bocca di un uomo, e posso dargli il perdono di Dio. Anche se ogni prete della Chiesa fosse come me, non ci sarebbe nessuna differenza sotto questo aspetto"

Una confessione lunga, profonda, terribile, struggente, contorta e quasi interminabile di un uomo che in fondo è come tutti noi. Una analisi psicologica esasperata.
Isolamento, disperazione, ma anche tantissima umanità in questo libro molto bello, anche se dal ritmo molto molto lento.
Un romanzo interessante, anche per un non cattolico come me.

In ‘The Power and the Glory’ an ennui-ridden whisky priest is on the run from the police. However this corporeal chase is perhaps not the real thing the priest is running from; instead it is the metaphysical crisis the priest is going through, his spiritual rejection of his church and it’s doctrines, the priest’s inner conscience resembles the desolate and dreary Mexico in which the story is set, as irascible as the relentless Mexican sun, as barren as the boundless Mexican desert, the spiritual lassitude engendered by the priest’s feeling of isolation and discombobulation are the central themes of the novel.

The priest has little love for the peasant’s who he encounters in the novel, seeking to exploit them where possible, a peso for a confession or two for a baptism or willing to accept the hostage holding of the policy who are chasing him, a streak of selfishness runs through the priest, which is only compounded by his cynicism and the paranoia engendered by being on the run. Outside of the priest the side characters barely exist as humans; a Judas-like character dogs the priest, constantly seeking to betray him in exchange for the police reward, the policeman who is pursuing him acts as pastiche of policeman stereotypes; unflappable and yet unfathomably detached, he perhaps acts as the flip-side to the ennui ridden priest.

However, at the end of the novel the priest experience a spiritual epiphany, he sense of duty in administering the last rites for a criminal whilst knowing he is walking into a trap allows him to regain a sense of grace, a sense of duty and a sense, no matter how short-lived, of his humanity before he heads for the gallows.

One thing I know after reading this, All the Pretty Horses and Joe Lansdale’s  Captains Outrageous, I ain’t going to Mexico any time soon.

Graham Greene’s classic account of a priest living on the run in a Mexican state after socialists have taken political control and are trying to abolish the Catholic Church is a grim tale of human nature at it’s best and worst. The unnamed priest is a drunk who isn’t particularly brave and has committed sins big enough to register fairly high on he Catholic Guilt-O-Meter. Even as he flees, he half-hopes to be captured and end his miserable life on the run, but he still tries to cling to his duty and faith by holding Mass and hearing confessions when possible.

The priest is being pursued by a Lieutenant, a committed socialist who hates the Chruch for the way it milked the poor for every peso, yet while he believes he’s doing the best thing for the peasants, he won’t hesitate to kill some of them in an attempt to get the priest to be given up by the locals. It’s a classic portrayal of someone who puts their ideology above actual people.

This is my second Graham Greene book, and like The Heart of the Matter this one has a lot to do with Catholic ideas of what damns and redeems someone. I liked it, but as a non-Catholic, I hate seeing characters tied in knots because of dogma. I tend to see their worrying about their eternal damnation for not being able to perform a ritual as kind of silly and pointless. Still, Greene’s good enough to make me sympathize with the plight of the priest, and it’s a powerful story.

I'm not a Christian. I most probably am an agnostic who's constantly flirting with atheism. What I feel about the Church as a constitution and the practices of the priests and their followers is contempt, to say the least. You read this, now look at my rating. OK? Read it again. Look at my rating. Get it?

This is a book that's called The Power And The Glory and it's about a priest trying to stay alive in a country where all priests are executed and faith is prohibited. The reason it appealed to me, apart from the great writing and plot development, is that Greene handles the subject without being in the least dogmatic. The reason I think it's a masterpiece is that Greene, as is exactly the case with his hero, seems to be in a constant conflict with God. As a result, there are no "good Christians vs bad unfaithful people" clichés here. Many questions are raised within the story and it's for the reader to give the answers.

Whether your beliefs are similar to mine or completely opposite, don't hesitate to read The Power And The Glory. You will find yourselves immersed in its pages and what you'll find there may surprise you. A true masterpiece.

Human, all too human.

This book is considered Graham Greene’s masterpiece, and he, himself, said it was his best work, although I liked both The End of the Affair and The Quiet American better. The story takes place in Mexico in a state under the control of the Red Shirts. Catholicism has been outlawed, all the churches closed, and all the priests have either renounced their faith, fled or been executed--all except one. This one is roaming from village to village, seeking a way out of the area, but always drawn into performing one last service, one last secret mass, one last baptism. He is not a good priest, he has broken all the rules, but as we come to see, he is a good man.

It took me a while to become involved with the main character here. I kept thinking of him as a “whiskey priest” without much of a moral compass to follow, but then I began to see him as a human being, frightened and alone and suffering within himself for knowing how short he has fallen from the calling he professed. The priest’s journey is a quest for faith and courage and a grappling with the idea of death and martyrdom. One might ask where God is in all of this.

The woman sat down, and taking a lump of sugar from her bundle, began to eat, and the child lay quiet at the foot of the cross. Why, after all, should we expect God to punish the innocent with more life?

Perhaps it depends on what you ascribe to God and what to man. The priest must grapple with whether he is God’s agent or simply a victim of his own pride. In the end, perhaps it is both--that a man can be fallible and still be used by God to good purpose.

Greene always tackles the more difficult questions. He isn’t afraid to put his belief on the table and dissect it slowly to see if he can find the part in which God resides. That takes some of the same courage with which he finally imbues this lowly priest, and it challenges us to find our own answers about our own faith.