The Power And The Glory

 The Power And The Glory was written by Graham Greene and published in 1940. Time Magazine listed this book as one of the top one hundred English written novels since 1923. The story is set in the Tabasco area of Mexico in the late 1920's. At that time the government of Mexico closed many Catholic churches and banned Catholics from gathering together. In most areas of Mexico, this ban was not enforced. In the Tabasco area the ban was strictly enforced. Priests were forced to marry or face death. In this novel the story follows an unnamed "whiskey priest." A whiskey priest is an alcoholic priest who engages in sin. This whiskey priest is in hiding because government officials are looking for him. Various people he meets along the way beg him to hear their confession or to say a mass and sometimes he does if they pay him enough. In his journey trying to evade the officials he comes upon a village where he once lived. He meets his former lover and their ten year old daughter. He does not feel regret when he meets his daughter. Throughout the story there is a lot of travel on foot and by mule. Many times the whiskey priest swims across a river or hides in a barn. I had never heard of the persecution of the Catholic faith in Mexico; not that I know much Mexican history. The book held much suffering so I was glad the book is  not very long.