The Power and the Glory characters

Also known as the whisky priest

Appears from the start

The last priest still moving secretly through a Mexican state where the Church has been outlawed. He drinks heavily, has broken his vows, and knows himself to be a poor example of his office, yet he continues hearing confessions and saying Mass for people who seek him.

Appears from the start

An English dentist stranded in the port town. Lonely and dissatisfied, he meets the priest without initially understanding why the stranger is anxious to leave.

First appears in chapter 2

A disciplined police lieutenant committed to eradicating religion from the state. He regards the Church as an ally of poverty and exploitation and directs the hunt for the remaining fugitive priest.

First appears in chapter 2

A former priest who obeyed the authorities by marrying and abandoning public ministry. He lives unhappily under observation and refuses requests for priestly help because discovery would threaten him and his family.

First appears in chapter 3

A woman in a rural village who once had a relationship with the priest and now protects him reluctantly when he returns. She understands both the danger he brings and the needs of neighbors who want his services.

First appears in chapter 3

The young daughter of Maria and the priest. Watchful and unsentimental, she has grown up amid the consequences of her father's absence and the stigma attached to her birth.

First appears in chapter 5

A poor, talkative half-caste who recognizes the fugitive priest and attaches himself to the journey. The reward offered for the priest makes his interest threatening from their first sustained encounter.

First appears in chapter 4

A capable teenage girl living with her British parents on an isolated banana plantation. While her mother is ill and her father is preoccupied, Coral manages much of the household and offers the hunted priest practical shelter.

First appears in chapter 4

Coral's father, an English plantation owner whose livelihood has deteriorated. He is anxious about the authorities and less decisive than his daughter when the fugitive appears.

First appears in chapter 7

A devout woman imprisoned with the priest and other detainees. She condemns the compromises and sexual offenses of those around her, including the man she does not realize is the fugitive priest.

First appears in chapter 10

A German-American Protestant living across the state border with his sister. He gives the exhausted stranger food and a place to recover, despite disapproving of Catholic practices.

Also known as the gringo

First appears in chapter 2

An American outlaw wanted for murder, whose presence complicates the police pursuit because the authorities carry photographs and offer rewards for both him and the priest.