Persecuted Priest Protagonists. When he penned those haunting words, Father Sebastian Rodrigues undoubtedly

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1 Lipa 1 Joe Lipa GSI Tim Green English April 2012 Persecuted Priest Protagonists Men are born in two categories: the strong and the weak, the saints and the commonplace, the heroes and those who respect them. In time of persecution the strong are burnt in the flames and drowned in the sea; but the weak, like Kichijiro, lead a vagabond life in the mountains. As for you (I now spoke to myself) which category do you belong to? Silence (73) When he penned those haunting words, Father Sebastian Rodrigues undoubtedly belonged to the former. Zealous protagonist of Shusaku Endo s historical novel Silence, the persecuted Jesuit missionary to seventeenth-century Japan is accordingly unmoved by the aforementioned Kichijiro s tearful confession that his Judas-like betrayal stems from his belonging to the latter category: I was born weak. One who is weak at heart cannot die a martyr. What am I to do? Ah, why was I born into the world at all? (163) As fate would have it, the answer to the serial apostate s question is only found three centuries later and halfway around the globe in Graham Greene s The Power and the Glory. The last remaining cleric in a state where the Mexican Revolution has outlawed Catholicism, Greene s own priest protagonist has a nickname that testifies to his weakness. The fallen whiskey priest, unlike the conscientiouslypriestly Rodrigues, has a past scarred by adultery and a present blurred by brandy. Externally, then, the characters of Rodrigues and the whiskey priest represent a stark contrast between courage and cowardice, virtue and vice, saint and sinner. By highlighting so profoundly the merits and flaws of their respective priest protagonists, Endo and Greene make visible a juxtaposition that is all at once paradoxical, ironic, ambiguous, and, in its final analysis,

2 Lipa 2 reflective of a prevailing tension between one s interior Catholic worldview and the external material world in which he lives it. The paradox of this juxtaposition of abstinent Jesuit and drunken pastor lies in each priest s internalized relationship with Christ. Rodrigues, afflicted by hardships of increasing severity, dutifully almost mechanically embraces suffering in union with Christ s passion. Scrupulously attentive to Christ s every suffering recorded in scripture, Rodrigues constantly reflects on and receives consolation from the relationship between his own sufferings at the hands of the Japanese and those of that man. Of particular solace is the image of the face of Christ, the face which from childhood has been for Rodrigues the fulfillment of his every dream and ideal the face that could do no wrong, utter no word of insult (103). Similarly, it is this sort of comparison with Christ that allows the priest to withhold resentment of Kichijiro after being betrayed by the latter. Reflecting on the fact that Christ was also betrayed, Rodrigues concludes: Yes, his fate and that of Christ were quite alike this was the joy of the Christian who relishes the truth that he is united to the Son of God (125). Yet as much as Rodrigues experiences Christ-like suffering, he is hardly a Christ-figure. Part of the hidden beauty of a literary Christ-figure is the character s almost-prerequisitory immunity from discovering that he is one. This is precisely the case of the whiskey priest who, accordingly, never compares himself to the divine except to point out his own humanity. I am a bad priest, he repeats on multiple occasions, in one particular instance adding, I know from experience how much beauty Satan carried down with him when he fell (130). In the whiskey priest s eyes, then, this notion of the intrinsic beauty of humanity is common to the redeemed and the fallen alike. Greene says as much midway through the novel: But at the centre of his own faith there always stood the convincing mystery that we were made in God s image. God

3 Lipa 3 was the parent, but He was also the policeman, the criminal, the priest, the maniac, and the judge (101). Speaking to the lieutenant about his onslaught of vice after not fleeing the persecution, the once-confessor turns penitent: One thing went after another. I got careless about my duties. I began to drink. It would have much better, I think, if I had gone too. Because pride was at work. Not the love of God (196). Thus, the flaws of others do not inhibit the whiskey priest s ability to love them; paradoxically, it is the realization of his own humbling flaws that ultimately allows him to more authentically love God. By his suffering for the fallen, and despite his own faults, the flawed whiskey priest is through his sacerdotal ministry able to bring redemption in a way that the saintly Rodrigues cannot. The paradox of this ungodly Christ-figure is perhaps an attempt by the sacramentallyinspired Greene to mirror the mysterious and divinely-willed paradox of the incarnation. Greene seems to be saying that if God could choose to redeem humanity in any way, His decision to take the flesh of the very fallen creature He wills to save, to become like us in all things but sin, cannot have anything but enormous implications regarding the inherent dignity of man, a dignity that the whiskey priest can recognize in others because of not despite his self-awareness of his own indignity. That Christ, furthermore, chose to perpetuate His existence through the hands of sinful men only serves to underscore the contrast between Actor and acted upon in the former s unceasing call to the latter to participate in Its divine life. Further comparison of the priestly protagonists in Silence and The Power and the Glory reveals a surprising and even cruel instance of situational irony. It is true that when viewed individually, the final fates of both Rodrigues and the whiskey priest are hardly unpredictable. Viewed collectively, however, the distinct prices paid by Rodrigues and the whiskey priest appear mismatched with each character s distinct natures. One would expect that if any of the

4 Lipa 4 two clerics were to renounce his priesthood and apostatize, it would be the weak whiskey priest. He himself says to the lieutenant after being captured: Martyrs are not like me. They don t think all the time if I had drunk more brandy I shouldn t be so afraid (196). Indeed, the whiskey priest dreads the pain of his inevitable execution as much as Rodrigues anticipates the glory of a heroic martyrdom. Similarly, one would expect that if any of the two clerics were to receive this crown of martyrdom, it would be the resolute Rodrigues. The novel begins with the Catholic world s astonishment at the news that when presented with such an opportunity, the Jesuit superior of Japan and Rodrigues long-time mentor, Father Ferreira, had groveled like a dog before the infidel and apostatized (8). It is, in fact, partly to avenge Ferreira s betrayal of the faith that Rodrigues makes the long and treacherous voyage to Japan; in short, he has come to be martyred. Once captured, though, Rodrigues initial confidence begins to slowly weaken: The priest reflected on the days in the hut of Tomogi Mountain with Garrpe, and how they had talked about torture and whether they could endure it, if once it came their way. Of course, the only thing was to pray for God s grace; but at that time he had felt in his heart that he could fight until death that whatever torment came his way, he could clench his teeth and bear it. But now his resolution had somehow weakened. ( ) Despite this twinge of doubt, apostasy at this point is still unthinkable in Rodrigues mind, much less an apostasy prompted by not even the slightest physical torture. Yet the irony only continues. Rodrigues does indeed apostatize, and without spilling a drop of his blood it only takes the realization that others are spilling their own blood, drop by drop, hanging upside down in a pit, on behalf of his own dogmatic stubbornness. In retrospect, one has to wonder if the whiskey priest and Rodrigues, had they known about each other s stories, would not have mutually agreed to trade fates. The whiskey priest desires above all else to return to the old days of safety and tranquility. Once captured, he is never allowed a chance to apostatize to save his life. It is therefore his inability to apostatize that

5 Lipa 5 ultimately leads to his martyrdom. Similarly, Rodrigues desires above all to die a glorious death for Christ and the Church. Once captured, he is never allowed a chance to become a martyr to save his soul. It is therefore his inability to become a martyr that ultimately leads to his apostasy. Between the two books, then, the priests that become in one a source of inspiration and in the other a source of disillusionment collectively combine to produce a source of the most heartwrenching irony. Though a face-value account reveals the whiskey priest a martyr and Rodrigues an apostate, the endings to the two novels are in reality as ambiguous as they are ironic. The whiskey priest, as Greene s portrayal constantly reminds the reader, has unabsolved mortal sin on his soul, a transgression for which, in the final hours of his life, he is able to find neither the necessary contrition nor the willing confessor. The execution itself, as related by the Geertzesque 1 Mr. Tench, furthermore suggests that the whiskey priest s dreaded death was a far cry from the marvelous martyrdom dreamed of and denied to Rodrigues: A small man came out of a side door: he was held up by two policemen, but you could tell that he was doing his best it was only that his legs were not fully under his control (216). Thus, the degree to which the whiskey priest died willingly for his faith remains unknown and, while objectively a martyr, it is only God who can decide whether his interior disposition all fear aside correspondingly renders the exterior act meritorious in actuality. The state of Rodrigues faith at the end of Silence is equally ambiguous. What is certain is that the missionary who initially relished the thought of saying I had rather this foot cut off than that I should trample on this image by the end of the novel deliberately places that same foot upon the fumie (54). The appendix of the book reveals that the priest subsequently went on 1 Clifford Geertz ( ) was an influential American anthropologist who advocated the importance of detached observation in the studying of religious matters. Greene s character Mr. Tench is, in fact, precisely this detached observer in The Power and the Glory.

6 Lipa 6 to marry, to write a renunciation of his faith, and to assist in the prosecution of suspected Christians; in short, to take up a life identical to that of the Jesuit superior for whom he had once come in reparation. Despite this seemingly-explicit renunciation of the faith, however, there also exist implicit hints to suggest that there could quite possibly be more or, perhaps, less to Rodrigues apostasy than what immediately and literally meets the eye. The book itself ends with the priest reciting aloud the words of absolution in Latin while simultaneously reflecting silently in his own words on his relationship with God: No doubt his fellow priests would condemn his act as sacrilege; but even if he was betraying them, he was not betraying his Lord. He loved him now in a different way from before. Everything that had taken place until now had been necessary to bring him to this love. Even now I am the last priest in this land. But Our Lord was not silent. Even if he had been silent, my life until this day would have spoken of him. (191) Thus, the degree to which Rodrigues renounced the faith remains unknown and, while objectively an apostate, it is only God who can decide whether his interior disposition his selfjustifying vision of His face saying Trample! It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world correspondingly renders the exterior act damning in actuality (171). Beyond merely confusing the reader, both Greene and Endo are by their novels ambiguous endings attempting to portray a Catholic understanding of free will. Accordingly, both authors take it as axiomatic that their characters cannot be forced to love God; rather, to be authentic, man s love for God must mirror God s unceasing, yet nonetheless free, choice to love man. This concept of free will is in The Power and the Glory and Silence extended to a question that of free rejection. If one freely rejects God, Greene ponders, at what point does God reject him? And if one cannot be forced to love God, Endo seems to ask, can he really be forced to reject Him? The ambiguity in their novels endings perhaps reflects that for both authors these questions remain open-ended.

7 Lipa 7 God asks me to imitate the strong, even though he made me weak. Isn t this unreasonable?...i am an apostate; but if I had died ten years ago I might have gone to paradise as a good Christian, not despised as an apostate. Merely because I live in a time of persecution Silence, These are words of Kichijiro, yet they could legitimately come from the mouth of any persecuted believer, not the least of which being those of the persecuted priest protagonists in Silence and The Power and the Glory. While their geographic, cultural, and imperial contexts vary over thousands of miles and hundreds of years, the ultimate struggle faced by Rodrigues and the whiskey priest is one and the same: Both make the choice to live the Catholic faith at a time when doing so is physically dangerous to themselves and when not doing so would be spiritually dangerous to others. Through their God-given or perhaps author-assigned individual strengths and weaknesses, both priests together make possible a juxtaposition that is at the same time humbling in its paradox, brutal in its irony, and thought-provoking in its ambiguity. Yet this threefold differential analysis only provides a glimpse into a deeper reality that of the underlying tension between one s interior faith and the exterior situation in which he finds himself living it. Much more than their inherent strengths and weaknesses, the events in both novels demonstrate that Rodrigues and the whiskey priest s deepest convictions are instead most profoundly affected by the environment that surrounds them. But what is the nature of this environment? It is here that Kichijiro answers his own question, and with it, the question undoubtedly asked in every age. For there is a great disconnect between man s eyes and God s eyes. Living the Catholic faith in the face of a hostile environment is indeed formidable when man views the world as he sees it as an assortment of flesh and bone. Yet living the Catholic faith in the face of a hostile environment is equally feasible when man, perhaps after an apostasy or two, finally comes to see the world as God sees it as an ocean of grace and mercy.

8 Lipa 8 Work Cited Endo, Shusaku. Silence. Trans. William Johnston. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1969.

What an amazing appearance! How clear it all is Jesus radiant in glory, God s voice telling us what to do! But, trust me, this isn t the God we want.

What an amazing appearance! How clear it all is Jesus radiant in glory, God s voice telling us what to do! But, trust me, this isn t the God we want. E. Suzanne Wille Seventh Sunday after Epiphany: February 26, 2017 Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9 I speak to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.