the diary of a country priest by georges bernanos

And you’ve never seen and never will see a beadle dressed up like a hearse come down to look for him, at the very back of the church, to lead him to the altar rails with all the ceremony due to a prince-a prince in the order of Christianity.' Because first and foremost the social problem is a matter of honour, it is the unjust humiliation of poor men which makes your pauper….The fact remains that a poor man, a real poor man, an honest man, goes of his own accord to what he considers his proper place, the lowest in the house of the Lord.

If the poor man really is the living image of Jesus-Jesus Himself-it’s awkward to have him sitting there in the front row, displaying his obscene misery, his face from which in two thousand years you haven’t yet been able to wipe the spittle. They’d all have had one eye on the poor men’s seats, I know ‘em! The first everywhere else, but here in the House of God, the last! Can you see that happening? Oh, of course I know the thing wouldn’t be easy. If you would only have the pluck to make them take the back seats in church round the Holy Water stoup, or even out on the steps-why not? It would have made them think. The rich man wants to be well thought of, and the richer he is the more he wants it. Or else you have gone and betrayed that Christ of yours! There’s no getting away from that, good God Almighty! You have every means of humbling the rich at your disposal, for setting their place. See what I mean? Why, damn it all, after twenty centuries of Christianity, to be poor ought not still to be a disgrace.

But since they’re really your responsibility I cannot forgive you for sending them to us so dirty. I’ll agree that it’s the job of old fools like me to feed and clothe and look after them and keep them clean. Delbende: 'My grouse against you people isn’t that poverty still exists-oh, no! And I’ll even grant you this much. The two quotes below are from non-Catholic characters who have been scandalized by the failure of Church leaders to teach and live the Gospel.

The diary of a country priest by georges bernanos