ter, the ‘whisky priest’. Greene never states his themes straight out. His themes are brought about in the characters and their actions. Greene was an undercover spy for the M.I.6, a division of the CIA during his earlier years. Supposedly Greene was undercover on the Russian side. Evelyn Waugh, an english writer and friend of Green said, “Greene is a secret agent on our side and all this buttering up of the Russians is cover.” (US News no page given) Waugh was explaining that Greene was on the side of the US and wasn’t a traitor. This idea that Greene was a spy for the Russians is a parallel to the present day arrest of the Catholic, Robert Hanssen. Hanssen was a spy for the Russians while working for the FBI. Greene’s position as a spy led to his connections with leaders such as Fidel Castro of Cuba and Ho Chi Minh of China. Both of these men were communist leaders. In The Power and the Glory the Mexican Government had a somewhat communist government which is also seen present in Greene’s life.In the 1950’s the novel was condemned by the Holy Office of the Roman Catholic church shortly after it was published. Cardinal Pizzardo of Westminister told Greene that he needed to edit his book. The book had the main character as a no good person who was representing the Catholic church. Many officials in the church were upset at the book also. In one of Greene’s autobiographies he talked about Cardinal Pizzardo condemning his book. He purposely spelled the Cardinal’s name “Pissardo”. You can see the word “Piss” within his name. Greene was trying to show disrespect because he didn’t like the Cardinal for condemning his novel. Another instance when Greene shows disrespect to a Catholic church official is when he walking and talking with the current Pope John Paul II. Greene said he was “disgusted” with the Pope. He sa...
