“Essential evil” or essential sin as a positive desire, a “vast yearning for the void, for emptiness” (112) makes little sense to existentialism and none at all to consistent metaphysics. 10:34-36).īernanos’ memorable discussions of sin and evil might unsettle good Thomists, who firmly insist that evil is “neither a being nor a good.” Evil is merely privation, a lack of real being or order ( ST I, q.
But the Curé won’t tolerate a false peace in a dead soul: Jesus came not to bring “peace on earth. Uncomfortably incisive in his diagnoses of broken humanity, it’s no wonder he becomes known as a meddling idealist. He must be able to look at pus and wounds and gangrene” (117). A good shepherd cannot ignore disease: “A priest can’t shrink from sores any more than a doctor. Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd, but also the Divine Physician: these two aspects of priestly ministry are necessarily related. The lone priest walking his parish rounds might be an image of sanctity unfamiliar to the modern world nevertheless, his charity reflects some facet of Christ’s all-encompassing compassion, especially for the “sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. Feeble and inexperienced as this priest might be, the man is truly a pastor, bearing throughout the novel his love of and responsibility for this town of Ambricourt, for these men and women. The Curé’s conversations provide a direct answer for our Lord’s command to Peter: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17). Through their words, the true character of this sickly priest and his tired flock shine out, as Bernanos weaves his masterpiece from these thin threads of sin and sanctity. It almost wanders from one encounter to another, spotlighting individual men and women whose ultimate fates remain often, but not always, hidden to both reader and narrator. Instead, the Diary develops through its conversations. The first-person narrative in George Bernanos’ The Diary of a Country Priest might divert our attention from the heart of the novel, at least for a few chapters: unsuspecting readers might suppose that the young Curé’s career as a village pastor will control the tale.
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