How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
But the priest had charged him twenty pesos [for his marriage], and that was half of all he had saved to buy furniture and glass windows for his house. (1.22)
The Spanish-speaking priests of New Mexico charge people way too much for ceremonies like marriages and baptisms. And why do they do so? Simply because they can. There are lots of devout Catholics in New Mexico, and when it comes to getting married or having your kid baptized, these priests are the only game in town.
Quote #2
"And I […] I have not much respect for a priest who either plays cards or manages to get rich." (2.1.29)
Father Vaillant is totally against gambling and greed, which goes to show how much humbler and more moral he is than most priests in his area. These guys love to gamble and get rich, even though the Bible condemns both of these things. They probably figure they can bend the rules because they're out on the frontier and removed from society.
Quote #3
"Our Padre Martinez at Taos is an old scapegrace, if ever there was one; he's got children and grandchildren in almost every settlement around here." (2.2.52)
It's no secret that Father Martinez is a total hypocrite when it comes to following the rules of the Catholic Church. The Church, for example, forbids priests from having sex, but Father Martinez has had probably dozens of children with different women all over New Mexico. Turns out that he's only interested in following the rules that suit him.
Quote #4
[Baltazar's] errands were seldom of an ecclesiastical nature. (3.4.3)
Father Baltazar is a busy man who runs all kinds of errands in his parish. The only problem is that these errands are never religious in nature. Instead, he takes care of his garden and hoards the money that he keeps collecting from the villagers. All in all, he's not a great guy.
Quote #5
It was clear that the Friar at Ácoma lived more after flesh than after the spirit. (3.4.4)
The "Friar" here is Padre Martinez, and people from all around know that he's more interested in having sex with young women than he is in preaching the Bible. The guy sets a pretty awful example for all of the people who put their faith in him as their spiritual leader.
Quote #6
Baltazar's tyranny grew little by little, and the Ácoma people were sometimes at the point of revolt. (3.4.6)
Father Baltazar can't keep getting away with treating the Ácoma people like servants. The only reason he gets away with it for as long as he does is because these people think he has holy powers that they don't want to mess with. Once he kills one of their people, though, all bets are off. They drag him to a cliff and chuck him off without a word. That's what he gets for being a hypocrite.
Quote #7
He caught up the empty pewter mug at his right and threw it at the clumsy lad with a malediction. (3.4.12)
Father Baltazar is supposed to take care of the people who serve him, but instead he exploits and abuses them. He even murders one of them when he absentmindedly chucks a metal cup at one of their heads. That's hardly the moral behavior you'd expect from a priest.
Quote #8
"Nothing is decided once and for all," Martinez declared fiercely. "Celibacy may be all very well for the French clergy, but not for ours." (5.1.20)
According to Father Latour, the Catholic Church is very clear on the fact that priests should never have sex. But Father Martinez begs to differ. He basically thinks that everything is negotiable, even the laws of God.
Quote #9
Father Martinez printed a long and eloquent Proclamation (which very few of his parishoners could read) giving an historical justification for his schism, and denying the obligation of celibacy for the priesthood. (5.2.2)
When Father Latour strips Father Martinez of his priesthood and tries to push him out of the church, Martinez breaks off into a rogue church and rallies his supporters. He basically creates his own brand of Catholicism, which keeps all of the old rules except for the one that priests can't have sex.
Quote #10
He had the lust for money as Martinez had for women, and they had never been rivals in the pursuit of their pleasures. (5.2.7)
Father Lucero cares about money way more than women, and Martinez cares about women more than money. So the two of them get along just fine because their desires never come into conflict. This doesn't change the fact, though, that they are breaking two of the church's biggest rules by being lustful and greedy.