Graham Greene (1905-1991)

Today marks the death in 1991 of Graham Greene, one of the most prolific English writers of the twentieth century. After an early flirtation with Communism, Greene converted to Catholicism and regularly infused his writings with Catholic themes. One of his most important books was his 1940 novel The Power and the Glory, the story of a Mexican priest caught in the middle of an anticlerical government-sponsored persecution. One of the people who didn’t like the book was Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, then head of the Holy Office (formerly known as the Inquisition), who condemned the book. Years later, when Greene had an audience with Pope Paul VI, the pontiff remarked that he was reading the book. “Your Holiness is reading a book that has been banned by the Church,” Greene said. Paul responded that some part of all his books would always offend some Catholics, and told him not to worry about it. Greene called it advice “easy to take.”