The Priest is waiting for a boat that will take him out of the capital city. He is on the run from the police because he is a clergyman and Catholicism is outlawed in the country. Being Catholic is considered treason in the state. The Priest runs into a dentist called Mr Tench who is interested in the illegal alcohol the Priest possesses and invites him to his house. At Mr Tench’s house, the Priest makes comments that concern the Mr Tench. The Priest hears the boat’s whistle and realizes he missed the boat.

​

A Lieutenant hears that there are still clergymen in Mexico and feels anger towards them. He is under the impression that priests are indulged and wealthy whilst the people they are supposed to serve suffer in poverty. The lieutenant puts forward a plan to take hostages from every village and execute them if no information on the whereabouts of the Priest is provided.

​

The Priest is known as the Whisky Priest due to his poor reputation. He even considers himself to be a bad priest. This is because he has a huge drinking problem and has even had a child in his past which is considered wrong. He attempts to flee to the mountains on mule where he will be relatively free. He hears that over the mountains there are even churches. He runs into several towns, the Lieutenant constantly follows in pursuit and even comes face to face with the Priest but is unable to discern him as a priest. A hostage is taken by the Lieutenant in a desperate attempt to capture the Priest and  is killed making the Priest’s reputation go from bad to worse. But after all his escaping, the Priest is finally captured.

​

The lieutenant, after catching the man who he had so much hated, felt an overwhelming sense of morality. The lieutenant felt his life had lost all purpose once the Priest was captured. The lieutenant even gave the Priest some brandy to cheer him up. The Whisky Priest is, much to the distaste of the public, executed. There is still another priest in Mexico though.