The Crime Of Father Amaro

by Eça de Queirós, Margaret Jull Costa (Translator)

This is a new translation of Eça de Queirós's third and final version of The Crime of Father Amaro, published in 1880. In it he sets out to expose the hypocrisy of small-town, provincial Portugal, of so-called freethinkers and, in particular, the Church. In this blackest of comedies, Eça de Queirós depicts the destructive effects of celibacy on a priest lacking any true vocation. Father Amaro, whose name means 'bitter in Portuguese, sours for ever the life of the young Amelia. It is a novel in which the innocent are condemned and the guilty prosper.

'Queirós is far greater than my own dear master, Flaubert.' - Emile Zola

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Portugal, Romance, Portuguese Literature, Historical Fiction, Literature

476 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1875

About the author

José Maria Eça de Queirós was a novelist committed to social reform who introduced naturalism and realism to Portugal. He is often considered to be the greatest Portuguese novelist, certainly the leading 19th-century Portuguese novelist whose fame was international. The son of a prominent magistrate, Eça de Queiroz spent his early years with relatives and was sent to boarding school at the age of five. After receiving his degree in law in 1866 from the University of Coimbra, where he read widely French, he settled in Lisbon. There his father, who had since married Eça de Queiroz' mother, made up for past neglect by helping the young man make a start in the legal profession. Eça de Queiroz' real interest lay in literature, however, and soon his short stories - ironic, fantastic, macabre, and often gratuitously shocking - and essays on a wide variety of subjects began to appear in the "Gazeta de Portugal". By 1871 he had become closely associated with a group of rebellious Portuguese intellectuals committed to social and artistic reform and known as the Generation of '70. Eça de Queiroz gave one of a series of lectures sponsored by the group in which he denounced contemporary Portuguese literature as unoriginal and hypocritical. He served as consul, first in Havana (1872-74), then in England, UK - in Newcastle upon Tyne (1874-79) and in Bristol (1879-88). During this time he wrote the novels for which he is best remembered, attempting to bring about social reform in Portugal through literature by exposing what he held to be the evils and the absurdities of the traditional order. His first novel, "O crime do Padre Amaro" (1875; "The Sin of Father Amaro", 1962), describes the destructive effects of celibacy on a priest of weak character and the dangers of fanaticism in a provincial Portuguese town. A biting satire on the romantic ideal of passion and its tragic consequences appears in his next novel, "O Primo Basílio" (1878; "Cousin Bazilio", 1953). Caustic satire characterizes the novel that is generally considered Eça de Queiroz' masterpiece, "Os Maias (1888; "The Maias", 1965), a detailed depiction of upper middle-class and aristocratic Portuguese society. His last novels are sentimental, unlike his earlier work. "A Cidade e as Serras" (1901; "The City and the Mountains", 1955) extols the beauty of the Portuguese countryside and the joys of rural life. Eça de Queiroz was appointed consul in Paris in 1888, where he served until his death. Of his posthumously published works, "Contos" (1902) is a collection of short stories, and "Últimas Páginas" (1912) includes saints' legends. Translations of his works persisted into the second half of the 20th century.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0211055/bio

Reviews

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lengthy procession very slowly walks along the winding path, down on the muddy road in the valley as the cold misty morning rain pours unceasingly from above obscuring them, the streams overflow the umbrellas help little, thoroughly drenched they do not notice nobody speaks, some men are in uniforms of various colors and designs one young man nearly collapses, the women in dark clothing continue in the endless journey step by monotonous step, then climbing into the clouds as a bell is tolling until finally reaching the top of the high hill, numb and exhausted at the conclusion, they halt by a small building.............The year 1870 Portugal is a quiet, stagnant society while the rest of Europe is in turmoil, the small town of Leiria fifty miles north of Lisbon has a new parish priest, the old one Jose Migueis expired, too much weight to carry and his body couldn't cope. Nobody is surprised or cares either, his gluttony had become legendary there, through political influence in the capital a preacher picked, connections are all important in the constitutional monarchy of Portugal. Young, happy Father Amaro Vieira ( an appropriate name) is the replacement , he feels ecstatic to leave the mountains and shepherds from his previous parish, all the old devout ladies love the handsome priest, such a relief to have a clergyman they can be proud of. His former teacher in "Ethics", in the seminary ( he was 15) who Father Amaro still calls master is Canon Dias, and welcomes him to town, finding Father Amaro a place to live, (at the priest's request) Sao Joaneiro as she is nicknamed has rooms to rent in her home, the widow needs the money...The cheap price is just what Father Amaro wants and can afford but Amelia, the daughter of his landlady is a pleasant surprise, the prettiest girl in town. He had been forced by relatives since the deaths of his parents to become a priest, at a quite early age to get rid of him and save money and trouble. At the very beginning Amaro, is greatly attractive to the 23 year old woman being only in his late 20's himself, she's religious and rather shy but smitten by the charismatic clergyman, the problem is obvious... The man must convince the woman that love is sacred, endorsed by God, it is not a sin their lust will be forgiven...Old ladies visit at night the home of Sao Joaneiro, including the Canon Dias (her secret lover) for cards, lotto, listening to the music and the singing of Amelia, she plays the piano like an angel, eating, drinking and naturally plenty of gossip this is Leiria's most enchanting place. So too comes Joao Eduardo who wants to marry Amelia, she doesn't love the lowly clerk but maybe it's the only way to eliminate the chaos, bring peace to her life and have a normal existence, be saved from scandal and insure her entrance into heaven..If it was so simple to do...A brilliant book by the illustrious Portuguese writer Eca de Queiros.

[Luís · Rating 5 out of 5]

O Crime do Padre Amaro is Eça's first novel. As the name of the literary school indicates, the authors of realism-naturalism sought to portray reality objectively instead of romantic subjectivity.
At that time (the second half of the 19th century), the West underwent significant transformations with the Second Industrial Revolution. As a result, scientism came to dominate, with new philosophical currents and theories, including Comte's idealism, Taine's determinism, Darwin's evolutionism, and the scientific socialism of Marx and Engels. This rationalist and bourgeois perspective led intellectuals to study the social impact of industrialization and liberalism.
The changes in inequality brought to society were discussed, such as the emergence of a new class that oppressed the bourgeoisie: the proletariat.
Hence, replacing the entertainment novel with the thesis novel aims to describe and explain social problems in light of new ideas. There is often ferocious criticism of institutions that serve as a basis for bourgeois society, such as the State, the Church, and the family.
Portugal, which had stopped following the progress of other European nations, now serves as a stage for mobilizing young people who yearned for radical changes. It is in this context that Eça de Queirós begins to stand out. In his realistic-naturalist phase, inspired by the French Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola, he wrote novels such as O Crime do Padre Amaro and O Primo Basílio, which seek to attack the corruption of the clergy and the hypocrisy of the Portuguese middle bourgeoisie.

[Guille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una novela anticlerical por los cuatro costados. Al menos contra la iglesia institucional que tenemos, la de la culpa y no la del perdón, la del eterno contubernio con el poder, la intransigente.

Pero no solo es una novela anticlerical, también es un logrado retrato de unos modos y maneras propios de un tiempo no tan lejano que todavía colea, la que en España pintó Galdós o Clarín (con la Regenta guarda un gran parecido temático), sociedades que se encontraban al borde del cambio, que empezaban a despertar de una pesadilla que la iglesia y la aristocracia (en el peor sentido de esta palabra) se empeñaban en continuar.

Una historia bien contada, con su principio, sus entretelas y su final. Sin más complicaciones… y sin menos.

[Francesc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es la crítica más feroz al estamento eclesiástico que he leído nunca. La Iglesia como institución también recibe lo suyo.

Está muy bien escrita, pero la segunda mitad de la novela se me ha hecho un poco aburrida. Tantas vueltas y vueltas sobre el mismo tema llega a cansar.

La ambientación y los personajes están muy bien definidos. Finales del siglo XIX, apariencias, falsedad, miedo a los escándalos, un amor prohibido, la hipocresía y el poder de la Iglesia que envenena la vida. Los pocos que se rebelan contra Ella, acaban desahuciados.

José Maria Eça de Queirós está considerado uno de los mejores escritores portugueses del siglo XIX.

It is the fiercest criticism of the ecclesiastical establishment that I have ever read. The church as an institution also has its part.
It's very well written, but the second half of the novel has made me a bit bored. So many twists and turns on the same subject gets tired.
The setting and characters are very well defined. Late nineteenth century, appearances, falsehood, fear of scandals, a forbidden love, hypocrisy and the power of the Church that poisons life. The few who rebel against it end up hopeless.
José Maria Eça De Queirós is considered one of the best Portuguese writers of the 19th century.

[Carmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Não se iludam a pensar que esta é uma história de amor romântico, sofrido, entre dois seres fadados ao desgosto.
Amaro era um padre de caráter duvidoso, que abraçou o sacerdócio por imposição familiar e não por vocação, e Amélia, podia ser ingénua mas tinha noção do pecado que estavam a cometer e vacilava à vista das contrariedades.
O que Eça - grandioso e acutilante Eça! - aqui nos trás é uma acérrima crítica, não à religião católica e aos dogmas da igreja, mas a uma certa franja do clero que subvertia esses valores em proveito próprio. Religiosos que usavam o poder eclesiástico para extorquir uma população beata, que compactuava com esta hipocrisia e vivia uma falsa moralidade comungando dos mesmos vícios.
A escrita é sublime; uma delícia de ironia, de sentido de humor, de personagens bem caracterizadas.

Tal como em Os Maias temos o mítico final da corrida para apanhar o americano, também aqui Eça se esmerou na última página.
Em pleno largo Camões temos o encontro do Clero e do Estado. E é junto à estátua do poeta glorioso que se desenrola uma significativa conversa. Rodeados por um ambiente de pobreza, prostituição e miséria social, declama solenemente o ilustre Conde de Ribamar:
"—Vejam toda esta paz, esta prosperidade, este contentamento...Meus senhores, não admira realmente que sejamos a inveja da Europa!"
Ilusões de uma burguesia conservadora que sentia os ecos de uma Europa já revolucionária, e recusava os novos ares de mudança, ancorada nas memórias heróicas de um passado perdido.

Muito, muuuito bom!

[AiK · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5
Де Кейрош, творивший в конце девятнадцатого века, по силе письма и поднимаемым общественно-социальным проблемам вполне может сравниться с лучшими европейскими романистами своей эпохи, прежде всего с Золя, и его роман «Преступление падре Амаро» созвучно с «Проступком аббата Муре» и по сюжету, и по силе негодования.
Также как и аббат Муре, его герой красив, молод, статен, полон жизненной силы и жажды плотской любви. Также он безответственен, себялюбив, эгоистичен и ставит потенциальные карьерные угрозы выше нравственных ценностей, им же провозглашаемых, выше всего на свете. Скажите, только ли это социально-психологический портрет молодого португальского священника девятнадцатого века?
Но отличие де Кейроша от Золя в том, что он поднимает вопрос шире. Все священники в его романе, за исключением, пожалуй, падре Ферраи, почти таковы же – все они сластолюбцы, у всех из них есть женщины, с которыми они удовлетворяют свои плотские потребности. Писатель видит причиной их грехопадения неправильный церковный закон, запрещающий священникам вступать с женщинами в сексуальные отношения, это положение вещей - против законов природы. Обет безбрачия и бездетности – вот в его представлении источник преступлений священников.
Де Кейрош пытается выявить и выставить на общественный суд причины пороков общества, он видит своей миссией излечение общества от святошества и лицемерия, ханжества, умильной благопристойности и показной милосердности, которая скорее, как в случае с бедной девочкой-калекой Тото, скорее губит, чем помогает. Де Кейрош в своем стремлении отразить полный спектр провинциальных нравов, унылости и отсутствия развития очень талантливо рисует картины забытых Богом деревень в горах, городка Лейрии, но который по сути всё та же «дыра».
Сам Амаро – внебрачный сын священника, отданный на воспитание дяде, с условием, что он будет обучен на священника. Он стал им потому, что так распорядились другие. Не он выбрал для себя свою стезю, большинству внебрачных сыновей священников была уготована такая участь. Амелия с детства росла среди священников, воспитана в богобоязненности. Нет, у нее не было родственников среди них, разве что мать грешила с каноником Диасом, но в их доме на обеды и вечера собиралось много гостей, среди которых было много священников.
Амаро не был испорченным юношей. Первые свои мессы он читал с «умиленным благоговением». Сначала он поселился в доме у матери Амелии, но как только понял, что его с неудержимой силой влечет к Амелии, он переехал и даже пытался не посещать их дом, но, конечно же, при первой возможности, снова начал наносить им визиты. Автор показывает постепенную эволюцию его взглядов от роптаний «А каноник… преподаватель христианской нравственности! Да ведь он старик! Ведь жар крови не туманит ему голову! Ведь он прожил долгую жизнь, растолстел от слишком сытной пищи, достиг высокого сана… Неужели всего этого недостаточно, чтобы угомонить былые страсти? Что же должен делать человек молодой и здоровый, в чьих жилах бурлит горячая кровь, чья молодость требует своего!.. Так, значит, недаром хихикали товарищи в семинарии, недаром старый падре Секейра, пятьдесят лет прослуживший в Гралейре, любил повторять: «Все из одного теста сделаны!» Все из одного теста! Они восходят по ступеням церковной иерархии, избираются в капитулы, заведуют семинариями, управляют чужой совестью; они защищены именем Бога, словно пожизненной индульгенцией, а в тихом переулке их ждет какая-нибудь полногрудая степенная женщина, с которой они отдыхают от благочестивых мин и церковных запретов, дымя сигареткой и поглаживая пухлые руки!» до подавляемого возмущения, почему священникам предписан обет безбрачия.

Примечательны портреты священников, их много, и все они колоритны. Но вот де Кейрош описывает трапезу в доме Кортегаса, тамошнего аббата, лучшего знатока кухни в епархии. Они откушивают яства, приговаривая «Такого и в раю не попробуешь! Объедение!», подшучивают над прислугой «Ох, красоточка! Не распаляй ты меня! Ей-богу, по спине мурашки бегают!», опорожняют кувшины вина и блюда с закусками, расстегивают подрясники. На комоде стоит целая группа фигурок святых и распятие с худым телом Христа. Но вот на пороге показался старик-нищий, бубня «Отче наш». Служанка сунула ему в руку половинку кукурузного хлеба, а священники заохали о толпах попрошаек, наводнивших все приходы.
«– Бедность! Очень много неимущих в наших краях! – сокрушался добряк аббат. – Друг Диас, я положу вам еще кусочек крылышка!
– Да, бедность большая, но и лень немалая, – жестко возразил падре Натарио.
– Во многих поместьях не хватает поденщиков, а вот такие детины, с сосну ростом, ходят по дорогам и хнычут: «Подайте Христа ради на хлебушек!» Бездельники! – заключил он.
– Полно вам, падре Натарио, полно уж! – сказал аббат. – Есть и настоящая бедность. В здешних местах целые семьи – муж и жена и пятеро детей – спят на полу, как свиньи, и кормятся одними лишь овощами, огородной зеленью…
– А чем ты хочешь, чтобы они кормились? – воскликнул каноник Диас, облизывая пальцы после того, как обглодал крылышко. – Что же им прикажешь есть? Жареных павлинов? По одежке протягивай ножки!
Добряк аббат натянул на живот салфетку, устроился поудобней и ласково сказал:– Бедность угодна господу Богу.
– Ох, милые мои! – заскулил Либаниньо. – Если бы на свете жили одни бедняки, так и было бы на земле царствие Божие!
Падре Амаро веско возразил:– Но небу нужны и Богатые, иначе кто будет жертвовать на Богоугодные дела, воздвигать храмы…
– Собственность должна находиться в руках церкви, – перебил Натарио не терпящим возражений тоном.
Каноник Диас громко рыгнул и поддержал его: – Для вящей славы религии и укрепления веры.
– Главная причина нищеты, – поучал Натарио, – безнравственность.
– Да, это правда, что и говорить! – горячо подхватил аббат. – В моем приходе двенадцать незамужних девушек беременны! И заметьте, господа: когда я вызываю их к себе и начинаю стыдить, они фыркают мне прямо в лицо!
– В наших местах не хватало рабочих для сбора маслин, – поддержал его падре Брито, – и к нам прибыли сезонники наниматься на работу. Так если бы вы только видели! Какой разврат! – И он принялся рассказывать про этих бродячих поденщиков, мужчин и женщин, которые странствуют по дорогам и предлагают наняться на работу то в одном, то в другом хозяйстве, спят вповалку, умирают, как собаки. – Они никакого языка, кроме палки, не понимают!
– Ох! – охал Либаниньо, хватаясь за голову. – Ох! Сколько на свете греха! Волосы дыбом встают!– Но хуже всего ведут себя в приходе Санта-Катарина! Даже замужние женщины потеряли всякий стыд.– Хуже свиней, – подтвердил падре Натарио, расстегивая пряжку на жилете.
Падре Брито рассказал историю, случившуюся у него в приходе Амор: девушки шестнадцати – восемнадцати лет завели моду собираться на сеновале у Силверио и проводить там ночь с целой шайкой здоровенных парней!
Тогда падре Натарио, у которого глаза уже блестели ярче обыкновенного, а язык развязался, откинулся в кресле и громко сказал:– Не знаю, что делается в твоем приходе, Брито, но если что и было, так им есть с кого брать пример… Мне говорили, у тебя у самого с супружницей старосты…
– Враки! – рявкнул Брито, побагровев.
– О, Брито, Брито! – заговорили вокруг, добродушно унимая его.– Враки! – рычал он.
– Между нами говоря, друзья, – сказал каноник Диас, с бедовым огоньком в глазах и понизив голос, – надо признать, старостиха – бабенка хоть куда!
– Враки! – еще раз заорал Брито и, захлебываясь, продолжал: – Я знаю, кто распустил сплетню: владелец Кумеады! Все потому, что староста голосовал за другого кандидата! Но погоди… Я не я, если не переломаю ему кости! – Он размахивал кулаками, глаза его налились кровью. – Все кости переломаю!»
Также цинично они рассказывают о мелких шалостях церковников на выборах – от писем с неба, призывающих голосовать за нужного кандидата, до исповеди, особенно исповеди женщин. Наивный Амаро заикается, что исповедь – важнейшее из таинств, использовать ее для выборов… Его перебивают, неужто падре Амаро воспринимает исповедь всерьез? Но тут же смягчают: «это средство, помогающее убеждать, помогающее узнавать, что происходит вокруг тебя, и тогда легче направлять вверенное тебе стадо в нужную сторону… С точки зрения церкви, исповедь – это оружие.»
У Амелии был жених, конторщик Жоан Эдоардо, безбожник и симпатизирующий революционерам. Конечно, начал открытый конфликт он, написав анонимный пасквиль в местной газетенке о нравах священников, о том, что они погрязли в плотском грехе. Но общество с ним быстро расправилось, лишив работы, средств к существованию, и рассорив с Амелией, расторгнувшей помолвку.
Классический любовный треугольник быстро был разрушен усилиями Амаро. Он соблазнил Амелию, уговорив встречаться с ним, якобы для религиозных чтений и обучения несчастной калеки Тото в доме звонаря. Естественно, она забеременела. Амаро встает перед дилеммой, что делать с Амелией и ребенком. Он даже было думает о том, чтобы выдать замуж Амелию за Жоана Эдуарда. Но как каждый собственник, он предпочитает её позор с ним, её счастью без него. Его бы самолюбие упивалось. Он применяет подсказанную ему тактику держаться с ней равнодушно, «чем меньше женщину мы любим, тем больше нравимся мы им». На ее упреки о бессердечии, о безответственности, о том, что роды через две недели, а он не приходит или не обращает на нее внимания, до сих пор непонятна ее дальнейшая судьба, не найдена кормилица, нет приданого у ребенка и вообще ничего не готово, он бьет ее по лицу, а потом осыпает поцелуями. У него есть выбор убить собственного ребенка, отдав «кормилице, поставляющей ангелочков на небо» или сохранить ему жить, отдав на воспитание настоящей кормилице, но уготовав ему его собственную судьбу. Он выбирает ту, что поставляет ангелочков. Когда Амелия умирает после родов, он спохватывается и со всех ног бежит к поставщице ангелочков, но поздно.
Казалось бы, что он вынес кровавые уроки, он даже хотел уйти в самый заброшенный и бедный приход, но он быстро успокоился и продолжал себе жить, как жил раньше.
Де Кейрош заканчивает роман сценами народного бунта в Лиссабоне, на фоне которого встречаются падре Амаро и его дорогой учитель каноник Диас, и падре Амаре сообщает, что приехал хлопотать о переводе в Вила-Франку, поближе к Лиссабону.
«Оба выразили свое возмущение сворой масонов, республиканцев, социалистов, этим отребьем, которое хочет уничтожить все святыни: духовенство, религию, семью, армию, собственность… Да! Обществу угрожают сорвавшиеся с цепи чудовища! Нужны верные старые средства устрашения: застенок и виселица! И прежде всего необходимо внушить людям веру в Бога и почтение к священнослужителю.
– В этом и таится корень зла, – сказал Амаро, – нас не уважают! Нас по всякому поводу дискредитируют. В народе систематически подрывают доверие к духовенству.
– На нас злостно клевещут! – подтвердил каноник.»
Я не думаю, что это роман ограничен антиклерикальной тематикой, он об общечеловечном – о лицемерии, пронизавшем всю общественную мораль, об эгоизме, о полной безответственности, о положении женщин, о неизбежности потрясений в обществе вследствие нарастания противоречий, которые не разрешаются.

[César · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que o Eça é enorme, que brilha no firmamento da literatura portuguesa com a intensidade duma supernova, que, passados quase 150 anos, tem um brilho e uma modernidade de que muito poucos se conseguem sequer aproximar é um facto inquestionável para quem ler, em 2018, este fabuloso “Padre Amaro”. A chatice é escolher o que vou ler a seguir.

[Javier Ventura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clásica novela decimonónica de corte realista-costumbrista; crónica de su tiempo y de sus gentes, repleta de personajes principales, secundarios y de paso, y repleta también de exquisitez literaria.
Sorprendente en lo provocador para la época en que fue escrita, se trata de una novela fuertemente anticlerical, que ridiculiza y vilipendia hasta límites insospechados a quienes formaban parte de la Iglesia y los incautos y pobres creyentes que confiaban en ella.
Debo apuntar no obstante, que la historia se cuece demasiado lento, y por momentos se muestra algo reiterativa o aburrida.
Con todo, un imprescindible de la literatura lusa, que resulta bastante recomendable y por la que no han pasado los años.

[César Lasso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta novela nació con complicaciones en la década de 1870 en Portugal. Primero apareció fraccionada en un periódico y pasó bastante desapercibida. Aun así, pronto se la acusó de haber plagiado un trabajo de Zola publicado por parecidas fechas con un título muy similar. Sea por lo que fuere, Queirós no consideró definitiva su obra hasta después de varios retoques y ediciones, a finales de esa década. Y fue entonces cuando la novela llamó la atención, beneficiada por el escándalo que ya había causado su siguiente obra, El primo Basilio.

Mucho revuelo debió de provocar El crimen del padre Amaro. La mayor parte de la obra la he leído como una novela furiosamente anticlerical. Y, no en balde, el Opus Dei la incluye entre los libros prohibidos a sus fieles. He aquí el listado del nivel 6 (máxima prohibición) del Opus: http://www.stagger.net/books/opus_dei...

¿Por qué, anticlerical? Bueno, en primer lugar por el panorama de intereses mundanos que tienen los curas de la ciudad provinciana donde pasa la acción: son sacerdotes de poca espiritualidad, glotones, que anteponen los intereses de carrera a los verdaderamente cristianos. Y, sobre todo, porque varios de ellos mantienen relaciones ilícitas con mujeres. Curas hipócritas y con vicios como el tabaco y la inhalación de rapé. Y, para colmo, cínicamente lamentan que la gente pierda el respeto al clero. No obstante, bastante avanzada la lectura, se me ocurrió una segunda interpretación: Eça no carga contra la Iglesia, sino contra los “fariseos” que la dominaban en ese ambiente provinciano. Prueba de ello es que, cuando la protagonista femenina está hundida por la situación a la que le han llevado sus amores ilícitos, aparece un buen clérigo, el abad Ferrão, que es un tipo honesto y que se desvive por aliviar el sufrimiento de Amélia.

Amelia… La protagonista me ha parecido en muchos momentos literalmente estúpida. ¿Pues no llega a creerse argumentos ridículos del cura que la seduce? ¿Cómo puede una joven de veintipocos años, educada en un cristianismo hueco de escrúpulos y ultraconservador, creerse que, ya que el cura es embajador de Dios en la Tierra, ella queda así más cerca de la gracia de Dios? La verdad, Eça pinta un retrato poco favorable de las mujeres, muchas de ellas mojigatas, manipuladoras, y necesitadas de la dirección de los hombres. En parte, yo entiendo que todavía en 1870 se estaba lejos de la liberación femenina. Y, por otro lado, Eça se crió en un ambiente carente del contacto con mujeres: era hijo ilegítimo, de padre reconocido pero “de madre desconocida”, una fórmula usada en aquel tiempo cuando el matrimonio habría sido desigual por ser la mujer de clase más alta. Así que nuestro novelista fue enviado desde su más tierna infancia a un internado.

No puedo cerrar esta reseña sin mencionar el siguiente detalle: pocos años después, Clarín publicó “La Regenta”. Pues bien, he visto en “El crimen del padre Amaro” un claro precedente. El panorama clerical que pinta Clarín es muy parecido. Y la Regenta también describe la vida en una ciudad española de provincias. Si Clarín no leyó la obra de Queirós –cosa que ignoro–, al menos sí habría leído alguna extensa crítica literaria, y decidió hacer algo parecido en un ambiente español. Y su resultado fue excelso (véase la reseña que dediqué a la Regenta).

Doy a esta obra cuatro estrellitas y media.

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Padre Amaro is a young Catholic priest who falls in love with young girl Amelia. When this was first published this created an uproar in Portugal in 1875 because of its openly depiction of sex and forbidden love. When its movie adaptation was shown in 2002, the several religious organizations in Mexico attempted to prevent its showing. The movie became an international blockbuster and made Gael Garcia Bernal (born 1978) a Mexican actor and director as a household name.

I saw that movie and I liked it. But of course, as we all know, the book is oftentimes better than the movie. I think it was not because the 118-minute movie could not contain everything that happened in all of the book's finely printed 471 pages but because the movie made the plot simpler that it missed the whole point that Eca de Queiros (1845-1900) wanted to convey: hypocrisy. It is not an anti-Catholic novel as he only showed what we all know sometimes happens, even now or most especially now. That priests are human beings and they also get their share of temptations. But that well-known fact is not what De Queiros wanted to expose: it is the hypocrisy of the society particularly some self-righteous people who try to condemn erring priests not realizing that they are part of the system that pushes young men who have no religious calling to become priests. That they are the ones who put them to test and instead of helping them lead temptation-free lives by praying for them and guiding them away from temptations, these people celebrate and get amused when they see priest falling to temptations and live their sinful lives. They even put the priests in situations where they can be near women as if they are Satan's flock tempting Jesus in the desert to turn stones into bread. They should burn in hell.

There are several priests in this novel and it reminded me of Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere 2 (3 stars). While both books have exposes that can be viewed as anti-Catholic, this by De Queiros has a good likable priest in the character of Abbot Ferrao. If "Noli" is mostly Rizal's propaganda for the Filipinos to raise arms against Spain, "Padre Amaro" is a deathless literary Portuguese classic that generations have read and will be reading. The writing is fluid, easy to read, crisp and honest. The characters are all well-developed and transformed in the end. The plot is engaging and the climax is built in such a way that you will just read on and on waiting for the scenes when Padre Amaro and Amelia will first kiss, will first make love and how they will be making love since they cannot do all those amorous escapades in the open, etc. You would also need to find out to make your own conclusion if they book is really anti-Catholic so you have to read carefully and if there is a balance in De Queiros' treatment of the good and bad sides of Padre Amaro's character.

Overall, a memorable read. Very good translation for a 19th century book. Well done, Ms. Margaret Jull Costa.

Thank you to Veronica for giving my copy of this book during my 47th birthday.

[Oziel Bispo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este livro poderia ser a luta do recém formado Padre Amaro contra todas as injustiças cometidas pela igreja católica, contra  a hipocrisia dos religiosos. Mas não , Amaro se aliou a eles, e pior corrompeu pessoas boas como a pobre Amélia e usou a fé, a igreja, o altar , o confessionário, sua influência pessoal para corromper a si mesmo e a outros.


Este livro me impressionou muito!! A crítica de Eça de Queirós à igreja católica é imensa.

A hipocrisia dos abades, padres, membros da igreja católica é impressionante. Todos usam a sua posição para beneficiar a si próprio.

A deterioração moral dos personagens ao longo do livro é muito grande , ao final do livro , os personagens estão acabados física e moralmente.

 As barbaridades cometidas por esses líderes e membros religiosos me deixou de boca aberta.

Tem um trecho do livro que o Padre Amaro fica sexualmente louquinho, ao ver Amélia em trajes Santos, isso me deixou revoltado.Mas isso não é tudo, há muitas outras inacreditáveis  barbaridades!!

O livro apesar de ter quase me nocauteado , é maravilhoso. Eça de Queirós é um dos meus escritores preferidos!!

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is NOT a love story. This is about the ugly corruption of power, not that it in itself is a new theme, but this was written in the mid 1800's in Portugal, about a catholic priest who seduces a young innocent girl from his parish. Of course, the young girl believes it is love, and of course, for Father Amaro it is just a roll in the creche. He is so despicable and he is so well understand by our writer that the story just keeps you mesmerized. You must keep reminding yourself of when and where this was written. It had to be considered blasphemy. Catholicism was not simply the religion in Portugal at that time, it was the center of all power. In fact, resentment to the book is still present in some Catholic countries. Sentiment was so strong in Mexico in 2000, that a movie based upon the book was closed down and banned. Eca de Queiros is a powerful writer and all of his words and his essence have been carefully understood and translated by Margaret Jull Costa who is exquisitely talented at her craft.

[Bárbara Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito bom! Adoro o humor. Diverti-me tanto com alguns diálogos.

[Rita (the_bookthiefgirl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5⭐️

“Foi no domingo de Páscoa que se soube em Leiria que o pároco da Sé, José Miguéis, tinha morrido de madrugada com uma apoplexia.”

Assim começa a terceira versão do “Crime do Padre Amaro”, fruto do aprimoramento obsessivo de Eça. Este livro foi acusado de plágio, em relação a um romance de Zola. Alegadamente, Eça escreveu antes do seu “homónimo” francês.

Obra que inaugura o realismo português, fruto do naturalismo e com uma dose de humor irónica a cada página, “O crime do Padre Amaro” foi dos livros que mais me prenderam este ano ( vá, tudo bem que seja Fevereiro, mas já me estou a adiantar).


Eça, o brilhante, acutilante e inteligente Eça, traz com este livro uma suprema crítica não só aos padres, aos dogmas da Igreja, mas a todos os membros do clero que tiram proveito das situações a seu bel-prazer, julgando-se imunes aos castigos celestiais.


Com "O crime do Padre Amaro" viajei pelas ruas de Leiria, calcorreei as passadas da bela Amélia Caminha ao passar pela loja da Amparo, pela botica, as idas ao sineiro até à Sé onde o padre Amaro dava as suas missas. Ainda estou com a cabeça na rua da Misericórdia, onde Amélia vivia com a sua mãe, a dona Joaneira, e onde se reuniam os religiosos e as suas beatas, ao som do piano, à luz das velas e dos santinhos. Ah, e o sensato Doutor Gouveia, que foi de longe a minha personagem favorita❤ Eça tornou tudo tão real aos meus olhos, que me fez lembrar os "Buddenbrook" de Thomas Mann.

“Mas se crês no Deus do céu, que nos dirige lá acima, e no pecado original, e na vida futura, precisas de uma classe de sacerdotes que te expliquem a doutrina e a moral revelada de Deus.”

Desengana-se quem achar que é uma história de amor romântica. É um compêndio humorístico, o descrever da realidade de Portugal do final do século XIX, do derrubamento de monarquias pela Europa e pela luta do proletariado. Claro que Eça é irónico e diz que em Portugal ninguém ousaria a tal.


Este livro veio em altura certa. Precisava de me rir, Eça disse "aqui estou eu". Há situações tão estapafúrdias no livro, que parecem saídas de uma novela.🤣 Fez um belo efeito.

[Issicratea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first novel I read by Eça de Queirós was his magnificent, meandering family saga The Maias, a masterpiece that deserves to be far better known than it is (at least in the English-speaking world.) The Crime of Father Amaro is also an excellent novel, though rather different in character; its satire is more savage and relentless, and it is prepared to use blunter techniques to make its points. The two novels are similar in their impatience with the provincialism and backwardness—as the author saw it—of nineteenth-century Portugal, but The Maias takes a scalpel to the follies and vices of this culture, Father Amaro something more like a hatchet.

The hypocrisy of the clergy and their conservative lay protectors is the main target of Eça de Queiroz’s satire in Father Amaro, which is set in the cathedral town of Leiria, north of Lisbon. Eça de Queirós’s sympathies were broadly liberal; and he is unrelenting in his lampooning of the venal, unctious priests of the novel and the fanatical, ritualistic, superstitious model of Catholicism that allows them to flourish.

Although the satire is seriously intended and sometimes bitter, Eça de Queirós has a lot of fun with it along the way. His priests make up a wonderful, Hogarthian congeries of grotesques, from the vicious, vindictive Natário, to the lecherous, self-indulgent Canon Dias, to the gourmandizing “exploding boa constrictor” José Miguéis, whose death opens up the vacancy that brings the title character, the handsome, corruptible Father Amaro, to Leiria. Amaro's former seminary professor, Dias, kindly arranges for him to lodge with a pious widow and her nubile, naïve twenty-something daughter, Amélia, with predictably disastrous results.

If the priests of Father Amaro are a pack of scoundrels—with the honorable exception of the kindly, humane Father Ferrão, introduced in the 1880 redaction of the novel as a counterpoise—then their parishioners, for the most part, deserves everything they get. A kind of summation or mise-en-abyme is offered by one of the most exuberant passages of satire in the book, describing the secret devotional kitsch collection of a wealthy, pious widow, Dona Maria de Assunção: a nightmare of a room crammed to the gills with figurines of saints, Virgins, and Baby Jesuses, scapulars, rosaries, pierced and bleeding hearts. “She herself,” the narrative voice tells us, “tidied, dusted, and polished that holy, heavenly population, that pious arsenal, which was barely enough for the salvation of her soul and the relief of any aches and pains. Her main concern was the positioning of the different saints; she was constantly changing them around because sometimes, for example, she sensed that St Eleutherius did not like being next to St Justin, and so she would hang his picture in a spot where he was in more sympathetic company.”

Eça de Queirós reserves this type of broad satire, for the most part, for relatively minor characters in his narrative, such as Dona Maria. His main characters are drawn with more nuance. Amaro himself, in particular, is a complex and intriguing and true-to-life figure. Although we see him developing into a monster in the course of the novel, we are given enough of a sense of the social and cultural forces that have shaped him for it to be difficult to condemn him outright. The tale of lust and longing of which he is protagonist has hideous consequences; yet we are left questioning whether he, as individual, or the Catholic Church’s disaster-waiting-to-happen requirement of clerical celibacy is more to blame.

One of the things I most admired about this novel was precisely this: Eça de Queirós’s ability to combine an absorbing, often psychologically subtle, personal narrative, with a much broader, corruscating, caricatural social satire. It is pretty much the blend that Thackeray aims at in Vanity Fair, but I’m not sure he succeeds quite so well.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't even need the linear notes; the title of this novel alone suggests what will happen. The amoral Amaro, ill-suited for the priesthood, will besmirch his collar, break a few vows. The path is predictable: passion, lust, sex; domination, jealousy. Pregnancy? Uh-oh. Of course, that Amaro is a priest only adds to the intrigue.

The author takes his time getting to the good stuff (the first neck nibble isn't until page 110 and almost another 200 pages of 19th Century playacting takes place before a ripe, inchoate scene). But once our crazed couple figure out a venue, things progress rapidly.

How will Amaro justify his crime? By thinking in the third-person: He was, it is true, a priest . . . but he had an argument for that too: as long as a priest's behaviour was not a cause for scandal amongst the faithful, then it in no way damaged the efficacy, usefulness and grandeur of religion. All the theologians teach that the order of priests was instituted to administer; what mattered was that the people should receive the inner, supernatural sanctity contained in the sacraments, and provided that they were dispensed according to the consecrated formulae, what did it matter whether the priest was a saint or a sinner?

Yes, priests get skewered and roasted in this telling, but this is not some caricaturish bodice-ripper. There are subtle pokes at something larger. The Canon, another amoral clerical character had much to say:

'Everyone has a right to the grace of God,' said the Canon gravely and impartially, acknowledging the equality of the classes as long as it was only in respect of Heaven's comforts and not material goods. . . . 'For Heaven is also for the rich. You have misunderstood the precept. Beati pauperes, blessed are the poor, means that the poor should be content with their poverty and not covet the property of the rich, nor want more than the mouthful of bread that they have, nor aspire to share the wealth of others, for if they do, they will no longer be blessed.'

The author introduces a lot of characters, some merely minor, as if to serve a purpose before they are dispatched. And dispatched they are. I found it amusing that in all but two instances the cause of death was apoplexy. We don't get a lot of apoplexy any more, there having been an evolution in medicine and language. It was aneurisms that got the other two, though one of them was likely misdiagnosed.

Nicely, not all the characters were from the sorry side of humanity. There was one priest and a doctor who got on despite their theological differences. I enjoyed eavesdropping on their conversations. And when you craft a character like the doctor, you can let him say things like this, to an unmarried pregnant woman: 'Nature demands conception not marriage. Marriage is just an administrative formula.'

I grew to really like this novel. It somehow transported out of the 19th Century. Maybe that was the author's ideas, maybe the universality within, maybe the translation.

Oh, and the title and storyline demand comparison with Zola's The Sin of Father Mouret. Sorry, Emile, this one is much better.

[Zé Filipe Melo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que bom foi voltar ao Eça! Depois dos Maias, neste Crime do Padre Amaro, Eça volta crítico, humorístico e menos com menos "discrição de uma casa em 20 páginas". Numa crítica feroz a uma igreja a arrotar de vícios, Eça pinta uma sociedade do século XIX que tem muitos paralelismos com o Portugal atual. A parte final, em que vemos o mundo pelos olhos da classe dominante versus a realidade é sublime. Se gostaram d'Os Maias recomendo, se não gostaram dêem uma oportunidade!

[Ema · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eça de Queiroz disse tudo aquilo que eu penso sobre a hipocrisia da igreja católica, no século XIX. Se não era um homem racional, com princípios e muito à frente do seu tempo, não sei o que era. Neste livro temos, para além de um disfarce de drama romântico muito bem pensado e divertido, a maravilhosa ironia a que já me tinha acostumado e com uma escrita que me parece cada vez mais bonita. Tenho muito orgulho que estas denúncias em forma de ideias literárias tenham saído da cabeça de um português, que via o seu povo e o seu país tal como ele era. E como todo o clássico, faz um retrato muito actual da nossa sociedade. Cutuca todo um mundo de falsos moralismos e católitos hipócritas, de uma religião que demonstra muito apego às regras descabidas e vis e que distorce o que o amor de deus deveria significar.

[Marta Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[maryamongstories · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilhante, claro.

[Margarida Galante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Li alguns dos livros do autor na minha adolescência e este foi um deles. Agora, mais de 30 anos depois decidi reler este.

A história é conhecida, pois já foram feitas várias adaptações para série ou filme. É um clássico da literatura portuguesa.

Publicado em 1875, causou polémica e protestos da Igreja Católica. Não é de admirar, pois esta história é uma crítica mordaz à Igreja e aos sectores mais conservadores da época, no estilo bem característico de Eça de Queiroz.

De forma brilhante e bem humorada, o autor retrata a sociedade numa cidade pequena, Leiria. Um retrato crítico aos padres, aos dogmas da Igreja, aos políticos e aos influentes, e também à prepotência e sentimento de superioridade presente nestas classes.

Ao contrário do que possa inicialmente parecer, esta não é uma história de amor, é uma história de poder, intriga e impunidade, a história de um crime e não de um pecado. Um enredo rico e intrincado que leva o leitor a querer saber como tudo se passou.

Ainda bem que fiz esta releitura. É sempre um prazer voltar a Eça de Queiroz.

[Anabela Mestre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um romance de época de Eça de Queirós. Pouco há dizer sobre o autor que é subajamente conhecido e neste livro revela a mentalidade eclesiástica da época de uma forma que se torna sempre atual. Gostei como sempre gostei dos livros do Eça. Um clássico que apetece ler ou reler.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Li este livro quando tinha 14 ou 15 anos e lembro-me de ter ficado profundamente impressionada com ele.Lembro-me, em particular, de ter eu própria sentimentos contraditórios relativamente ao livro: por um lado tinha vontade de o continuar a ler, por outro, o desenrolar da história causava-me um imenso mau-estar! Os conflitos interiores, o contraste entre o que se deve ser e o que se é, as aparências e a realidade, etc. Em suma, um excelente livro.

[Joana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opinião em breve

[Tempo de Ler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amor, Paixão, Posse, Martírio – como uma semente impercetível que mal se sente entre os dedos e que se torna, com um pouco de sol e uma pouca de humidade, árvore enorme onde os pássaros cantos e os ventos rugem – 271

Gostei bem mais deste romance proibido entre um padre e uma beata provinciana do que estava à espera graças ao tom crítico e irónico – que chegaria a ser cómico se não refletisse uma triste realidade do seu tempo – com que Eça de Queirós o escreveu.

O escritor arranca do altar estes hipócritas membros do clero lá colocados por um país extremamente religioso, cheio de cegos e devotos seguidores, permitindo-lhes impor ao povo regras que os próprios quebravam sem qualquer consequência.

A corrupção moral destes homens – não mais que isso – é assim exibida; o modo como controlavam os crentes por meio da sua fé, manipulando-os em benefício próprio.

Um clássico que merece bem a nossa atenção.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. Fans of 19c lit (Zola, Austen, Eliot etc in particular) should really check this one out, it is up there with the best of them.

[Monik · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Amigo mío, tú puedes tener socialmente todas las virtudes; pero, según la religión de nuestros padres, todas las virtudes que no son católicas son perniciosas. Ser trabajador, casto, honrado, justo, veraz, son grandes virtudes; pero para los curas y la Iglesia no cuentan. Si tú eres modelo de bondad, pero no vas a misa, no ayunas, no te confiesas, no te descubres ante el señor cura...eres simplemente un sinvergüenza. Otros personajes más importantes que tú, cuya alma fue perfecta y cuya regla de vida fue impecable, han sido considerados canallas porque no habían sido bautizados antes de ser perfectos. Seguramente habrás oído hablar de Sócrates, de otro llamado Platón, de Catón, etcétera. Fueron individuos famosos por sus virtudes. Pues un tal Bousset, que es el gran modelo de la doctrina, dijo que de las virtudes de estos hombres estaba lleno el infierno... Esto prueba que la moral católica es diferente de la moral natural y de la moral social...Pero son cosas que tú entiendes mal...Quieres un ejemplo? Yo soy, según la doctrina católica, uno de los mayores desvergonzados que se pasean por las calles de la ciudad; y mi vecino Peixoto, que mató a su mujer a golpes y que está acabando por el mismo procedimiento con su hijita de diez años, es considerado entre el clero un hombre excelente, porque cumple sus deberes de devoto y toca el figle en las misas cantadas. En fin, amigo, estas cosas son así. Y parece que están bien, porque hay miles de personas respetables que las consideran buenas, el Estado las mantiene, incluso gasta un dineral en mantenerlas, hasta nos obliga a respetarlas..."

Dejen lo que estén haciendo y corran a leer El Crimen del Padre Amaro.

[Lady An ☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story about a clerical, who falls in love with a civilian, surrounded by the Church rules like celibate and forbidden love. The crime is not about for killing to Father Amaro, perhaps by his crime: he wanted to kill the baby unborn inside her lover. So, he committed an abortion and uncovered his crime like a coward.

Movie: The Crime of the Father Amaro (2002) with Gael García Bernal.

[Manuel Alberto Vieira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Embora não reconheça em Eça de Queirós os altos méritos que lhe atribuem — acho-o, na verdade, fraco quando comparado com outros nomes grandes da literatura portuguesa —, O Crime do Padre Amaro é tematicamente relevante, ousado e bem esgalhado (concedendo como coincidência as escandalosas semelhanças entre Amaro e um padre pecaminoso do Zola).

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is an old biblical saying, “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”

In this book, a lot of people are casting stones and most of them are sinners.

Padre Amaro, a young priest has taken over the local church in Leiria after the previous priest dies. He lives in the local cantor’s house as a guest. Amélia is a 24-year old woman who lives with her mother at the cantor’s place. It’s a nice fit. Well maybe too nice. Amélia has fallen for Padre Amaro. This is a problem because she is engaged to the young João Eduardo, a writer. Padre Amaro does notice the young Amélia, and that is a really big problem.

The town is bursting with sinners. Coñego Días, the town cantor is having an affair with the Dona Joaneira, mother of Amélia. The cantor’s sister Dona Josefa goes to church with the wool over eyes. Uncle Osório loves to eat. In fact his nickname is “elephant” although hippopotamus will do. The senior administrator uses his binoculars to eye the neighbor. Now who can cast the first stone?

It’s the time of the coronation of Queen Victoria and Napoleon III is running his empire. For the Portuguese, the church runs things rather harshly. “Abbots, cantors, cardinals and monseigneurs, they don’t sin in the barn. No, they sin in their comfortable bedrooms, with their dinner ready on the side.”

Life is good if you are a priest, but not for the fledgling liberals. Things need to change. Let’s throw that stone.

João Eduardo, in a state of jealousy, writes a scathing but anonymous letter in a local newspaper. It connects the story of the Pharisees in the Bible. They were a group of Jewish people who believed outward appearances mattered most. Likewise, the local priests made an outward show but what are they truly like inside? And that is the problem that our young writer points out.

The town is an uproar but none like the circle of priests. It was a case of save themselves at all costs. Their plan is to disgrace João Eduardo. His marriage proposal is withdrawn and his name is mud. Throwing the stone at the stone thrower.

In the mean time, Padre Amaro is riding on a high note so he decides to bed Amélia. What! Not once but several times. His fame around town as a decent man of god has truly warped his sense of reality. Not to mention it’s a big sin. The retaliation of the throne thrower is really digging a deep hole.

Poor Amélia, sinning in bed tends to get one pregnant. Slowly the town notices something is happening. Scandal? Of course, back then it’s time to blame the woman and Padre Amaro does his best to scheme. Marry her off to the discredited João Eduardo, who is pondering sailing to Brazil. Padre Amaro still cares for poor Amélia but his own reputation is more important.

This was one of Eça de Queirós’ first novels written in 1875 and re-edited and published in 1878. Yes there is some moralizing and the church doesn’t come off well here. In fact the only good priest is the older Abbot Ferrão, who counsels poor Amélia in her precarious condition. Toss in the political changes in the air and he has written a fine but very disturbing book about the crime of this father. Make no mistake, Eça sees it as a crime and as the story unfolds, I really didn’t like Amaro.

A lot of sinners and casting of stones plus quite the dramatic ending. How can you not like this book? Perhaps a 4.5 rating.