![\"Graham](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/GreeneImage-217x300.jpg?resize=300%2C415\")
An alumnus of the 1950\u2019s, who wished to remain anonymous, still had a DePaul University Library copy of Graham Greene\u2019s The Power and the Glory\u200b<\/a><\/em> sitting in his home, nagging at his conscience. To relieve this nagging, he mailed the book back to the John T. Richardson Library\u2019s Collections Department, along with several books from his personal collection that he wan\u200bted to donate.<\/p>\nOriginally published in 1940 under the title The Labrynthine Ways<\/a><\/em>, <\/em>Greene\u2019s novel wasreissued in 1946 with a new title that alludes to the closing lines of the Lord\u2019s Prayer: “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.\u201d It\u00a0tells the story of a Roman Catholic \u201cwhisky priest\u201d in 1930\u2019s Mexico, a time when the Mexican government attempted to suppress Catholicism and force priests to give up their faith, their traditions, and their work. The priest wants to minister to his people, but has to evade both an anticlerical policeman and his own personal history. (No spoilers on how it ends\u2014if you want to know, check out\u00a0the book<\/a>! Or, if you\u2019re dramatically inclined, this stage adaptation<\/a>.<\/p>\n With its complex, seemingly paradoxical treatment of morality, Greene\u2019s novel has drawn both high praise and sharp criticism. Time Magazine placed it on its 2005 list of \u201cAll-TIME 100 Novels\u201d<\/a>, but some early readers bristled at its depiction of an alcoholic priest who had also fathered a child. When the novel was published in additional languages in the 1940\u2019s, negative reactions in Europe pressured the Vatican to make an official inquiry into its relative dangers and merits. In 1953, the Holy Office began deliberating whether to add the work to the Index of Forbidden Books. After much consideration, the Vatican decided not to officially condemn the best-selling book, but urged Greene to remove potentially offensive sections before allowing any reprints. Greene slyly replied that he had no such authority: \u201cThe rights have passed from my hands into those of publishers in different countries.\u201d\u200b1<\/sup> Indeed, the text of the long-lost DePaul copy, a 1953 Viking Press reprint, is no different than the original.<\/p>\n While you sip a pumpkin latte and watch the leaves drift onto the sidewalk, ask yourself: Do you have a book sitting in the back of a closet, long overdue from a library? It just might be time for another homecoming.<\/p>\n \u200bAs autumn settles on Chicago, the b\u200brisk wind, crunchy leaves and pumpkin-flavored goodies remind us that it\u2019s time for a homecoming. This year, along with the many people visiting campus for Family and Reunion Weekend, another piece of the DePaul University community is making a return trip: a library book sixty years overdue. An alumnus <\/p>\n\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/past\/docs\/issues\/2001\/07\/godman.htm\u00a0\u200b<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"