Whiskey priest

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Whisky Priest is a term used to describe a priest or ordained minister who shows clear signs of moral weakness, while at the same time teaching a higher standard. A whisky priest's shortcomings may include many vices, but usually include alcoholism. Graham Greene coined the term, referring to the unnamed main character in his 1940 novel The Power and the Glory.

[edit] Example of whiskey priests in other literary and fictional works

Friar Tuck, of Robin Hood fame, is sometimes depicted as a whisky priest, although more often his physical weakness for food and drink is not shown as spiritual weakness. The main character in The Night of the Hunter would undoubtedly qualify as a whisky priest, and is in fact a murderer as well. Nicholas Wolfwood, from the anime series Trigun, may be considered a whiskey priest. In the Discworld novel Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, most of the Omnian clergy could be considered whisky priests, with the exceptions of the genuinely holy Brutha, and the pathologically insane Vorbis.

A Season 3 episode of Yes Minister was called The Whisky Priest. In the episode Jim Hacker's wife tells him that, unlike Sir Humphrey Appleby, he at least has enough moral sense to know when he's done the wrong thing.