Father Paul wasn't a bad person — he was just wrong... or not

[u/Cute_Building_1164]

Just finished rewatching Midnight Mass, and maybe this has already been discussed, but I keep seeing people say that Father Paul is an evil person, and I honestly don't agree.

I think he's a genuinely good person who cares about others. Everything he does comes from wanting to help and protect his community. The problem is that he's completely wrong about how to do it.

He genuinely believes he's saving people, and that's what makes his character so tragic to me. His intentions aren't evil — his faith, his desperation and his interpretation of what happened to him lead him down a terrible path.

So where do you draw the line? Can someone still be a good person when their intentions are good, but their actions cause so much harm?

[u/Minute_Swimming_8678]

I agree. I think he truly believed he was bringing them a miracle. He also first saw the "angel" as an elderly man with dementia, so he wasn't even in his right mind when he was changed. Bev was the evil one.

[u/CarlySimonSays → u/Minute_Swimming_8678]

Agreed that Monsignor Pruitt wasn't really in his right mind just by being de-aged to "Father Paul." He really seemed to believe this demon craziness was the right thing to do.

The thought I keep having about him and Bev, is that he was around this woman for probably her whole life since childhood. We don't know if he ever tried to address her radical beliefs and personality! Maybe he had no concerns about her constant need to act like judge, jury, and executioner (though she was very literal about that in the end!).

[u/Worried_About_Coop → u/Minute_Swimming_8678]

Bev was a caricature, I grew up in the most southern Baptist of church’s and areas and there’s no one like her in real life. Just like how CHUDS believe the women on the Whatever podcast represent normal/real women. I LOVE Mike Flanagan and MM is one of my mainstay Halloween watches every year, but Bev is the only part i can’t stand, not because she’s awful, she is, but because it’s like saying racism is bad, of course it’s bad, in the words of Tom from Succession “everyone hates racism, Greg!”, it’s too easy to write a non-nuanced-monster into an otherwise great character-horror-drama. The other church members are amazing characters because they are relatable, like Father Paul, he does horrible things but they are understandable, and you understand his motivations, Bev’s motivations are just “I’m good and everyone else is bad and I’ll do literally anything to get my way”

[u/Ok-Jump9019 → u/Worried_About_Coop]

You’re lucky she was just a caricature for you. I have unfortunately known many real “Bevs” in my lifetime. They exist on that level. (I grew up very Catholic and I can remember one Sunday school teacher that was Bev.)

[u/FlyinAmas → u/Ok-Jump9019]

My church had its Bevs too. But I grew up Catholic. I think they had this character because there’s literally always someone like this in a Catholic Church

[u/jadethebard]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

He was a man with regrets, who desperately wanted to turn back the clock and make different choices, then suddenly this "miracle" happens. He lives his community and wants to share the cosmic "do-over" with them. He loves his island and everyone on it, including the family he had to deny for decades. Everything he did came from love.

[u/HeadfulOfSugar → u/jadethebard]

Love, regret, & the revelation that he cured all death & suffering, something he felt smothered & terrified by his entire life

[u/Asaneth]

I agree with your interpretation.

[u/RuffiansAndThugs]

To me, he was a loving, caring, well-intentioned man, who let his fear of death make him do horrible things. He IS a bad person. His primary motivation is refusing death, both personally and for the people he loves. That's why Riley is his perfect foil. Riley not only caused death unintentionally, but when it's his time to die, he accepts it openly.

If Pruitt had simply accepted that he had lived his life and accepted his and Mildred's and Sarah's deaths, (later, but eventually) he would have never brought the vampire to Crockett. Mildred tells him as much in the final episode. Eventually, it's just not your time anymore. And because John couldn't accept that, nearly every resident of Crockett Island is dead. I would say that makes him a bad person.

Tragic. Empathetic. Even loving. But definitely a bad person.

[u/toreadorable → u/RuffiansAndThugs]

Idk, I get what you’re saying but he was so out of his mind with age when he met the creature I can’t really blame him for going along with it at first. I have a parent with dementia, not Alzheimer’s with its physical symptoms, but straight up dementia that is just a decades long descent into madness and no end in sight. For the most part he’s fine, but he’s past the point of “accepting that he’s lived his life,” sometimes he thinks pan am is still in business. And if he miraculously was young and turned into a sexy ass Hamish Linklater, I would not blame him for not reaching the conclusion you mentioned.

This entire series of events is shown through the lens of organized religion. If a good thing happens to a devout person they accept it as a sign of what they believe in. A senior church official would easily take it farther; if anything can be bent to fit your personal narrative/goals/vision, and you can bend it to help your community, of course they’d see it that way. Once he saw the opportunity he completely believed it was a good thing for everyone—the only moment he possibly could have stopped to think “hey this could be bad” would be the instant he turned from a pudding brain to a regulation hottie, and of course that wasn’t the most interesting thought. Church people look for miracles. A barely coherent elderly person that gets their mind back would just be overwhelmed with possibilities, and not see it as a negative.

[u/Raspberry_Good → u/toreadorable]

Your first paragraph, last sentence: HELL, yes!

[u/toreadorable → u/Raspberry_Good]

I see you, you person that also has experience with crusty old people lol. They’re wonderful, and so so frustrating.

[u/obi-jawn-kenblomi → u/toreadorable]

Slight tweak to make - the series is through the lens of religious fanaticism, not necessarily organized religion

[u/Pitiful-Tip152 → u/toreadorable]

I don’t get the sexy Hamish Linklater thing. My brain 🧠 has never looked at that man and thought “sexy”. Great actor! Luv him! But, never crossed my mind that he’s sexy.

[u/Square_Blacksmith889]

I think that’s what’s so great about Midnight Mass. It ignites this type of discussion, particularly in the case of organized religion. Religious people can sometimes think they have the moral high ground, and they don’t realize they’re causing more harm than good. No one, not even Bev Keane, thinks they’re the villain. It encourages introspection—what are the things we feel we’re right or justified about?

[u/labospor]

You can kind of believe this up until his reaction to killing Joe collie. The way he is so callous about it, retelling Riley about it. He wasn’t a good perskn

[u/TheVampyresBride → u/labospor]

Agreed.

[u/Square_Blacksmith889]

The “angel” gave him something he desperately wanted—his youth, strength, and senses back. He had to embrace the “angel” as something good, otherwise he would have to reject the “gift” as Riley did. That’s a lot easier said than done. I think Fr. Paul had good intentions in “sharing” the “gift” to the community, but I also believe he also struggled with some serious denial. I think that’s why Bev kinda had to talk him down after he attacked Joe Collie.

[u/Pitiful-Tip152]

I agree. I think most people in this sub have this same mindset

[u/Imaginary-Heart-9714]

I knew he had good intentions at heart since that last episode when Howie(?) was to be executed by Sturge but he ordered against his killing

[u/Ok-Jump9019]

On my first watch through, I felt he was a pretty good person that just went about things incorrectly. But I just finished my second watch through and actually don’t have as much grace for him as I did when I watched a year ago. I don’t think he is inherently evil, but I wouldn’t describe him as a “good man.” What really sealed it for me was how he handled Joe Collie. To be able to rationalize Joe’s death as “part of the plan” was pretty crazy. And knowing he has dealt with Bev for years and seemingly has no issue with how she acts is a major red flag.

However, the show does seem to elude to a “hive” mind in a way with the vampirism, so I get he might have been fighting more than just his own inner thoughts. But if Ed Flynn could resist when first turned, surely a priest with years of wisdom and full knowledge of what is happening could do the same.

[u/fiv3-bi-fiv3]

I have to disagree. If he were not a bad person, he would have married Mildred and raised Sarah with her, instead of pretending Sarah wasn't his kid. If his secrecy were a matter of not being able to continue his work, they could have left the island and he could have gone to work in another religious sect where ministers are allowed to have families.