# Father Lucero — Death Comes for the Archbishop character guide

> Father Lucero in Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Lucero, Padre Lucero

**First appearance:** 0021-ii-the-miser

## Snapshot

An old priest in Arroyo Hondo whose rumored hoard of hidden riches draws a thief—and whose carving-knife answers in the dark.

## Who they are

Father Lucero hoards wealth in a sunken village of green fields below sheer earthen cliffs, and his reputation for hidden gold brings a young robber to his chamber at night. The old man, a light sleeper, keeps a carving-knife beneath his mattress and kills the intruder, but the shock of that night wastes him away beyond any horse doctor's help. His deathbed reconciliation with Father Vaillant—the same Vicar who pronounced his excommunication—becomes a study in the strange mercies that bind the frontier clergy together.

## In the story

### [Book V: Padre Martínez](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/death_comes_for_the_archbishop_se/chapters/book-v-padre-mart-nez)

Padre Martínez's friend and fellow schismatic, a miserly priest from Arroyo Hondo.

### [II: The Miser](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/death_comes_for_the_archbishop_se/chapters/ii-the-miser)

The miserly priest, dying and paranoid about his hidden money, confesses his heresy and receives last rites.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/death_comes_for_the_archbishop_se/characters/father_lucero
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/death_comes_for_the_archbishop_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/death_comes_for_the_archbishop_se/characters