Character Analysis
Padre Martinez is a real thorn in the sides of Father Latour and Father Vaillant. Now that the United States has taken over New Mexico, it's Latour and Vaillant's job to replace the Spanish-speaking priests of New Mexico with white folks who can speak English. Padre Martinez is having none of that, though, as the narrator tells us:
Indeed, before Father Latour's entrance upon the scene, Martinez had been dictator to all the parishes in Northern Mexico, and the native priests at Santa Fe were all of them under his thumb. (5.1.1).
Padre Martinez and his devoted followers aren't going to hand over power to a couple of white dudes just like that. They're going to fight to keep what they think of as theirs.
Now Padre Martinez wouldn't be such a problem if he weren't so dead-set against the Catholic rule saying that priests can't have sex. He even argues with Latour at one point:
"Nothing is decided once and for all," Martinez declared fiercely. "Celibacy may be all very well for the French clergy, but not for ours." (5.1.20)
But let's get something straight. Martinez isn't just interested in having sex with a wife. He's interested in having sex with young girls and then marrying them off to his young male servants. The dude is totally corrupt, but also charismatic enough to keep people obeying him. It's only Father Time that can take care of this dude, since he eventually dies of old age.