How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph.)
Quote #7
Death was not the end of pain—to believe in peace was a kind of heresy. (2.1.138)
For the priest to think of death as a moment's pain followed by everlasting peace would require him to dismiss the possibility, and for him likelihood, of hell. He cannot talk himself into believing that his death will be a restful end to his troubles because deep down he believes he's damned to everlasting fire. Cheerful.
Quote #8
Suddenly, he realized that he could see a face, and then another; he had begun to forget that it would ever be another day, just as one forgets that one will ever die. It comes suddenly on one in a screeching break or a whistle in the air, the knowledge that time moves and comes to an end. […] He began formally to pay his farewell to the world: he couldn't put any heart into it. His corruption was less evident to his senses than his death. […] He wasn't a saint. Nothing in life was as ugly as death. (2.3.124)
The implication here is that if the priest were a better man, he would be more troubled by his own faults and failings and less anxious about his mortality. His fears highlight his weakness like a spark in the dark.
Quote #9
"And what happens afterwards? I mean after everybody has got enough to eat and can read the right books—the books you let them read?"
"Nothing. Death's a fact. We don't try to alter facts." (3.3.60-1)
The lieutenant tells the priest, now in his custody, that he doesn't try to alter facts like death. But wait—what does he mean by a "fact"? He clearly wants to erase the historical fact that the Church once existed in his state (1.2.49), and he believes suffering—a fact of life—is wrong and should be stopped (3.3.55-57). So what's the deal? Is he being inconsistent or does he just have a very specific definition of a fact?