Father Mateo

Mateo Castile's life has not been easy, even—or perhaps especially—since finding his calling and becoming a priest. The past few decades in Mexico have been wracked with instability and conflict between a secular government and a traditional and religious populace. Father Mateo struggled to balance his faith with the pragmatic concerns of preaching when the law told him he must not.

But as difficult as the political situation in Mexico has been, that is not what has assaulted Mateo's faith at its core. An investigation into a rash of murders and kidnappings in his home state led not to political violence as Mateo had suspected but to a gruesome and horrid cult thriving at the heart of the brewing war. How, Mateo wondered, could a kind and loving God allow what he saw that night to exist? His prayers are still unanswered, but Mateo now seeks answers on his own.^[1]

Mateo Castile's life has not been easy since he became a priest. Recent decades in Mexico have been wracked with instability and conflict. Father Mateo struggled to balance his faith with the pragmatic concerns of preaching when the law told him he must not. But this is not what has assaulted Mateo's faith at its core. The nearby murders and kidnappings were not politically motivated, as he had suspected. A gruesome and horrid cult thrives at the heart of the brewing war. How, Mateo wonders, could a kind and loving God allow what he saw that night to exist?^[2]