The Power and the Glory follows a man known only as the whisky priest who travels across the state of Tabasco, Mexico while fleeing the Red Shirts, the ruling political party that has outlawed Catholicism. At the start of the novel, the whisky priest has almost managed to escape Tabasco, as he is about to depart on a ship. However, when he learns that someone needs him, he abandons the ship and goes to help them instead. Afterward, he continues traveling around from village to village, attempting to avoid the Red Shirts. The person primarily responsible for chasing after the whisky priest is the lieutenant, a man who hates Catholicism because of his negative experiences with it as a young boy. The lieutenant believes Catholicism is evil and wants to eradicate it, just as much as the whisky priest wants to keep it alive. To that end, the lieutenant begins taking hostages from villages where he suspects the whisky priest may be hiding. When the hostages do not tell the lieutenant what he wants to know, he executes them.
Eventually, the whisky priest ends up in a small town where Maria, a woman he fathered a child with, lives. There, he meets his daughter, Brigitta, who despises him. Maria cares for the whisky priest and provides him with food, alcohol, and shelter for a short time. However, this small comfort does not last long, as the lieutenant and his men arrive searching for the whisky priest. Because the lieutenant does not know what the whisky priest looks like, the whisky priest is able to fool him and avoid being captured. However, the lieutenant takes another hostage instead.
The whisky priest moves on from Maria’s village, instead traveling toward the state capital. On his way, he meets a mestizo, who suggests they travel together. The whisky priest accepts the offer at first, but he quickly realizes the mestizo simply wants to turn him into the police for a bounty. The whisky priest eventually manages to get away from the mestizo and heads into the capital alone. There, while in search of wine, he gets too drunk and ends up in jail—the same jail that the lieutenant heads up. After a night in jail, the lieutenant releases the whisky priest and gives him money, not knowing the whisky priest’s identity.
Following this interaction, the whisky priest travels out of Tabasco so that he can practice Catholicism safely. However, after a few days of living in a new village, the whisky priest quickly begins feeling bored and empty. He realizes that he should be living among those who are suffering most and providing them with comfort. As he considers leaving for a different town, the mestizo arrives and claims that a “gringo” criminal is bleeding out across the border and wants to confess to the whisky priest. The whisky priest knows the mestizo is trying to trap him but decides to go with him anyway. Back in Tabasco, the whisky priest discovers the mestizo was partially telling the truth. The “gringo” criminal, James Calver, is bleeding out and close to death. However, when the whisky priest offers to hear his confession, Calver has no interest. The whisky priest begs Calver to confess, but Calver refuses and dies.
When the whisky priest steps out of the hut where Calver was staying, he finds the lieutenant and his men surrounding it. The lieutenant takes the whisky priest back to the capital to have him tried and executed. On the way there, the lieutenant talks to the whisky priest and finds himself admiring the man. He realizes he has done the wrong thing by persecuting him, which turns the lieutenant’s entire worldview upside down. Nonetheless, the lieutenant takes the whisky priest back to the capital where he will stand trial. There, the whisky priest is deemed guilty and sentenced to death via firing squad. While awaiting his death, the whisky priest worries that he will go to Hell for his sins. The next day, the firing squad shoots and kills him.
