Father Smith is not intimidated by either prejudice or poverty - remarking that suffering a bit of persecution can help to strengthen one's faith, and that the poverty of the Scottish Catholic Church places it closer to the situation of Primitive Christianity. When hit on his head by a jagged stone thrown by bigots, and needing weeks of hospitalization, he considers that the incident can be useful in generating sympathy for the Catholics among the town's mainstream Protestants. And when listening to the singing of his community's amateur chorus, he reflects that no one can doubt the sincerity of their faith - which cannot be said with certainty of the highly-paid tenors singing at the Cathedrals of Seville and [[Milan.
