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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46864
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

## Save the cat

All the standard tricks will still work. Readers can like the protagonist through some simple actions that show he he is a kind person. Allow him to help someone in need, show a kind heart, concern for suffering, and consideration for those who would go unnoticed.

## Make him relatable

Allow him to have (human) flaws, family, and friends. Give him petty career politics, and workplace drama that embeds him in real life. Give him money worries, and keep him rooted in mundane life (even as he has adventures and finds the paranormal).

## Make him scholarly, but curious

"Bad" religion is controlling, narrow-minded, and authoritarian. "Good" religion is personal, welcoming, and nonjudgemental. _Theology_ is the study of many different religions, so if he is well-read he will have influences from Greek and Latin philosophers, as well as religious teachings from other faiths. When he travels, make himn genuinely curious to see and learn. Give him a strong sense of wonder.

## Evangelist Missionaries are going to be hard to defend in the 21st Century

A present-day missionary is going to face a lot of cultural criticism. The recent [death of a missionary attempting to convert the remote Sentinelese tribe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese#Death_of_John_Allen_Chau_(2018)) was unanimously cheered in my social feed. I don't have any suggestion to get around this other than to set your story in the past, maybe you can give him a sense of charming naiveté. Watch out for colonialism and racist exoticism (almost unavoidable in this context?).

Don't make him arrogant to spread gospel, instead he tries to set an example and internalizes lessons trying to grow in his own understanding of faith. **He's on a journey, not a mission.**

## Good, whatever the doctrine

Make his religious presence "felt" by others. He says a few kind words, not high mass, but his conviction is palpable. He is devout, and even the witches (and exotic whatnots) acknowledge the legitimacy of his faith – whatever that means in this context.

There is obviously some cognitive dissonance in the Catholic teachings that you will have to downplay, lampshade, or avoid. A lot of that will come down to the tone of the story, and the plot-things you need him to do.

Original score: 11