About

The local priest of the Roman Catholic South Park Church, Father Maxi is a devout and faithful man of God who nonetheless like his fellow townspeople has some unusual habits.

In the past, Fr. Maxi displayed some rather unorthodox beliefs in his faith and methodology, having preached about how Hell awaits most members of South Park unless they confess their sins at the Church. He was also shown to not free of sin himself in his personal life, such as having sex with a woman in the church confessional. Maxi also expressed that in his past he had previously had homosexual tenancies, and through the church he sought to resolve his confusion. He has still been willing to accept counsel to those who have needed it, however, such as helping with Kyle Broflovski's guilt after watching The Passion of the Christ.

Despite this, Fr. Maxi has been humbled though his actions and was able to develop more approachable methods to practice his faith. He took his faith and devotion to new heights when leading the charge against the Holy Document of Vatican Law that forbids marriage and permits priests to molest children. These efforts failed to fix the problem, however, and he was eventually put ridicule by his community after the irredeemable actions of the church became more publicly known. While contemplating his place in the world, Maxi formed a bond with Butters Stotch to better cope with the stress and negativity, and with that he gained the courage to accept the insults from his town in order to protect the town's children and repair his faith once more.

Like his fellow townspeople, Father Maxi is also a big fan of the Denver Broncos and sometimes rallies support at sermons. He is also notable, however, for presiding over many of the town's funerals in some way, shape or form.

Personality and Traits

Altruism

Throughout his tenure in the town, Father Maxi has gone to great lengths to protect the local South Park children from harm at the hands of other priests and has never shied away from criticizing the Church's stance on child-priest relations. Not only has he visited the Vatican to request assistance, but he's refused a transfer away from the town to prevent a less benevolent priest from being assigned to the children he cares for.

Devoutness

Having dedicated his life to the Church and describing it as all he knows, Father Maxi has always been defined as a man of faith, often concerned with moral decline around him. He has argued in favor of preservation of Christmas as a celebration of Jesus, and gone to lengths as well to protest against the sinful nature of Halloween.

Hypocrisy

Though devout on most matters, Father Maxi deviates strongly on doctrine related to sexual matters when it comes to his own personal life. Having once had a homosexual "phase" in his past, he follows Catholic doctrine in describing homosexuality as a choice that can be cured. Despite his vow of celibacy, he has had sex with both men and multiple women, including an encounter within the Church itself.

Notable Skills

Singing

Father Maxi enjoys singing and has been seen leading the Church choir as well as in prayer. Butters Stotch was particularly impressed by his singing ability.

Memorable Quotes

• "Look! It's that guy from the public access show!" (Damien)
• "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Sometimes the giveth seems a little disproportionate to the taketh. There seems to be a lot more takething going on, but there it is." (Spontaneous Combustion)

Life Lessons

• ”They crucified our lord and savior. If you don’t go to hell for crucifying our savior then what the hell do you go to hell for?”
• "You see, these are just stories. Stories that are meant to help people in the right direction. Love your neighbor. Be a good person. That's it! And when you start turning the stories into literal translations of hierarchies and power, well... Well, you end up with this. People are losing faith because they don't see how what you've turned the religion into applies to them!"

Design and Outfits

Father Maxi has a slightly portly figure, with dull, graying temples and eyebrows and thicker brown hair on top of his head, possibly a touplee. He has wrinkles on his forehead, square glasses, and a strong, squareish chin. He has a white Roman collar around his neck at all times, and off-hours wears a black shirt and shoes with dark pants. During Church hours, he wears a black cassock over the same outfit, and a purple stole around his neck.

Father Maxi Pajamas

Attractions

On one occasion, Eric Cartman stumbled upon Father Maxi using the confessional to have sex with a "temptress" named Ms. Donovan. In addition, like most of the town, he has had sex with Liane Cartman.

He has also admitted to having previously had a "homosexual phase" which he overcame; when he was assigned to help a man named Peterson who was also homosexual, they ended up having sex.

Liane Cartman

Ms. Donovan

Close Friends

Father Maxi is relatively unpopular in the town, often laughed away or dismissed due to his genuine faith and occasional hypocrisy. The children mind him less, seeing him as kind and "compassionate", but don't necessarily want him at their birthday parties.

When Jesus Christ still lived locally in the town, he and Maxi often spend time together, such as at the bar, and he was seen working with Sister Ann on occasion. As these friendships faded, Maxi was later able to find a close friendship with Butters Stotch, who saw in him a kindred spirit, and they've spent a lot of time together since.

Jesus Christ

Sister Ann

Butters Stotch

Rivals

As a result of his willingness to question Church Doctrine (and probably a little for destroying Vatican City) Father Maxi has built up many enemies within the Church over the years... but to be fair, almost all of whom are either pedophiles or simply the Church leaders who have worked for decades to protect them and cover up their crimes. After failing to change the Holy Document of Vatican Law, he has decided he will do anything to protect his parish's children.

Queen Spider

Gelgameks

Denver Archbishop

Clean Up Crew

Bishop

Deacon

Priest

Pedophile Priests

Affiliations

Although all but a few residents of South Park are Roman Catholic, it is Father Maxi who actually acts as the church's representative in the town and is held responsible to Church leadership and doctrine.

Roman Catholic Church

Church

The Parish Priest for South Park, Father Maxi presides over the South Park Church, leading in prayer on Sunday, handling confessional, and leading most funerals as well. He takes a relatively laidback approach, and is often prone to personalize prayers to focus on local concerns, such as the Denver Broncos or anxiety surrounding TrollTrace.

In most episodes, he is the town's only presiding Priest and seems to work out of the Church alone, but he has been seen with Sister Ann on occasion, and an entirely different priest ("Sexual Healing", s14e01) have also been seen.

During funerals, he has allowed other characters such as Herbert Garrison ("Kenny Dies", s05e13) to lead the service.

South Park Church

Appearances and Sightings

Featured Episodes

• Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo (s01e10; air debut)
• Damien (s01e08; production debut)
• Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut (s01e13)
• Chickenlover (s02e03)
• Ike's Wee Wee (s02e04)
• Cow Days (s02e13)
• Spontaneous Combustion (s03e02)
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (cameo)
• Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery (s03e12; first identified as Father Maxi)
• Do the Handicapped Go to Hell? (s04e10)
• Probably (s04e11)
• Cripple Fight (s05e03)
• Red Hot Catholic Love (s06e08)
• Grey Dawn (s07e10)
• The Passion of the Jew (s08e04)
• Cartman Sucks (s11e02)
• The Ring (s13e01)
• Margaritaville (s13e03)
• The F Word (s13e12; cameo)
• Reverse Cowgirl (s16e01; cameo)
• The City Part of Town (s19e03)
• You're Not Yelping (s19e04)
• The End of Serialization as We Know It (s20e10)
• A Boy and a Priest (s21e02)

Notable Cameos

• Pinewood Derby (s13e06)

Background Appearances

Video Games

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Father Maxi sits on a bench outside of the City Hall, reading from the Bible and advising the player to find Jesus inside the South Park Church. If the player successfully locates Jesus, they return to Maxi and are given the same task again. After finding Jesus a second time, he becomes a summonable character, and both Maxi and Jesus add the player on Facebook.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Tasked to declare their religious identification for their superhero character sheet, the player is assigned to visit Father Maxi at the South Park Church for a lesson in the scripture. Decrying the moral decline of the town around them, Maxi implores the New Kid to be part of the solution, inviting them into a dark room to face their deepest fears, only for the New Kid to instead be accosted by two additional visiting Priests. Maxi eventually frees the New Kid, angrily chastising the other Priests, who invoke the Queen Spider, before he apologizes to the New Kid and offers them a scroll from Moses for his troubles. He is also available for a selfie.

He later briefly appears during story to alert the New Kid that their service could be used at Stark's Pond to complete their spiritual journey.

Upon returning to the Church later in the game, the New Kid can access Priest Maxi's Office, and view his personal annotated Bible.

South Park: Phone Destroyer

Released to coincide with "A Boy and a Priest", Father Maxi's card depicts him as a stained glass window with Choirboy Butters around him.

• Special Ability: Aura - Regenerates health for nearby allies. Enraged: Add an additional 2x regen.

Behind the Scenes

Father Maxi's voiced is provided by series co-creator Matt Stone, who is Jewish.

In his early appearances over the first two seasons, he was not identified on-screen known only as Priest, but the name Priest Maxi was chosen, an inversion of singer Maxi Priest, and finally used in "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery".

Bonus Factoids

• In his first appearance, he referred to Jesus Christ as "that guy from the public access show", referencing to his former program Jesus & Pals in the first few seasons.
• In "Ike's Wee Wee", he is also shown acting as a Rabbi, though South Park's later rabbi, Dr. Schwartz was introduced in the same episode.
• He was almost completely absent between "Margaritaville" and a brief cameo in "The City Part of Town", marking an almost six-year absence from the show.