Unidentified Priest

An anonymous clerical figure summoned rhetorically by Father Thomas Cavanaugh in the drowning‑man parable, the Unidentified Priest operates as a messenger of conscience rather than a physical character. He personifies the notion that spiritual counsel and practical help can arrive through ordinary intermediaries; his invocation converts President Josiah Bartlet's legal quandary into a moral exigency, urging recognition of missed, human acts of mercy as potentially divinely sent. Remaining unnamed and offstage, he functions primarily as a didactic symbol that redirects policy argument toward personal responsibility.