This article examines an ecclesiastical court case against a priest in the Doctrine of Codpa (Altos de Arica) in 1804 to elucidate the complexities of the socio-economic dynamics that structured late-colonial religious life in the southern Andes. In the social sphere, the case in question highlights the variables underlying interactions between the parish priest and native, mestizo, and Spanish parishioners, including factors such as political rank and gender. In the economic sphere, the economic networks that Father Joseph Andrés Delgado managed to organize, utilizing and exploiting native resources, shed light on the longevity of the intertwinement between the economy and spirituality in the colonial Andes. Finally, this study calls for reflection on the role that parish priests played in the Andes as agents of social and political power through a long-term perspective.