I've noticed in some Spanish related films, characters will refer to a Spanish character as Padre when addressing them. For example, in the Mask Of Zorro, one character refers to a stranger as Padre when he says here:
Where is he now, Padre, your masked friend?
But the stranger is not his father!
padre?padre and amigo interchangeable?padre?Having, coincidentally, just watched the movie, i can confirm that the person in question is, in fact, a priest. Just like he might be adressed as Father in english, he is called Padre in spanish. (And the relationship of the speaker to the padre is not as a friend at all.)
I should listen to the part of the movie where the phrase appears, but it is most likely an abbreviation for "Compadre". If the person speaks in a fast way it's most likely that he will eat the first syllable, so "compadre", normally used as a colleague/fella, becomes just padre. The use of the word compadre to address someone is common in people with little school education, so it's more than likely that there's an omission in part of the word.
Real meaning:
Compadre: padrino de bautizo del hijo o del ahijado de una persona.
Comadre: madrina de bautizo del hijo o del ahijado de una persona.
Colloquial use:
Compadre / Comadre = Amigo/a del alma
