In spite of the lieutenant's assurances, Father José refuses to go to the jail to hear the priest's confession. What is the irony of that situation?

It was the work of the lieutenant so unrelentingly stamping out all traces of the Church that made Father José afraid for his life in the first place. Now the devil has come to say it is all right this time for him to perform a priestly duty. Father José is too frightened to believe him and refuses to go.