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Father Amadi is significant to Kambili not only as her first real crush but because he represents someone who shows her love and acceptance exactly as she is. Growing up, Kambili’s understanding of love comes from her father, who demands that she constantly strive and shape herself into his idea of perfection in order to be worthy of love. Father Amadi, on the other hand, likes Kambili immediately for who she is, even when she is quiet and awkward. He encourages her to express her opinions, assuring her that he always wants to hear them. When Kambili’s hair begins to slip out of its braids, Father Amadi’s first reaction is to arrange for her to see a hairdresser. Because protective hairstyles like Kambili’s braids quite literally protect hair from damage, his solution of arranging a hair appointment reads as him actively caring for a need as opposed to controlling Kambili’s appearance. At home, if something about Kambili is less than perfect, Eugene punishes and shames her under the guise of correction and love. Father Amadi isn’t upset by Kambili’s hair, but instead notices the way it might affect Kambili.
Father Amadi’s relationship with the Catholic church also serves as a parallel to Kambili’s relationship with her father, playing into the book's complex exploration of love and pain. As Amaka and Obiora often comment, the church that Father Amadi loves does not love him or any Nigerian unconditionally. The church demands that he take an English name in order to undergo confirmation, and in Germany he encounters white people who refuse him as a priest. Western Catholic magazines express doubt that the Aokpe sighting of the Virgin Mary could possibly be a legitimate one in a country like Nigeria. Father Benedict makes it clear that he believes Igbo traditions have no place in Catholicism. Nevertheless, Father Amadi makes it clear that he will never leave the church because he loves it. Just as Kambili continues to love her father despite her complicated feelings, so does Father Amadi continue to love the church despite the clear and obvious ways that it hurts him.
