An ambitious priest discovers that honoring the Ten Commandments isn't as easy as he imagined in this drama. Father John Flaherty (Christopher Reeve) is a Catholic priest who was ordained during World War II, and soon found himself forced to fight enemy forces while serving as a chaplain in the Army. As his life and career in the church moves on, Flaherty finds himself frequently torn between his duty and devotion to the church and his ambitions, appetites, and the notion that the ends can justify the means. Flaherty eventually rises through the church hirarchy to win an appointment at the Vatican, where he helps to manage the church's finances. When the Vatican's books reveals a major cash flow crisis, Flaherty suggests a rather unusual plan to Cardinal Santoni (Fernando Rey)...