When an audit finds money missing from the minister's discretionary fund at Aleford's First Parish Church, suspicion falls on Faith's husband, the Rev. Thomas Fairchild, the only person with access to the account. To complicate matters, Ursula Rowe, Faith's friend Pix Miller's elderly and ailing mother, asks Faith's help in dealing with the disquieting letters she's recently received. Secrets, the kind that fester and can make even strong people ill,...

The film is based on the real-life travails of Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty, who after suffering under Nazi persecution, was imprisoned by the new Communist regime for remaining loyal to his religious convictions.