A newly ordained priest is sent to work in a small church community in Mexico by the Bishop. He arrives wide eyed and full of optimism hoping to serve God and his parish, however, he quickly butts heads with the elder priest in charge, Father Benito. Benito is known to accept drug money from the local drug lord in order to subsidise the construction of a new hospital and in addition is carrying on an affair with a local woman. To complicate matters, father Amaro soon finds himself in a love affair with the young Sunday school teacher. After a newspaper report, linking the drug lords with the Church, is published, Father Amaro is then trying to cover up and mend the public relations fiasco. Amaro has also been asked by the Bishop to reign in the renegade priest who has affiliations with guerrilla soldiers. Needless to say, moral dilemmas abound and Father Amaro's idealism is put to the test by personal, political and church pressures.