19th century Italy. A six-year-old Jewish child is kidnapped by the Pope’s soldiers. Wealthy parents are informed that the boy was secretly baptized by a maid. To get him back they must convert to Catholicism. Meanwhile, the boy is being raised in the Vatican, under Pope Pius IX. This triggers an international outcry. Although the secular authority of the Pope was abolished after the unification of Italy, the Pope firmly believed in his rightness.