After six months spent meditating in the high mountains, Don Donato returns to Pellizzano to pack his bags and leave for Rome, where he will return to wearing civilian clothes. However, he finds the country much changed, full of arcades and women of easy virtue.
Don Donato is ready to reveal to everyone that he is not a real priest in order to return to Cesira and be a father to Junior. However, his uncle hinders him in every way for fear that such a scandal will make him lose the opportunity to become a cardinal.
