The two priests share a sip of whiskey, and Fitzgibbon confides his longing to see his ninety-year-old mother, who still lives in Ireland, after which O'Malley soothes him with an Irish lullaby. Distraught by his apparent retirement, Fitzgibbon runs away, but O'Malley puts McCarthy on the alert, and he returns late that evening with a storm-bedraggled Fitzgibbon, who is then coddled by O'Malley and the housekeeper, Mrs. Fitzgibbon returns deflated, as he has learned that the bishop sent O'Malley there to take over for him. When sounds of the boys rehearsing "Three Blind Mice" rise into the church from the cellar, Fitzgibbon loses his patience with O'Malley's unconventional methods and goes to see the bishop to ask for O'Malley's transfer. After earning the trust of the boys's gang, O'Malley convinces them to train as a choir. Knowing she will not take his advice, O'Malley loans Carol ten dollars. O'Malley, who had had his own band and composed music before entering the priesthood, coaches Carol on her singing, but when she rejects his offer of a housekeeping job at the church, he urges her to return home. One day, Officer Patrick McCarthy brings eighteen-year-old runaway Carol James to see O'Malley. Instead of punishing the boys, however, O'Malley takes them to a baseball game. That night over their turkey dinner, O'Malley suggests that the boys are delinquents, and Fitzgibbon defends the boys until he learns of their theft. The boys escape into the church garden where they encounter Fitzgibbon, to whom they give one of their stolen turkeys as a gift. Dominic's, O'Malley sees teenagers Tony Scaponi and Herman Langerhanke stealing turkeys from a truck. tries to evict Hattie Quimp, who initially found O'Malley to be a nuisance, O'Malley intercedes and promises that the church will guarantee her rent. Dominic's, which, in addition to being in financial trouble, is in a troubled neighborhood.
Only O'Dowd is aware that O'Malley has been sent to take over the pastorship of St. The next day, O'Malley is visited by his childhood friend, Father Timothy O'Dowd, a jocular priest from the neighboring parish. By the time Father O'Malley introduces himself to Father Fitzgibbon as his new curate, he has donned a sweatshirt and casual pants, and immediately puts the very traditional Fitzgibbon on his guard. Dominic's neighborhood and makes a bad impression on a few neighbors because of his easy-going and unconventional manner. Father Charles Francis Patrick O'Malley arrives in St. urges leniency, but his father is adamant. Dominic's church is not soon received, he will call in the mortgage. reluctantly tells elderly Irish priest Father Fitzgibbon that if the overdue payment on St. In New York City, mortgage broker Ted Haines, Sr.