The Clergy Compromise

At first, many of the clergy resisted the inroads that the Communists were making against religion. But as time passed, more and more clergy compromised and became tools of the Communist government. But since that government was bent on burying religion, these compromising clergy were, in effect, assisting at their own funerals!

An example of this was the patriarch Tikhon. Unlike Jesus Christ, who was willing to die rather than compromise the truth, Tikhon compromised. In 1923, after being released from prison, he signed a declaration promising not to engage in anything harmful to the interests of the State. Shortly before his death in 1925 he called on all Russians “to sincerely stand for the Soviet power and to work for the common wealth and to condemn any open or secret agitation against the new order of the State.”

After his death, the Church was not permitted to elect another patriarch. But other high church officials generally followed his lead. This was made clear in 1927 when Sergei, a metropolitan (next in rank below a patriarch), issued a proclamation. The book The First Fifty Years notes that in it Sergei “promised the support and political co-operation of the Church and its followers.” He called on the clergy to give written guarantees of their loyalty to the Soviet government or face expulsion from the Church.

Despite all the compromises that the clergy were making, the Communists continued their many-sided campaign against religion. Especially during the political purges of 1936 through 1938 were the churches savagely attacked. While in 1930 Sergei had claimed the loyal support of 163 bishops, there were less than 12 left in 1939. It was said that 40 bishops had been shot. And an estimated 10,000 churches were closed. As The First Fifty Years says: “The church in 1939 was near to collapse.”

Before long, these efforts had their effect. In 1942 Metropolitan Sergei hailed Stalin as Russia’s “divinely anointed leader.” Then, in 1943, Stalin received leading officials of the Orthodox Church in his Kremlin office and authorized them to elect Sergei as the new patriarch. Thus ended a period of eighteen years without an official head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

More concessions were made. The publication of a Church journal was permitted. Several theological seminaries were reopened, as were many churches. The drive to destroy religion was muted. Also, limitations on other religions were eased.

Patriarch Sergei died in 1944. He was succeeded by Alexei. The Encyclopædia Britannica notes that Alexei assured Stalin of the “feelings of profound love and gratitude” with which all “church workers” were inspired. Now, church leaders everywhere pleaded with their followers to give their support to the Communist government. And the government rewarded some of the clergy for their effort by giving them medals.

Church leaders told their followers that the fight against the Nazi invaders was, not only in defense of the Soviet Union, but also in defense of Christianity. The churches took up collections to buy weapons. By January of 1943 the donations were enough to equip a squadron of fighter planes. Another contribution equipped a tank unit, and when this unit was turned over to the Red Army in a solemn ceremony, Metropolitan Nikoloy praised Stalin as “our common Father.”

Finally, by 1945, the German armies were rolled back. Soviet troops advanced into Germany. To commemorate these events, an assembly was convened under the direction of Patriarch Alexei. The assembly adopted a proclamation in which the victories of the Red Army were praised as victories of Christ over the forces of darkness. The proclamation stated: “Everyone can see whose weapons [those of the Soviets] our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed and whose weapons [those of the Germans] did not receive such blessing.” A few days later the Communist leaders expressed their gratitude for the effort put forth by the churches.

A Change of Heart?

Did the change in attitude by the government indicate a true change of heart toward religion? By no means. As the book Europe Since 1939 states:

“Strictly secular objectives impelled the Soviet masters, who were materialistic atheists, to extend concessions to religious sentiments. Religiously inclined citizens in the USSR, it was reasoned, would support the state at war more fully; animosity toward the Communist way of life among Christians in allied countries to the west would be tempered, and devout Orthodox Christians in the Balkan peninsula would sympathize more warmly with Russia.”

Did these tactics succeed? The author of the book just mentioned, Arthur J. May from the University of Rochester, states: “In greater or lesser degree, all of these aims were achieved through the moderation adopted by the Kremlin.” Another result he observed was that “in the sphere of religion, as indeed everywhere else, the cult of Stalin flourished.”

Religion had become useful to the Communists! How useful can be seen even after the war’s end. In the book The Soviet Union: The Fifty Years, edited by Harrison Salisbury, we read: “With the war’s end, church leaders fell in with the Cold War demands of Stalin’s foreign policy.”

At an Easter celebration in 1949, a typical incident occurred. During midnight services at Moscow’s Yelokhovsky cathedral, Patriarch Alexei pronounced God’s blessing on the leader of the Soviet state, Joseph Stalin. And, in 1950, Alexei sent a telegram to the United Nations Security Council protesting “United States aggression in Korea.”

It becomes obvious, then, that the Soviet leadership’s concessions were politically motivated. By this means the churches would be more cooperative. In addition, with the government approving only those clergymen loyal to the State, religion could be completely regulated in harmony with Communist goals.

There could be no doubt that the changes did not represent a real change of heart. The Communists’ objective was still the strangulation of all religion. But their tactics were becoming more subtle. They saw the advantage of using “salami tactics,” whittling away the power and support of religion gradually. This would avoid the undue arousing of opposition, or the creating of martyrs for religion, as had been the case with the head-on tactics used at first.

Of course, not everybody abroad or even in the Soviet Union was convinced that high church officials were all genuine churchmen. The extent of their compromising caused some of them to be accused of being government agents put in office to control the churches. The accusers pointed out that other high clergymen who had opposed Communism had been imprisoned or killed. But the favored clergy were able to move about freely and continue in their offices.

Whether such high clergymen were direct agents of the government or not, the effect was the same. They worked closely with the Communist government to accomplish its aims. And one of those aims was still the determination to kill religion.