@branman65 @maija @Terry As I stated above, they really had no choice because those who didn't lost their spot and were replaced by lackeys. The two ways to look at this issue as I see it:
>The bishops should have stood their ground because it was the morally correct thing to do and God does not want us to be cowards nor make peace with evil.
>The bishops held their tongue for the benefit of their churches and to protect the priests and leity within their care. Had every man with honest conviction spoke out, no one but dishonest non-believers would be left to lead and would potentially mislead millions.
That's all assuming that everything about Stalin is bad. He was at least Nationalistic in his views rather than attempting full erasure of nonrussian cultures, right?