The O.C. in the “Waterslide” – Folha de S. Paulo, October 3, 1971

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

The communists had found the formula to cause the “Orthodox Church” to decline and ultimately fall into total disgrace.

The strategy of compressions and decompressions triggered conflicting reactions within the hierarchy of the O.C., all of which resulted in capitulation and collaboration. Persecution caused panic. Concessions held the allure of bribery. Unlike the martyrs of old, the bishops surrendered to anything to gain security and bread.

The same system of compression and decompression transformed the masses of “orthodox” people through the action of the “fear-sympathy” stratagem, which I studied in an essay titled Unperceived Ideological Transshipment and Dialogue.

With each “razzia” of violence and atheistic propaganda, the large majority of “orthodox” people, overwhelmed by fear and misled into believing their powerlessness, no longer knew what to do. Therefore, in the eyes of the oppressed, the détente following the “razzias” appeared as an unexpected breath of relief and a gesture of genuine generosity. Carefully calculated, that “sympathy” and “generosity” sowed doubt among O.C. supporters: Were those communists truly so cruel? Was there no way to compromise with them? This question caused divisions among the grassroots of the O.C., sparking conflicts between “hardliners” and “soft-liners.” Consequently, this led to increasing splits and retaliations within religious circles. The strategy of fear and sympathy thus divided and choked the O.C. with two iron fists. One terrified people and turned them into apostates. The other attracted many sympathizers who jumped to the side of the bishops who sold out to communism. The few “diehards” had no choice but to hide in the shadows of the “Church of Silence.”

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I believe no symbol of the speeding-up of the degradation process is more fitting than the water slide. The rate at which men and institutions decline accelerates just like that of a body on the famous water sports ramp.

The Sanhedrin persuaded Judas Iscariot to betray Our Lord Jesus Christ. However, they did not go so far as to force the traitor to participate with the executioners in killing Him. Before the Russian Communist Revolution, the world believed it was impossible to surpass the Sanhedrin in hatred and wickedness. Nearly two thousand years after Jesus Christ, the Soviets set out to disprove that notion. They knew how to turn an entire court of panicked and corrupt bishops into tools for enforcing and strengthening the communist regime. True, these bishops were part of the O.C., not the Catholic Church, but they were still genuine bishops claiming to be successors of the Apostles.

Lenin died in 1924. In 1928, Stalin implemented his first five-year plan, which included a radical land reform that confiscated the land of countless small landowners. Naturally, unrest spread throughout Russia. Then, concentration camps were opened, and millions of discontented people were thrown into them.

At the same time, the godless movement reached its peak, and a severe persecution swept through all churches in Russia. The clergy, religious members, and laypeople who resisted communism faced violent persecution like never before. This terror regime continued until 1936. That year marked the beginning—still cautious and hesitant—of a period of religious “peace” and the O.C.’s final degradation.

After delivering this brutal beating, Stalin started to ease up on the persecution, which completely stopped in 1939. In 1940, the communist government began to dial down its anti-God propaganda.

As one might expect, sympathy for communism increased considerably due to this unexpected and “generous” détente.

A new development further strengthened the relationship between the collaborationist bishops and the communist regime. In 1941, Nazi troops invaded Russia. The high hierarchy of the O.C. then urged the people to fight alongside the communists. The “Orthodox” clergy started collecting donations for the resistance, and these donations became so plentiful that they funded the equipment of the famous “Dimitri-Donski” column. The collaboration of the O.C. meant arming a true crusade in support of the godless and against the neo-pagans of the swastika. It was a great opportunity for the bishops to seek a final reconciliation with Stalin!

Lies were a natural way to facilitate this reconciliation, or rather, betrayal. Metropolitan Sergius, the interim occupant of Moscow’s “patriarchal throne,” published a book titled The Truth About Religion in Russia, in which he blatantly claimed that there had never been religious persecution in communist Russia!

As might be expected, Sergius stated that his Church demanded absolute loyalty to communism from the people. What mattered was closing the doors to anticommunists. Thus, Sergius and the entire hierarchy of the O.C. (except for the “Church of Silence”) served as an instrument of the communist government to unleash a different kind of persecution against its opponents. It was no longer persecution by the state, which was police-like, bureaucratic, brutal, and at the same time indolent, but persecution by the O.C. itself, with religious weapons. Therefore, it was a refined, theological persecution that spared bodies but crushed consciences.

Things had reached the point desired by the communists. The O.C. had been completely sold out since the grand détente of 1939. It collaborated with communism by launching a “crusade” of “excommunications” against anticommunists.

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Since then, the O.C. has only acted as a propaganda tool for the communists both within and outside Russia.

I mention outside Russia because circumstances had changed. Stalin decided to adapt the compression-decompression game, or the fear-sympathy stratagem that had worked so well in Russia, for the international stage.

To this end, he relied on fear, gradually building propaganda in the West that would peak with the panic of atomic aggression.

On the other hand, he exploited the sympathy factor by using pro-communist groups of Catholics, Protestants, and schismatics, which began to swarm and metastasize worldwide.

It was all about persuading as many people as possible from all religions that communism was not the bogeyman they believed it to be.

The initial step in this deception was the farcical 1943 election of a “patriarch” for Moscow. Naturally, the obedient Sergius was chosen. This event marked the full normalization of relations between the O.C. and the Kremlin. Entranced by the comforts of this “modus vivendi,” Greek-Schismatic churches from all satellite nations began to orbit Moscow, backing the implementation of communism in the newly conquered lands. It was the first result outside Russia.

Would there be others? Twenty years of methodical work proved there would be.

A lengthy publicity campaign of sly omissions, counter-truths, and “bluffs” managed to weaken the memory of the godless dark age and religious persecution in many parts of Western opinion.

Post-Stalinist Soviet leaders launched a propaganda campaign to create the illusion that “something had changed” in Russia, portraying the new Kremlin occupants as smiling and peaceful “comrades.” The contrast between the brutal Stalin and the joke-teller Khrushchev symbolized this “thaw” effectively. “De-Stalinization” brought a sense of spring to the world.

Against this backdrop, it was easy to convince people that Russia’s era of religious persecution had ended. From there, it was only a small step to shaking hands with Sergius’ O.C. Many intelligent, cultured, experienced, and influential people in the free world were willing to take that step.

In 1962, as the Church’s largest Council in history gathered at St. Peter’s Basilica, John XXIII invited observers from all religions, including those from the pro-communist O.C.

According to widespread reports at the time, to accept the invitation, that organization imposed the condition that any attack on communism would be prohibited in the Council Chamber and that the Second Vatican Council would refrain from criticizing it.

I am unaware of any solid evidence that this condition was imposed. However, this is exactly how it unfolded as far as communism is concerned.