Anne Applebaum, Iron Curtain.
Communist leaders instinctively hated and feared church leaders, and not merely because of their own doctrinal atheism.
Religious leaders were a source of alternative moral and spiritual authority.
They had independent financial resources and powerful contacts in Western Europe.
Catholic priests in particular were feared, both because of their close links to the Vatican and because of the perceived power of international Catholic charities and societies. . . .
The church's organizing power, even aside from its ideological power, was formidable. . . . .
Every Sunday, priests and preachers had a guaranteed audience.
Church publications had a guaranteed readership.
Page 256 of the Anchor paperback edition.
Sound like anybody we know?
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