“Neofit said that he felt no guilt about complying with something that had been a requirement when travelling outside the country. State Security had been interested in conferences and meetings abroad and after his return from abroad, what had happened and what meetings there had been. This in no way prejudiced those with whom meetings and conversations had been held, he said, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported at the time.”

In other words, there’s more to the story of the Church surviving under difficult circumstances than fits under the rather uncharitable title of your post. One does not know what leverage was used against these Metropolitans, nor whether their status as agents amounted to substantive collusion or, as now-Patriarch Neofit has maintained, little more than the creation of a file containing a few trivial facts. It is well enough understood by those from Eastern Europe that enrollment as an agent often meant little more than the creation of an empty file.

Another example of the complexity is seen in the fact that one Bulgarian Metropolitan immediately offered his resignation when he was found to have a state file (which showed not more than *potential* collusion with the communist government), and this more than a year before it was revealed that he was a communist agent. In that instance, his diocese unanimously and roundly made him retract that resignation, as he is widely respected as a shepherd of utmost piety, integrity, simplicity…