The authorities in the camps did more than simply frown on such priestly activities. Officially, of course, they were against religion and had the power of the law and the Soviet Constitution, which forbade proselytizing, on their side. But there was more to their opposition than that. They knew priests had influence on other people. From the point of view of those in charge of the camps, therefore, that made priests especially dangerous no matter what they were telling their fellow prisoners. Accordingly, priests were called in regularly for interviews by the NKVD security agents.
