"Leonida Pop, who was stripped of his priesthood in the 1970s under Securitate's pressure due to his views considered reactionary by the Communists, and who subsequently fled to West Germany where he worked for a while for Radio Free Europe, told BBC that many of the leaders of the Church in 2006 would not be strangers to collaboration with the Securitate.He said that during the Communist regime it was not possible to advance in the Church hierarchy without the consent of and collaboration with the Securitate.