Sentence:  The priests and nuns in the camp proved that they had real strength of character. One rarely met that except in deportees who were animated by faith in an ideal. Apart from the clerics, only the active members of the underground, or the militant communists, had that spirit. Many of the <WSD>ecclesiasts</WSD> were executed shortly after they arrived. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A cleric; someone (such as a priest) who administers a church (ecclesia) or other religious gathering/group.