[2] Starting in 1949, the Communist government of Slovakia sought to develop ties with the local Catholic clergy and gain their support.
[3] The "patriotic priests" were considered politically reliable, supportive of the Communist regime, and were entrusted with positions of administrative authority.
However, the Catholic Church initially ignored it - when the bishop of Banská Bystrica, Andrej Škrábik, died on 8 January 1950, the former General Vicar, Daniel Briedoň, announced his appointment without seeking state consent.
After consulting the local progressive clergy, the government offered the office to Dechet, who accepted the position of "state administrator" of the Banská Bystrica diocese on 13 February 1950.
Additionally, Slovak Communists appointed two other pro-Communist priests to Dechet to act as chancellor and secretary of the diocese, and assigned him extensive state protection.
This proved to be a considerable issue to the Catholic structures in Slovakia, as per ecclesiastical law, all Dechet's decisions were invalid.
In order to solve the situation, the bishop of Nitra, Eduard Nécsey, validated all of Dechet's decisions.