This is an alternative timeline, where Stalin fulfilled his purposes and became an Orthodox priest.
Yosef II of Georgia and the Caucasus, better known as Joseph Dzhugashvili or simply Father Joseph, was a Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, revolutionary, and ruler of the Transcaucasian Federation from 1921 until his death in 1957. He is often referred to as the "greatest restorer" due to his conservative and often firm views regarding to any proposed law or movement that he often labelled as a "Trojan horse of evil", especially amongst his ministers, who all agreed and encouraged ordinary citizens to prevent any type of liberality into the nation. He is seen as a controversial figure, especially amongst communists and liberals.
Early Life
Dzhugashvili was born in Georgia in the town of Gori, then part of the Tiflis Governorate of the Russian Empire and home to a mix of Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Russians, and Jews. He was born on 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1878 and baptised on 29 December. His birth name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, and he was nicknamed "Soso", a diminutive of "Ioseb". His parents were Besarion Jughashvili and Ekaterine Geladze. He was their only child to survive past infancy.
Besarion was a cobbler who was employed in a workshop owned by another man; it was initially a financial success but later fell into decline, and the family found itself living in poverty. Besarion became an alcoholic and drunkenly beat his wife and son. Ekaterine and Dzhugashvili left the home by 1883 and began a wandering life, moving through nine different rented rooms over the next decade. In 1886, they moved into the house of a family friend, Father Christopher Charkviani. Ekaterine worked as a house cleaner and launderer and was determined to send her son to school. In September 1888, Dzhugashvili enrolled at the Orthodox Gori Church School, a place secured by Charkviani. Although he got into many fights, Dzhugashvili excelled academically, displaying talent in painting and drama classes, writing his own poetry, and singing as a choirboy. Dzhugashvili faced several severe health problems: An 1884 smallpox infection left him with facial scars; and at age 12 he was seriously injured when he was hit by a phaeton, probably the cause of a lifelong disability in his left arm.
In August 1894, Dzhugashvili enrolled in the Russian Orthodox Theological Seminary in Tiflis, enabled by a scholarship that allowed him to study at a reduced rate. He joined 600 trainee priests who boarded there, and he achieved high grades. He continued writing poetry; five of his poems, on themes such as nature, land and patriotism, were published under the pseudonym of "Soselo" in Ilia Chavchavadze's newspaper Iveria (Georgia). According to Dzhugashvili's biographer Simon Sebag Montefiore, they became "minor Georgian classics" and were included in various anthologies of Georgian poetry over the coming years. As he grew older, his interest for priesthood and commitment only grew with time, and he began to dedicate most of his time and effort into achieving his main goal and strive to become a "man of purity" in his own words.
In May 1897, Dzhugashvili had completed his courses in Orthodox theological teachings, and thus, was eligible to officially become an Orthodox priest and begin duties of service, especially within Tiflis (Tbilisi), however, a particular event occurred in that same month which changed his entire viewpoint entirely, affecting him for the rest of his life as he felt that it "couldn't have any forgiveness whatsoever."

Dzhugashvili in 1939, after signing the Ivanov-Ribbentrop Pact.
On the 19th of May, 1897, a rebellion against the Tsarist rule of Russia occurred when a group of separatists stormed the Tiflis Governate in an attempt to take control of the autonomous region, which was quickly halted by the White Army's forces as they invaded and quickly exiled and deported every member who participated in the attempted coup d'état. Dzhugashvili was "heartbroken" when he was informed regarding the situation, and added that "The common man and God-fearing people are betrayed by these actions from the defender of the faith, I pray that the Lord will have mercy over all of us, sinners." Ever since this event took place, his views gradually shifted from a liberal, progressive stance, into a more conservative and tense view of the western nations (The UK, USA, France) for funding and supporting this particular event. Napoleon IV later mentioned that he was "neutral" when it came to this, who Dzhugashvili thanked for doing so.
Service Years.
During the First Russian Revolution of 1905, where the Tsar and his family allowed for more democratic changes within the Russian constitution and government, changing the absolute monarchy into a constitutional one, he greatly condemned this action, calling it a "loss from proper rule". He actively participated in the revolution by supporting and funding pro-monarchist revolutionaries, and as his priesthood wouldn't occur until the year of 1907 due to delays and other local factors which greatly affected the Orthodox Church after many instances where the revolutionaries, inspired by the French revolutionaries and Marxist ideology, damaged or denounced their reputation and buildings, which angered Dzhugashvili to the point where he decided to take matters into his own hands and fight for the Tsar during the revolution, deeming it the "most sensible thing to do."
He then was captured by some revolutionaries and was deported to a labour camp in Eastern Siberia where he commented about the misery and hardships in his poem (written in 1932), as well as constantly working hard labour until the October Revolution in 1917, when soon after, the Russian Civil War occurred, and as the war raged on, many Bolsheviks made all prisoners free and released them from all of the labour camps, and as Dzhugashvili was released from imprisonment, he managed to take a train through Siberia and into the Qing Dynasty's capital, Beijing, where he managed to reside within the city in a sanctuary until the end of the war. He was thankful for this kind act, appreciating the hospitality he received from many individuals. After the civil war concluded with a Bolshevik victory in 1920, he immediately returned to Tbilisi, where he would campaign for a new order and prevent any Bolshevik from entering the territory. He managed to persuade the population of Georgia into rejecting Marxist and Leninist ideology, whilst also simultaneously calling for a "defence force of the common man who fears the Lord" indicating that whilst some socialist laws was endorsed by him, the Marxist ideology was unacceptable in his eyes and did not promote brotherhood with the people, and rather, it violates the Lord's commandments by stealing and lying to people only to win their hearts and join forces with them, as well as consistently publishing propaganda against Christianity, and to this, Dzhugashvili, accompanied by many other separatists, formed the Transcaucasian Federation, with Tiflis as it's capital, banning "any communist or future extremist that comes in the Holy ways of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Church, stealing our peace and brotherhood with one another, and making us second-class citizens." During the 1921 General Election of the Transcaucasian Federation, he was elected by a landslide with 91% of the votes.
Just only three months into his election, the Red Army unleashed an invasion of the Transcaucasian Federation, aiming to gain control of the country and overthrow the government, with the long-term goal of establishing dominance over the Mediterranean and the Middle East. As they advanced into Sochi and managed to capture Abkhazia alongside the entire North Caucasus, Dzhugashvili's war minister, Abo Giorgadze, launched a counter-offensive in the north with the primary goal of retaking the city of Sochi, whilst also calling on a mobilisation effort in the what remained of the Federation. The predominantly Islamic Northern Caucasus as well as the Southern Caucasus now were able to mobilise enough soldiers to start a new frontier in the Soviet-Caucasian War. However, the operation failed and Transcaucasia had to hand the northern territories to the Soviets in 1922.

Dzhugashvili in 1921, after rising to power.
World War II
- There was relative peace within the Federation until 1939, when German forces invaded Poland alongside the USSR, in response to this, Alexei Ivanov, the foreign minister of Transcaucasia, met and formed a pact with Germany's Ribbentrop, in hopes of re-taking lost lands, however, this was later changed after Germany invaded the USSR and eventually Transcaucasia in 1941 and 1942, as such, both the Soviets and Transcaucasians joined forces and worked to defeat the Axis together, prompting a era of mutual peace, but strong discontent between the two still prevailed until Dzhugashvili's death in 1957. He is known as a controversial figure for many around the world, especially in the West.