Dum maerenti animo
Dum maerenti animo (June 29, 1956) is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius XII to the faithful in Eastern Europe regarding their persecutions and the persecutions of the Church. "The whole family of Christianity stands in respectful admiration before you, and what you suffer in silence for so long. She prays for God’s mercy. She prays also for those who persecute you." Context. Pope Pius XII describes a decade of "the most terrible and saddest persecutions" in Eastern Europe. The Church has lost its freedom, Church associations and religious institutes were closed, bishops impeded, or worse , jailed or exiled. The Catholic faithful of both the Latin and Oriental rites are suffering, but the Eastern Church has been forced to disband or unite with the Russian Orthodox Church. All Eastern cardinals, József Mindszenty, Aloysius Stepinac and Stefan Wyszyński are persecuted and jailed for their faith. The apostolic letter reminds of the 500th anniversary of the "Turkish bell" a prayer crusade ordered by his predecessors against the dangers from the East. He asks the faithful throughout the world, to pray for the persecuted Church in the East during the mid-day Angelus. Content. The letter mentions that some  Christians lose courage. Others argue, that the teachings of Christ should be updated, to fit their new realities. Pius calls this the wrong kind of reconciliation. Heaven and earth will disappear before His Word disappears. The Pope encourages to endure the tribulations, even if no contact with him or Church officials are possible. He assures the faithful in Eastern Europe, that all Christianity is full of admiration and united with them in prayer. Finally, he asks them to pray with him for those who persecute them.