Dum Maerenti Animo, an Apostolic Letter  of Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

  to the faithful in Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

 regarding their persecution

Persecution

Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...

s 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

Pope Pius XII describes a decade of ” the most terrible and saddest persecutions” in these regions. The Church has lost its freedom, Church associations and religious institutes were closed, bishops cannot operate, or worse, they are jailed or exiled. Both, the Catholic faithful of the Latin and Oriental rites are suffering, but the Eastern Church has been forced to disband or unite with the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

. All Eastern cardinals, József Mindszenty, Aloysius Stepinac

Aloysius Stepinac

Aloysius Viktor Stepinac , also known as Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, was a Croatian Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 to 1960. In 1998 he was declared a martyr and beatified by Pope John Paul II....

 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

Angelus

The Angelus is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ The Angelus (Latin for "angel") is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus...

.

The letter mentions that some Christians loose 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.

Quotations

• • Daily we implore God’s powerful support, to strengthen your faith, to reduce your anxieties, to comfort you with heavenly graces. May he bring back the misled members of his mystical body. May he, after quieting of the present turbulence, restore fully his peace, based on truth and justice.

• • Our Redeemer never forgets His Church. You know this. He never abandons her. As the waves around the little boat of Peter grow larger, He is awake, even if he appears to sleep. “I am with you every day to the end of time”. But, if He is with us, who is against us? Christ is with you, and will never deny his divine support, if you only ask him.

• • Be assured, 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, so you may not fall under the harsh atheistic attacks or the deceitful errors. She prays also for those who persecute you, as the Christian Law of Love requires. May they find forgiveness from Him, who lovingly waits for the return of all His lost sons.