Cardinal Sako laments recent Iraqi insecurity, launches prayer initiative

Iraqi Christians at prayer (AFP or licensors)

Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, invites Christians to participate in a 3-day “Resurrection of Nineveh” fasting and prayer initiative for peace in Iraq, as the nation mourns last week's suicide bombing attack in Baghdad.

By Vatican News staff writer

Christians in Iraq have been invited to participate in a three-day fasting and prayer initiative dubbed “The Resurrection of Nineveh” for peace in the nation and for an end to the pandemic.

Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako is encouraging the faithful, beginning on Monday, 25 January and lasting for three days, to fast till noon or evening, with daily participation in special prayers and the celebration of Mass.

In a message, he explained that the name of the prayer initiative is inspired by the biblical story of Jonah, who was sent by God to preach to the inhabitants of the city of Nineveh but refused. Overwhelmed by a sea storm and swallowed by a large fish for three days, Jonah begs for God’s forgiveness. The Cardinal notes that the focus of the story is that God is not only for the Jews but is rather “a merciful God, a compassionate Father who takes care of all His sons and daughters whom He created, and desires their salvation.”

Cardinal Sako further noted that Nineveh was the site of a plague that struck Mesopotamia in the eighth century, and killed many people in a situation, not unlike that of the Covid-19 pandemic of our own times. At that time, he explained, the prophet Ezekiel invited the people to fast for three days for an end to the plague.

He highlighted that the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected the lives of millions of people, is a “global catastrophe by all standards, with its negative consequences for people’s health, social, cultural, economic and religious activities.” Therefore, as the faithful did in the past, Cardinal Sako continued, we can “turn this painful experience of the pandemic into an opportunity for grace and goodness, through a spiritual and social solidarity.” …

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