Iraqi Patriarch Sako calls on Christians to devote their annual “Nineveh Fast” to prayer for peace and stability in the Middle East and around the world.
By Joseph Tulloch
Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, is leading his country’s Christians in a three-day fast for peace in Iraq, the Holy Land and around the world.
The fast, celebrated each year on the eve of Lent, is known by Syriac Christians – ancient communities concentrated in the Middle East – as the Baotha d’Ninwaye or “Petition of the Ninevites.”
Prayers for “reconciliation and fraternal relations”
This year, most Syriac Christians observe the fast from January 22 to 24.
Patriarch Sako, whose Chaldean Church is one of the largest Syriac churches, calls on the faithful to offer fasting to God “for peace and stability in Iraq, the Holy Land, Ukraine and the world.”
The patriarch – whom Pope Francis created a cardinal in 2018 – called on believers to “fervently pray to Almighty God to inspire world leaders to seek peace and not war… and to achieve fruitful progress towards reconciliation, fraternal relations, love and tolerance towards others. the good of humanity. »
The “Petition of the Ninevites”
The Nineveh Fast takes place each year to mark the three days that the prophet Jonah spent in the belly of a whale. It is also a commemoration of the fast in the city of Nineveh after its inhabitants accepted Jonah’s call to repentance.
Many Syriac Christians abstain from all food and drink from midnight to noon each of the three days. Others avoid meat or animal products for the entire period, or not eat at all.
Syriac Christian communities, which draw on theological and liturgical traditions in the Syriac language rather than Latin or Greek, date back to the earliest days of Christianity.
Devastated by war and instability, they retain a tenuous foothold in the Middle East. There are also significant communities in southwest India and the diaspora.
Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic, the language of Jesus, which was once spoken throughout the region.
Iraqi children wave flags outside a church during Pope Francis’ visit to Mosul in 2021
