SW News: The Chaldean Patriarchate is calling on all Catholic Chaldeans to fast for three days in the days leading up to Christmas in an effort to promote peace in Iraq and the globe.

People all over the world will observe a "special fast" for peace on December 21, 22, and 23 in anticipation of the joyful proclamation of Jesus' birth. It is critical to remember that Christmas "is not celebrated in remembrance of the past two thousand years ago," as Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako puts it in the invitation.

He continued by saying because faith can recognize the Lord, who is alive and works among us with "love and mercy," the "special" fast can also be accompanied by actual support for the needy families of Christian refugees who have been removed from the previous reception center by local authorities

According to Cardinal Sako, "the days of special fasting for peace could include abstaining from eating meat, fish, and alcohol and a renunciation of vicious attitudes such as slander, lies, envy, and pride."

Following the Angelus prayer on December 11, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to pray in front of the manger so that Christmas may bring "the light of peace" to children around the globe. He emphasized an end to the Ukraine crisis, which he asserted is "taking so many lives," both domestically and globally.

In the meantime, the new government of Iraq has made Christmas an "official holiday" for all Iraqis, which is a plea from al-Sistani for the country's citizens to come together and cohabit.

Cardinal Sako has been at the vanguard of all efforts, both spiritual and material, to stem the tide of the exodus of believers from Iraq and to secure for them a peaceful condition to coexist with Muslims in the Middle Eastern country.