"We are estranged from God with our deeds," wrote the patriarch in his message, "we do not fulfill his will, and we have abandoned piety, virtue and forgiveness and, because of this, the blood of so many brothers has been shed and so many children have been left orphans. "We must return, repentant, to the house of the Father to do the will of our sovereign God; to attain this sublime objective, we invite all Iraqis, in and outside of Iraq, and all believers and men of good will, to prayer and fasting on next Monday the 3rd and Tuesday the 4th, so that the Lord will restore peace, tranquility and security to Iraq, country of beloved Abraham."
After his Angelus message today, the Pope united himself to that message and encouraged all Christians to join
this initiative of our brothers of that tormented country, commending this intention to the intercession of Mary Most Holy, Queen of Peace."
(Maddeningly, none of the official translation services bothered to translate this. They usually don't bother to translate anything the Pope says after the official Angelus remarks --but it seems like today would have been a good day to make an exception!) Curtsy: Zenit.
