Following his Sunday Angelus prayer, Pope Benedict echoed a request made recently by His Beatitude Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, as well as other Iraqi bishops, calling for two days of prayer and fasting for peace in Iraq and throughout the world.

His Beatitude asked for “faithful, believers, and men and women of good will to come together in prayer and fasting on April 3 and 4 to implore from God the gift of peace and harmony in Iraq and throughout the world."

For his part, the Holy Father invited “everyone to follow the initiative of our brothers in that martyred land, entrusting this intention to the intercession of Mary Most Holy, Queen of Peace."