Canon Andrew White came and spoke to us at Evening Prayer on 19th February 2017. He gave a moving and sometimes humourous account of some of his work in the Middle East particularly among children.

 

In 2016 Canon Andrew White resigned from Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME). Despite his ongoing health challenges due to his Multiple Sclerosis (MS), he feels called to continue his relief and reconciliation work and ministry in Jordan, Israel, Palestine and hopefully other countries beyond the Middle East.

Canon Andrew White is something of a legend: a man of great charm and energy, whose personal suffering has not deflected him from his internationally recognised relief work and reconciliation work in Iraq and the Middle East.

Since ordination, Andrew White has had an extensive role in the work of reconciliation, bringing together Muslims and Christians, Israelis and Palestinians,
Shia and Sunni – all of which have carried huge risks.   In 2002, he partook in the Alexandria Process – an active dialogue between Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders to build understanding and work towards peace in Israel / Palestine. In 2004, following an escalation of violence in Iraq, he hosted the Baghdad Religious Accord which led to the establishment of the Iraq Centre for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace (ICDRP). In 2011, he chaired a summit of Iraq’s religious leaders in Copenhagen which produced the first ever joint Sunni/Shia fatwa against violence in Iraq.

Andrew White has also been involved in many hostage negotiations, and played a key role in ending the siege at the Church of Nativity in Jerusalem.  He has himself been kidnapped and to this day lives in constant danger.   Until recently, he pastored one of the largest churches in Iraq, St George’s Church in Baghdad, where he is now the Emeritus Vicar.

For his reconciliation work Canon White has been awarded several prizes, including the ICCJ Prize for Intellectual Contribution to Jewish-Christian Relations, the International Sternberg Prize, the Tanenbaum Peace Prize, the William Wilberforce Award, and the Anne Frank Award which was presented to him by the Dutch Government.