Father, Forgive
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For most of his ministry Canon Andrew White has been involved in reconciliation.
'The kind of people I engage with are not usually very nice,' he writes. 'On the whole, nice people do not cause wars.' In Baghdad he lives daily with violence, and has conducted too many funerals. He knows what peacemaking costs. Before he left for Baghdad in 2005 Andrew was Director of the International Centre for Reconciliation in Coventry. He bases his book on Coventry's Litany of Reconciliation, which asks God's forgiveness for the hatred, greed, envy, indifference, lust and pride which corrupt our world.
Canon Andrew White is something of a legend: a man of great charm and energy, whose personal suffering has not deflected him from his role as one of the world's most trusted mediators and reconcilers. As a child and young man growing up in London Andrew was frequently ill. He set his heart on working in the field of anaesthetics, an ambition he achieved, but found himself called into Anglican ministry. He has since had a considerable role in the work of reconciliation, both between Christian and Jew and between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim. As Vicar of St George's Baghdad, the only Anglican church in Iraq, he lead a team providing food, health care, and education on a major scale and often in dire circumstances. Despite the pain from multiple sclerosis, he is frequently involved in hostage negotiations, and played a key role in ending the siege at the Church of the Nativity in Jerusalem. His personal friendships have included Yasser Arafat and Pope John Paul II. He has been kidnapped, and lives in constant danger. He is trusted by those who trust very few.