Vicar of Baghdad - My Journey So Far

Book excerpt: The remarkable story of Canon Andrew White, a man of great charm and energy and one of the world’s most trusted mediators and reconcilers. Combined in a single volume for the first time, The Vicar of Baghdad and My Journey So Far tell the story of how Andrew overcame a childhood beset by illness to become an anaesthetist and then a vicar in the Church of England. As vicar of St George’s Baghdad, the only Anglican church in Iraq, he has led a team providing food, healthcare, and education on a major scale and often in dire circumstances. He has had a considerable role in the work of reconciliation, both between Christian and Jew and between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslim. Andrew is widely recognised to be one of a handful of people trusted by virtually every side in the complex Middle East. Despite dealing with the pain from multiple sclerosis and facing extreme personal danger, he has nevertheless been able to mediate between opposing extremes. Political and military solutions are constantly put forward, and often fail. Andrew offers a different approach, speaking as a man of faith to men of faith. He is trusted by those who trust very few.