Are There Christians in Iraq? Yes!

And many of the Christians in Iraq worship in Baghdad with the Reverend Canon Andrew White who has courageously worked for religious reconciliation in the midst of Iraq's war. Tip of the hat and thanks to Lyle Skillen for connecting me to Canon White's updates from Baghdad. From an article published in the UK Times, January 23, 2009:

From Times Online
January 23, 2009
Wanted by God, but wanted by killers too
Canon Andrew White talks about life, work and death threats in the world’s most dangerous parish.

Michael Binyon

He drives to church in an armourplated car, escorted by 25 members of the Iraqi Army. As he preaches, he and his congregation are protected by soldiers cradling machineguns. Each week, familiar faces disappear — kidnapped, abducted or blown up by a suicide bomber. And each week politicians, generals, Muslim clerics and desperate mothers stream in to St George’s Anglican church to beg the help of an English vicar in ending violence, promoting dialogue and negotiating the release of hostages. For Canon Andrew White, fighting for peace has an all too literal meaning. His parish is the most murderous in the world: Baghdad.

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“Peacemaking of the old woolly liberal kind no longer works,” he writes. And the US military, he says, is vital to any effort. “Many people object to the idea that military action has an important role in peace- making, but I believe it more strongly now than ever.”

But he insists that religious figures are central to politics in Iraq. There is, in Iraqi eyes, no distinction. He is trusted and respected, he believes, because he is ordained — and because he belongs to no faction. His work in encouraging reconciliation has high backing — by Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury and a personal mentor, by Shia and Sunni clergy, by the Iraqi Government, US commanders and by President Bush himself, who wrote to him, just before leaving office last week, to “thank you for helping our people and sharing the Almighty’s love with the people of Baghdad”.

Read the whole article here.

Canon White has a new book out in the UK:
The Vicar of Baghdad by Andrew White (Times Books, £8.54)