Walking the Cross in Iraq

Each year I find a lens through which I look at the Holy Week services. There are several themes swirling around in my mind this year, but one person who seems to be a living illustration of all that this week preaches.

Photo: Geoff Ziezulewicz / S&S Click photo for full size. Canon Andrew White celebrates Palm Sunday with his flock in Baghdad's St. George's Anglican Church.He is the Rev. Canon Andrew White, the Anglican priest in charge of St. George's Anglican Church in Baghdad. Since 2005, Canon White has served a Christian community of 2000 souls that routinely faces kidnappings and murder. He is nicknamed "the Vicar of Baghdad" because very few Christians congregations are left, and he has the distinction of having more personal security (up to 35 body guards) than any other cleric on earth. The Pentagon arranges his transport. His ministry models for me what it means to walk in the way of the Cross.

When God moves people to assist him in leading the congregation up leaders for his congregation, Canon White tells them, "Your rewards will be out of this world," and he means that literally. His first year, his entire staff were kidnapped and killed. This year, a family pleaded with him to be baptized. A few days after their baptisms, they were murdered.  Canon White routinely negotiates for release of kidnapped parishioners.  Last year, over 190 were kidnapped.  He managed to secure release for about 40.

Canon White has been involved in reconciliation and negotiation/mediation efforts in the Middle East for over a decade.  He came to St. George's after the congregation was nearly wiped out in the violence following the start of the Iraq war.  He says that he could not resist their cry, "We have no one for us."  Today, the community that was established in the 1930s for English diplomats is teeming with Iraqi Christians.

What is even more remarkable, is that Canon White faces his own personal challenges as well.  Since he was 33, he has lived with Multiple Sclerosis which affects his speech and his mobility.  Yet, he is a person of tremendous energy and hope.  

Here are two links to stories about him and a link to a 60 Minutes interview:

Priest in Baghdad Fights for Parishioner's Souls - and their Lives (Stars & Stripes)

The Vicar of Baghdad - Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death (London Times)

Vicar: Dire Times for Iraq's Christians (60 Minutes)

Canon White is also author of Iraq: Searching for Hope , a first-hand account of his involvement with Iraq. (Link opens in Amazon.com)

Canon White' story reminds of the hope and the darkness that shroud this week.  His MS is his cross, his ministry in Iraq is the promise of Christ to be with us even in our darkest moments.  His hope and the smiles and laughter of his congregation despite the threats the face is Easter.

I can't help but feel both challenged and proud - proud that Canon White is an Anglican making a powerful difference in the world; and challenged in a way that makes me wonder if we worry more about power and less about the path of Christ in our current conflicts in the Church.