A VICAR who works in astonishingly difficult circumstances in the only remaining Anglican church in Iraq has spoken of his experiences to a crowded church in York.

Canon Andrew White, dubbed the “Vicar of Baghdad”, has been kidnapped and attacked while working in his role at St George’s Church, outside the Green Zone in Baghdad.

He is known for his work in the country as a mediator to maintain communication between Shia and Sunni leaders, and to “gain trust of key religious leaders on both sides in various conflict areas”.

Speaking to an audience at St Michael le Belfrey Church, Canon White spoke of how 273 of his 4,000-strong congregation have been killed in the last 15 months.

He said: “We are bombed, we are shot... I have been thrown into rooms with chopped toes and fingers but God preserves us.

“The greatest thing we have learned is that when we have lost everything, Jesus is all we have left.”

Canon White, who said he has 35 guards, told the meeting how his life and those around him were in constant danger. He said after they secretly carried out the baptisms of 13 Muslims, 11 of them were murdered. But he said that he felt there was a strong sense of hope in the church, which includes all Christian denominations.

His church compound also functions as a dentist, pharmacy, laboratory and school and provides groceries to those in the congregation – costing $177,000 a month to run.

After the talk he met 90-year-old Irene Whittle, from New Earswick, who was a matron at the church’s hospital in the 1940s.

Canon White held a series of meetings at St Michael le Belfrey and Archbishop Holgate’s CE School yesterday.

Having worked for many years in Israel and Palestine, which included negotiating the end of the Bethlehem siege in 2002, he now works in Iraq.

Canon White, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early 30s, is also president of The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, which specialises in engaging religious leaders in dialogue.