Canon Andrew White was born in London in June of 1964. He was a student of surgery and anaesthesiology at St Thomas’ Hospital in London (his second favourite place in the world after Baghdad!) and qualified as an Operating Department Practitioner in 1986. He then went on to train for ordination into the Anglican ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He also spent time studying at the Hebrew University and an Ultra Orthodox Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Canon Andrew served as a curate at St Marks Battersea Rise in London and then became Vicar of the Church of the Ascension in Balham, London. In 1998 he became the youngest Canon in the Church of England and was installed as the Resident Canon of Coventry Cathedral and Director of the International Centre of Reconciliation (ICR). Coventry Cathedral has a history of International Reconciliation which goes back to 1940 when it was bombed and destroyed by the German Luftwaffe. ICR now has centres in over 50 countries. Initially Canon Andrew’s work focused on Nigeria and the horrific riots in Kaduna in 2000. From 2001-2003 Canon Andrew was the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official representative to the Middle East. He was the first to hold this position after the 5 years of imprisonment of his predecessor Terry Waite.

Canon Andrew White’s first visit to Iraq was in 1998 at the invitation of Saddam Hussein’s deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. This, and subsequent visits provided the opportunity to build relationships with many of the Religious and Political leaders of Iraq. 

In 2004 working at the invitation of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Canon Andrew helped facilitate the signing of the Baghdad Religious Accord in February 2004. The follow-up to this led to the formation of the Iraqi Institute for Peace (IIP) of which Canon Andrew was co-ordinator and International Director. The IIP provided a vehicle for inter-religious dialogue and was seen as a vital part of the reconstruction process in Iraq. This body has now formally closed but the essence of the work continues through Canon Andrew White’s current engagement. For example, in June 2007 with the 'Baghdad Accords', the Iraqi Inter-Religious Initiative was launched. Here, leading Iraqi Religious leaders who may not normally engage with official bodies or Governments come together despite huge differences and engaged with one another to reduce sectarian violence. The beauty of these meetings is that they are not single events but part of a process. Unexpected and good relationships develop between 'enemies' and these leaders provide role models for those who are under their influence. The religious leaders that are part of this process all have great influence in key areas such as the media, those who control violence, Politics and the masses. Since the initial meeting in Baghdad there are have 2 meetings in Beirut, 2 in Cairo and one in Amman. Please see the pages dedicated to Iraq for more details.

In 2002 a similar process between Religious leaders of Israel and Palestine was initiated by Canon Andrew White. This is known as the Alexandria Process after the Egyptian port where the talks took place. Please refer to the Israel/PNA section to find out more.Canon Andrew is now President of the Foundation of Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME). He is also the Anglican Chaplain to Iraq and Anglican Episcopal Chaplain to the International Zone in Iraq. He is Vicar of St George’s Church which is in the ‘Red Zone’ of Baghdad and has over 2,000 Iraqis in the congregation. He is also the International Advisor for the Center for Conflict Relief and Reconciliation, the FRRME’s sister organisation in the US which was set up recently by former FRRME staff.

Recognition: Canon Andrew White’s dedication to the pursuit of peace is internationally recognised. Honours conferred include:

- International Sternberg Prize

- The US Government Cross of Valor
- The International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) Prize for Sustained Intellectual Contribution to Jewish Christian Relations
- The Three Faith’s Forum Prize for Inter-Faith Relations (2003)
- Tanenbaum Peacemaker in Action Prize (2005)
- In 2003 made a Grand Commander of the Order of Merit of the Knights Templar of Jerusalem Woolf Institute Peace Prize (2007)
- Companion of the Community of Cross and Nails from Coventry Cathedral for his work on reconciliation in Israel and Iraq

He is author of three books: “The Vicar of Baghdad”, “Iraq Searching for Hope” and “Iraq, People of Hope and Land of Despair”, and co-authored "By The Rivers of Babylon" with Hope Jones. See our books page for more details.

Canon Andrew White is married and has two sons.