“The majority of political and religious leaders still don’t talk about it. The religious leaders seem to be more concerned with who is doing the flower arranging on a Sunday and whether a gay priest is going to be ordained or not.
Multiple attacks by Islamists on St George’s has prompted the Iraqi government to set up three checkpoints to protect the church.
The new security measures make it virtually impossible to attack the building and show “the government here cares about us,” Canon White – known as the “vicar of Baghdad” – says.
However the violence targeted against Christians in Baghdad and elsewhere in the region continues.
This weekend Lord Sacks, the outgoing Chief Rabbi in Britain, warns that the plight of Christians in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Egypt is a tragedy “going almost unremarked”.
In an interview with The Telegraph Lord Sacks described continuous attacks on Christian believers and churches as “the religious equivalent of ethnic cleansing”.
The Chief Rabbi said being Jewish, “you cannot but feel this very deeply and personally”.
He likened the violence to the persecution faced by Jews in Arab countries following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
Canon White too says there is a worrying silence in British public life about the attacks on Christians in Iraq.
“The majority of political and religious leaders still don’t talk about it. The religious leaders seem to be more concerned with who is doing the flower arranging on a Sunday and whether a gay priest is going to be ordained or not.
“Most people have no idea this is going on – they really have no idea at all.”
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