THE “vicar of Baghdad” has told a Hampshire congregation about the horrifying challenges facing his mission of Christianity in Iraq.

Andrew White, the Anglican Chaplain to the Iraqi capital, told fellow Christians at Southampton’s Highfield Church of the terrorism and violence that blights the lives of ordinary citizens and the church where he preaches.

During a series of addresses he said the number of Christian followers in the country has dwindled to around 200,000, from more than a million before the 2003 invasion.

Whilst most have fled to neighbouring countries or Europe, those left behind suffer discrimination in a country still gripped by religious fighting.

His congregation at St George’s Church is one of the few in Iraq that is growing, but there are often grave consequences for those leaving Islam.

Canon White said: “Last year I baptised 30 Muslims and 11 were killed in the following week.”

He added he was not against the British and American-led war, because: “I saw how evil Saddam was. I saw the effect on the people of Iraq. It was horrendous.”

But he revealed he has been left frustrated after funding was stopped for his charity reconciliation work aimed at bringing the Sunni and Shia communities together, which had been successful in securing the first joint fatwa against violence in Iraq.

Canon White said: “I say to my people: ‘You have to love your enemies’.

“I told the children (at St George’s) ‘we have to love our enemies’ and they talk about how they have even learned to love the people who blew them up.

“Love in Iraq is rather different to love here. You have to work at it for a long time.

“Listening to each other’s story takes one or two years and suddenly you realise you have similarity to the other.”

Reverend Graham Archer, Vicar of Highfield said: “It has been abundantly clear from listening to Andrew how serious a challenge Iraq as a country continues to face.

“His repeated testimony has been about Christian love - for enemy or neighbour, as a powerful agent of transformation.

“I am certain that we have much to learn from him about how we as a church can reach out within this city in love.”