LIPHOOK’S Canon Andrew White has a sombre message for Christians this Easter following last week’s terrorist attacks in Brussels which killed more than 30 people.

“As I keep saying, the Third World War is here,” he declared.

“I got together and discussed the events with some senior rabbis and Christian friends, who said the only way we could deal with terrorism is that it can never be carried out in the name of true religion.

“We now try and decide what we do as believers as we enter the Third World War.

“The announcement by John Kerry (the American Secretary of State) that the so-called Islamic State has committed genocide is long overdue but welcome news,” added Canon White.

“I hope this means governments will finally start backing the work we are doing on the front line, helping to shelter and care for thousands of Iraqi refugees.”

Last Wednesday, the president of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME) spoke at the British Government’s Easter service at Westminster Abbey.

“It happened immediately after the budget,” he explained.

“At every service I give away an olive wood cross. I always ask God who should this cross go to. This week God said give it to Ian Duncan Smith, who was sitting in front of me.

“I had to give four mini-sermons and the event was very well responded to, including by several cabinet ministers.

“Preaching at Westminster Abbey was a historic day for me, as it was the first time I had ever preached in a non-Cambridge academic hood.

“I wore the Toronto Doctor of Divinity Hood and stayed in the red and not the black.

“After the service I went to dinner with a journalist from The Daily Telegraph, who is writing a long article about me to be published next month.”

Canon White declared the week leading up to Easter as one of the most important ones in the Christian calendar.

“Palm Sunday is always a great time of celebration for Christians in the Middle East,” he said.

“In Baghdad, it was by far my most favourite service of the year and there was always such joy and celebration.”

During his brief visit to the UK, Canon White also had an interview at the American Embassy, in London, and has now been given a multiple entry visa for the next 10 years, after being declared a “terrorist threat” during his visit earlier this year.

For more details, visit frrme.org.