Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939)
is an English humanitarian and author.
Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...
,
Robert Runcie
Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely ...
, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
, he travelled to Lebanon to try to secure the release of four hostages, including the journalist
John McCarthy. He was himself kidnapped and held captive from 1987 to 1991.
After his release he wrote ''Taken on Trust'', a book about his experiences, and became involved in humanitarian causes and charitable work.
Early life and career
The son of a village policeman in
Styal, Cheshire, Waite was educated at Stockton Heath County Secondary School where he became
head boy
Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...
.
Although his parents were only nominally religious, he showed a commitment to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
from an early age and later became a Quaker and an Anglican.
Waite joined the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
at
Caterham Barracks, but an allergy to a dye in the uniform obliged him to depart after a few months. He then considered a monastic life, but instead joined the
Church Army
The Church Army is an evangelistic organisation and mission community founded in 1882 in association with the Church of England and now operating internationally in many parts of the Anglican Communion.
History
The Church Army was founded in ...
, a social welfare organisation of the
Anglican Church
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
modelled on the
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...
, undergoing training and studies in London. While he was held captive in the 1980s, many Church Army officers wore a simple badge with the letter "H" on it to remind people that one of their members was still a hostage and was being supported in prayer daily by them and many others.
In 1963, Waite was appointed education adviser to the Anglican
Bishop of Bristol
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
,
Oliver Tomkins
Oliver Stratford Tomkins (9 June 190829 October 1992) was an Anglican Bishop of Bristol in the third quarter of the 20th century.
Early life and education
Born into an ecclesiastical family – his father was Leopold Charles Fellows Tomkins (a ...
, and assisted with Tomkins's implementation of the SALT (Stewardship and Laity Training) programme in the diocese, along with
Basil Moss
Basil David Moss (25 May 1935 – 28 November 2020) was a British character actor, who featured regularly on television in the 1960s and on radio in the 1970s.
Early life
He was educated at St Paul's School, which he followed with actor's traini ...
. This position required Waite to master psychological
T-group methods, with the aim of promoting increased active involvement from the laity. During this time he married Helen Frances Watters. As a student, Waite was greatly influenced by the teachings of
Ralph Baldry
Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf").
The most common forms ...
.
In 1969, he moved to
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...
where he worked as Provincial Training Adviser to
Erica Sabiti
Erica Sabiti was Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire from 1966 to 1974.
Kagwisagye Sabiti was born in 1907 in Nkore (later known as Ankole) in today's South-Western Uganda. He was educated at King's College Budo and Makerere Coll ...
, the first African Anglican
Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi
The Anglican ecclesiastical province of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi was formed in 1961 following the division of the diocese of Uganda the previous year. Prior to 1980, the province included Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga, in what was then the co ...
and, in that capacity, travelled extensively throughout East Africa. Together with his wife and their four children, Waite witnessed the
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
coup in Uganda and he and his wife narrowly escaped death on several occasions. From his office in Kampala, Waite founded the Southern Sudan Project and was responsible for developing aid and development programmes for the region.
His next post was in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
where, from 1972, he worked as an international consultant to the
Medical Mission Sisters
The Medical Mission Sisters (MMS) is a religious congregation of women in the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in September 1925 with a goal of providing the poor of the world better access to health care. They were formerly known as the "S ...
, a Roman Catholic order seeking to adapt to the leadership reforms of
Vatican II
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
. From this base, he travelled extensively throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe, conducting and advising on programmes concerned with institutional change and development, inter-cultural relations, group and inter-group dynamics and a broad range of development issues connected with health and education.
Archbishop's special envoy
Waite returned to the UK in 1978, where he took a job with the
British Council of Churches
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is an ecumenical organisation. The members include most of the major churches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. CTBI is registered at Companies House with number 05661787. Its office is in C ...
. In 1980, the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...
,
Robert Runcie
Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely ...
, appointed him the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs on the recommendation of Tomkins and Bishop
John Howe.
Based at
Lambeth Palace
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposit ...
, Waite again travelled extensively throughout the world and had a responsibility for the Archbishop's diplomatic and ecclesiastical exchanges.
[ He arranged and travelled with the Archbishop on the first ever visit of an Archbishop of Canterbury to China and had responsibility for travels to Australia, New Zealand, ]Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, the United States, Canada, the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
.
Hostage negotiator
In 1980, Waite successfully negotiated the release of several hostages in Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
: Iraj Mottahedeh
Iraj Kalimi Mottahedeh (Īraj Mottaḥeda; born April 30, 1932) is a retired Anglican bishop.
Mottahedeh trained for the priesthood at United Theological College, Bangalore and was ordained a deacon in 1958 and a priest in 1960, while serving a ...
(Anglican priest in Esfahan), Dimitri Bellos (diocesan officer), Nosrat Sharifian (Anglican priest in Kerman), Fazeli (church member), Jean Waddell
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Je ...
(who was secretary to the Iranian Anglican bishop Hassan Dehqani-Tafti
Hassan Barnaba Dehqani-Tafti (Hassan Barnābā Dehqānī-Taftī; 14 May 1920 in Taft, Iran – 29 April 2008 in Winchester) was the Anglican Bishop of Iran from 1960 until his retirement in 1990. Dehqani-Tafti was the first ethnic Persian to be ...
), Canon John Coleman and Coleman's wife. On 10 November 1984, he negotiated with Colonel Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
for the release of the four remaining British hostages held in the Libyan Hostage Situation, Michael Berdinner, Alan Russell, Malcolm Anderson and Robin Plummer
The Libyan hostage situation began on the morning of the murder of police constable Fletcher, 17 April 1984 and lasted until 5 February 1985 (294 days). In accordance with the hostage release agreement, reporting on the incident was restricted un ...
and was again successful.
From 1985, Waite became involved in hostage negotiation in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
and assisted in negotiations which secured the release of Lawrence Jenco and David Jacobsen
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
. American officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
government of Iran with a view to obtaining Iranian help in the release of hostages held in Lebanon. Waite's use of an American helicopter to travel secretly between Cyprus and Lebanon and his appearance with Lt Colonel Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...
, meant that he was compromised when the Irangate scandal broke in 1986. Against advice, Waite felt a need to demonstrate his continuing trust and integrity, and his commitment to the remaining hostages.
Captivity and release
Waite arrived in Beirut on 12 January 1987 with the intention of negotiating with the Islamic Jihad Organization
The Islamic Jihad Organization – IJO ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي, Ḥarakat al-Jihād al-'Islāmiyy) or ''Organisation du Jihad Islamique'' (OJI) in French, but best known as "Islamic Jihad" (Arabic: ''Jihad al-Islami'') for ...
, which was holding hostages, including Terry A. Anderson and Thomas Sutherland. On 20 January 1987, he agreed to meet the captors of the hostages as he was promised safe conduct to visit the hostages, who, he was told, were ill. The group broke trust and took him hostage on 20 January 1987. Waite remained in captivity for 1,763 days, the first four years of which were spent in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
. He was finally released on 18 November 1991.
Release and after
Following his release he was elected a fellow commoner
A commoner is a student at certain universities in the British Isles who historically pays for his own tuition and commons, typically contrasted with scholars and exhibitioners, who were given financial emoluments towards their fees.
Cambridge
...
at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...
where he wrote his first book, ''Taken on Trust'', an account of his captivity in Lebanon. It became a best-seller
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cook ...
in the UK and internationally.
Waite decided to devote himself to study, writing, lecturing and humanitarian activities. His second book, ''Footfalls in Memory'', a further meditation on his captivity in Lebanon, was published in the UK in 1995 and also became a best-seller. His most recent book, published in October 2000, ''Travels with a Primate'', is a humorous account of his journeys with his former boss, Robert Runcie. Waite has also contributed articles to many journals and periodicals, ranging from ''Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...
'' to the ''Kipling Journal'', and has also supplied articles and forewords to many books.
On 31 March 2007, Waite offered to travel to Iran to negotiate with those holding British sailors and marines seized by Iran in disputed waters on 23 March 2007.
Charity work
In January 1996, Waite became patron of the Warrington Male Voice Choir
Warrington Male Voice Choir is one of Great Britain's oldest choirs, tracing its formation to 1898. During its long history the choir has travelled widely and has performed in many famous concert halls and cathedrals throughout the United Kingdom, ...
in recognition of the humanitarian role adopted by the choir following the Warrington bomb attacks
The Warrington bombings were two separate bomb attacks that took place during early 1993 in Warrington, Cheshire, England. The first attack happened on 26 February, when a bomb exploded at a gas storage facility. This first explosion caused e ...
. Since then, he has appeared with the choir for performances in prisons in UK and Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
to assist in rehabilitation programmes. Prison concerts have become a regular feature of the choir's Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
activities.
Waite is co-founder and president of the charity Y Care International (YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
's international development and relief agency) and in 2004, he founded Hostage UK Hostage International, formerly Hostage UK, is a charity which aims to support the families of hostages and former hostages by providing emotional and practical care both during and after kidnap. Hostage International primarily assists individuals ...
, an organisation designed to give support to hostage families. Waite became president of Emmaus UK
Emmaus (french: Emmaüs, ) is an international solidarity movement founded in Paris in 1949 by Catholic priest and Capuchin friar Abbé Pierre to combat poverty and homelessness. Since 1971 regional and national initiatives have been groupe ...
, a charity for formerly homeless people, shortly after his release from captivity in 1991.
He is patron of several organisations including Storybook Dads
Storybook Dads is a non-profit charity in the UK founded by Sharon Berry and first launched in HM Prison Dartmoor in 2003. The charity enables serving prisoners and detainees to record bed time stories which can then be sent home to their child ...
, a UK charity which allows prisoners to send recordings of themselves reading bedtime stories to their own children, to help stay connected to some of the 200,000 children affected by parental imprisonment each year. He is a patron of Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a C ...
Great Britain, the Romany Society and Strode Park Foundation in Kent.
Faith perspective
Waite has a particular regard for Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonic ...
and the writings of Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, ph ...
. In 2008, he joined the Religious Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
or Quakers.
In 2004, Waite returned to Beirut for the first time since his release from captivity. He told the BBC, "If you are bitter, it will eat you up and do more damage to you than to the people who have hurt you."
Waite travelled again to Beirut in December 2012 to reconcile with his captors and lay to rest what he described as the ghosts of the past.
Awards and honours
In 1991, following his release Waite was elected a fellow commoner
A commoner is a student at certain universities in the British Isles who historically pays for his own tuition and commons, typically contrasted with scholars and exhibitioners, who were given financial emoluments towards their fees.
Cambridge
...
at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...
. In 1992, Waite received the Four Freedoms Award
The Four Freedoms Award is an annual award presented to "those men and women whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles which United States, US President of the United States, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaime ...
for the Freedom of Worship. In the same year, Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_cha ...
made him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; la, Legis Civilis Doctor or Juris Civilis Doctor) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees.
At Oxford, the degree is a higher ...
. In 2001, Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...
awarded him an honorary Doctor of Philosophy. On 30 May 2009, at a ceremony in Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The present ...
, the Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...
made him an honorary D.Univ. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Chester
, mottoeng = "He that teacheth, on teaching"
, former_names =
, established = (gained university status in 2005)
, type = Public
, endowment = £395,000 (2018)
, budget = £118.3 million
, chancellor = Gyles Brandreth
, vice_chancel ...
in 2009.
In 2006 he was elected a visiting fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...
.
See also
*Le Commodore Hotel Beirut
Le Commodore Hotel Beirut, also known as the Beirut Commodore Hotel, Hotel Commodore, or simply the Commodore is a five-star luxury hotel located on Rue Baalbek in the Hamra district of Beirut in Lebanon.
History
During the Lebanese Civil War, t ...
* Lebanon hostage crisis
*List of kidnappings
The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each individual case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
Before 1900
1900–1949
...
* List of solved missing person cases
* Irangate
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
War Hotels: How Beirut's Commodore Hotel became a safe haven for world media (Aljazeera English documentary)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waite, Terry
1939 births
1980s missing person cases
British people taken hostage
Church Army people
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Converts to Quakerism
English Anglicans
English humanitarians
English memoirists
English people imprisoned abroad
English Quakers
English victims of crime
Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Foreign hostages in Lebanon
Grenadier Guards soldiers
Kidnapped British people
Kidnappings by Islamists
Living people
Missing person cases in Lebanon
People from Wilmslow
Quaker writers
Military personnel from Chester