Fr. William Henry Browne and the Assyrians

 

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

Fr. William Browne was the Oxford-educated master teacher who accompanied Fr. John McLean in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Mission to reinforce and help the Assyrians preserve their own history and tradition. 

This was during the time that Anglo-Catholics were working hard for the restoration of Communion with the Orthodox Churches. It was assumed that, by helping the Assyrians to preserve and renew their own ancient tradition, there would be new repartee between East and West, which would lead to the ending of many schisms. It was also hoped that the East would help Anglicanism rediscover its Patristic theological heritage, while England would provide a refuge for persecuted Eastern Christians in an Anglican Christian Empire. 

Sadly, both of these things did not come into full harvest, but our Jurisdiction is one of the Orthodox remnants of some of the earliest fruit of this sincere “Ressourcement”! Fr. Browne’s important and interesting work among the Assyrians is outlined in the excellent book by Suha Rassam, “Christianity in Iraq: Its Origins and Development to the Present Day”.