At the end of May, Bishop Michael and the acting Archdeacon of Wells, Jonathan Lloyd, welcomed Father Ayoob Adwar, formerly a monk and priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, to Wells, where he spent time with Bishop Michael at the Bishop’s Palace before visiting Wells Cathedral.
Fr Ayoob’s monastery and church of St George, Mosul (Nineveh), in Iraq, and the whole of his diocese were violently destroyed in a full-scale persecution of Christians in the country from 2003 onwards. Two bishops and 11 of his brother priests were murdered during these years.
Many sacred texts were destroyed during the persecution, but as the librarian of his monastery, Fr Ayoob was able to organise the transfer of hundreds of sacred manuscripts, books and scrolls, some handwritten from the sixth century, taking them in his car to be hidden in deep caves in the mountains of northern Iraq.
In 2014, Fr Ayoob escaped to Canada, where he was received into the Anglican Communion. He served a curacy in Vancouver with acting Archdeacon of Wells the Ven Jonathan Lloyd as his rector. Seven years ago, Fr Ayoob came to England after being appointed by Bishop Michael to a parish in St Albans Diocese, before moving to the Diocese of Southwark last year.
During his time in Wells, Father Adwar visited the Chained Library and spent time with librarian Jolene Stephens, who was able to show him a collection of books in Arabic, Aramaic and other Eastern languages, including the polyglot Bishop Walton Bible of 1614.
Reflecting on his visit, Fr Ayoob said, “It was a deep experience for me to read, hold and even smell again beautiful and sacred books in my languages that are safely at Wells Cathedral – it brought back both joy and sorrow in my heart and soul. Thank you for this very special experience. And thank you for the wonderful work of your Chained Library.”
After his library tour, Fr Ayoob was warmly welcomed to Choral Evensong by Toby Wright, Dean of Wells.