Cyril was an active patriarch of Alexandria. He moved the patriarchal see from the decaying seaport to Cairo, which was the administrative center of the province. He reorganized the finances of the patriarchy and reformed the school. He settled the strife in the Church of Cyprus; he also went to Jerusalem for the enthronement of his friend Theophanes.421 But life in Egypt, where he had to associate only with Greek merchants and provincial officials, was too secluded for a man of energy and intellect. He spent too little time among his fellow Greeks. His studies in Padua and contacts with Protestants in Poland led to his interest in new trends in Western religious thought.
This interest was strengthened by a friendship with a Dutchman, Cornelius van Haag, whom he probably first met during van Haag's voyage across the Mediterranean in 1598. From that time on, whenever Cyril was in Constantinople on business, he visited the Dutch embassy. At his request, van Haag ordered several theological books for him from Holland and put him in touch with the theologian Jan Witenbogert, a pupil of Arminius. Kirill was in correspondence with him for many years. His contacts with the Dutch were strengthened as a result of a trip to the Mediterranean in 161 ?? 619 by the Dutch theologian, David le Lude William, with whom he also began a correspondence.422 In letters to Dutch friends, he began to show a growing sympathy for Protestant teaching. In 1613, Cyril wrote to Witenbogert that he believed in only two Sacraments, and that they could not bring grace without faith, although faith without the Sacraments was equally worthless. He added that the Church of Greece retained many erroneous rites, although it had always admitted the possibility of error.423 In a number of letters to de William, he stressed the need to replace Greek excessive variety with "evangelical simplicity" and to be guided only by the authority of the Holy Scriptures. Scriptures and the Holy Scriptures. Spirit. He speaks of his suffering from what he saw in Jerusalem, where the behavior of believers seemed to him to be highly pagan. He is glad that his views are in full agreement with those of de Wilhelm on all theological questions.424 In a letter of 1618 to the Italian Marco Antonio de Dominis, who had left the Catholic archbishopric to become a Protestant, he expresses himself even more frankly. Cyril says that he finds the Reformed teaching more in line with the Holy Scriptures. Scripture than the teaching of the Greek and Latin Churches. He questions the authority of the Church Fathers. "I can no longer tolerate people saying that interpretations of human tradition are of equal value to the Holy Scriptures. Scripture," he writes. He adds that in his opinion, the worship of icons is disastrous, and he is even ashamed to admit that the contemplation of the Crucifixion helps his prayer. Invoking the saints, he adds, is an insult to our Lord.425
It is unlikely that Cyril shared these views with the Greeks. They knew him only as a capable and energetic patriarch who had foreign friends, as well as his firm opposition to Rome.
It was during these years that the Patriarchal throne of Constantinople was occupied by Neophytos II and Raphael II, who looked favorably on the union with Rome. When Neophytos allowed the Italian Greek to make a speech which openly called for union, Cyril was asked to preach a sermon against it and to remain in Constantinople to direct the action against the Latins.426 He was still there when Neophytos died in January 1612. By the majority of the Holy Synod, Kirill was elected Patriarch. But he could not, or would not, pay the Sublime Porte a certain sum to confirm his election. Cyril's opponents in the synod then put up another candidate, Timothy, bishop of Marmara, who promised the sultan and his ministers a larger sum than usual; and the synod was ordered to elect him.427
Timothy, chosen only because of his wealth, out of jealousy tried to cause trouble for Cyril in Egypt. Cyril even had to retire to Athos for some time, and then he visited Wallachia, whose ruler, Michael Bassarab, studied with him in Padua.
Earlier than 1617, he returned to Cairo, maintaining his Dutch connections. Thanks to these connections, his reputation in the Protestant world was very good. Around 1618 he received a letter from George Abbott, Archbishop of Canterbury (a Calvinist by conviction), proposing to send a number of young Greeks to study theology in England at the expense of King James I. In response, Cyril sent a Macedonian youth, Mitrophanes Kritopoulos, to England. The result, however, as it turned out later, was not favorable. Nevertheless, Abbott continued to correspond with Cyril.428 Patriarch Timothy tried to defame Cyril's good name by accusing him of Lutheranism. Cyril replied that since Timothy knew nothing about Luther and his teaching, he could not judge how far it could coincide with his own; therefore, it is better for him to remain silent.429
It is probable that, after reconciling with Timothy, Cyril again visited Constantinople in the autumn of 1620, and while he was there, Timothy died suddenly, and shortly after dinner with the Dutch envoy, a friend of Cyril. The Jesuits immediately spread the rumor that van Haag had poisoned him to make room for Cyril. Even if this were the case, the Holy Synod most likely did not object. Soon Kirill was unanimously elected patriarch. This time he paid the sum demanded by the High Porte.430
The Greeks must have been unaware of Cyril's theological inclinations; but they were well known to foreigners living in Constantinople. "As for the Patriarch himself," Archbishop Abbott wrote to the English envoy, Sir Thomas Rohe, shortly after Cyril's election, "I have no doubt that in regard to religion he is, as it seems to us, a pure Calvinist; this is how the Jesuits in those parts evaluate it."431
The Jesuits, with their connections throughout Europe, were, of course, aware of his relations with the Dutch theologians; and they soon asserted that the Greeks had heard of them.
Nevertheless, the patriarchate began well. When Sir Thomas Rohe, an eminent diplomat who had already served at the court of the Great Mongol, arrived in Constantinople in December 1621, he soon became friends with the Patriarch and was his main support until his return to England in 1628. although the Jesuits had the support of the French envoy, the Count of Secy, even they found it difficult to attack a bishop who had such powerful patrons. At the same time, the Greeks were impressed by the close relations of their patriarch with such distinguished foreigners.
Cyril's troubles began when the Jesuits, taking advantage of the suspicion of the conservative members of the Holy Synod, persuaded Gregory, Archbishop of Amasia, to put forward his candidacy for the patriarchal throne. In response, Gregory gave them a private promise to recognize the primacy of Rome over him. The intrigue became known to Cyril; Gregory was excommunicated. Not in the least frightened, the Jesuits went to the Grand Vizier, Hussein Pasha, and informed him that Cyril was in correspondence with the Russian Tsar. It was true. At the request of the previous vizier, he wrote to Moscow to obtain Russian support for Turkey in the war against Poland. Then they added that it was less true that Cyril had persuaded the inhabitants of the Greek islands to take a favorable view of the Florentine invasion. The vizier was shocked. Without waiting for Cyril's explanations, he ordered the synod to depose him, exiled him to Rhodes, and in his place elected Gregory of Amasia, who promised the Porte 20,000 thalers. But Gregory's reign lasted only two months. He was a poor man; and the Greek communities refused to contribute the promised money. He turned to the Jesuits; however, the sums expected from Rome were not received. In order to avoid arrest as a bankrupt, he abdicated the throne and left Constantinople. The Jesuits persuaded the Porte to demand the elevation of Anthimus, Metropolitan of Adrianople, in his place. He was rich and could pay 10,000 from his own funds, and by bribing the Turkish police he collected another 10,000 from the Greeks of Constantinople. Rome was triumphant. Pope Urban sent a letter to Count Cecy thanking him for deposing "the son of darkness and the accomplice of the devil," as he called Cyril. But while he was writing, the situation had already changed. Sir Thomas Rohe ensured Cyril's return from exile. Then Anthimus, a weak and good-natured man, began to be tormented by remorse. He wrote a letter to Cyril in which he asked for forgiveness for the usurpation. Despite the favor of the French envoy and the receipt of a subsidy from Rome, he insisted on his resignation. In October 1623, Cyril was again on the patriarchal throne.432
Kirill's first task was to improve the education system. He transformed the Patriarchal Academy, placing his classmate at the University of Padua, Theophilus Korydalleus, at its head. The materialist and scientific program introduced by Koridalles might have seemed to Greek ecclesiastical leaders unsuitable for a church school and created enemies for the patriarch in traditionalist circles. But now the Greek youths, who wanted to receive a modern education, were less dependent on Jesuit educational institutions than before. Kirill also understood that it is impossible to give people an education in the absence of good teachers and a sufficient number of books. To ensure this, he used his connections with the West to send promising students to Holland, Germany, and England to complete their education. In order to deliver the books, he not only used agents who bought them abroad, but also organized his own printing press.433
In 1627, this wish came true. A young Greek from Cephalonia, named Nicodemus Metaxas, went to his brother, who was a merchant in London, and there he founded a small printing press for the Greeks of London. He understood that the printing house would be more useful in Constantinople. He arrived there in June 1627 with his equipment and valuable collection of books. Upon learning of his arrival, the Patriarch asked for the assistance of Sir Thomas Rohe to smuggle the boxes through Turkish customs. With the help of the Dutch envoy, Sir Thomas obtained the necessary permission from the Grand Vizier. Cyril wanted the printing house to be installed on the safe premises of the British Embassy; but Sir Thomas could not consent to it. As a result, she settled in a small building nearby. Under the direction of Cyril, Metaxas immediately began printing theological books in Greek, most of which were anti-Latin treatises.
The Catholics did not like it. Pope Urban VIII, whose Greek printing house had been established only a year earlier, convened the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith to discuss the issue. The congregation has already tried to take action against Cyril. The Greek Catholic Canaccio Rossi was sent to Constantinople to persuade Cyril to adopt friendlier relations. When this was unsuccessful, Rossi was instructed to organize Jesuit efforts to overthrow Cyril. At a meeting in November 1627, the Congregation decided to destroy the printing house at all costs. Among the books published by Metaxas was a small ironic treatise on the Jews, written by Cyril himself. It contained, among other things, a passage enumerating the dogmas of Islam, which Christians could not accept. The Jesuits procured a copy, which was delivered through a French envoy to the Grand Vizier; This passage was emphasized. The ambassador added that the printing house was used to print false Sultan decrees. The vizier was indignant and easily agreed to the arrest of Metaxas and a search of his office to find evidence of disrespect and high treason. The ambassador suggested that it would be best to do this on the evening of Epiphany, January 6, 1628, when the English embassy would have a dinner in honor of the Patriarch. "This," said the Comte de Cecy, "will add sauce to the dishes."