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."

On the appointed evening, the vizier's janissaries broke into the building to arrest Metaxas. He was not there; And when, a few minutes later, he walked down the street, accompanied by the secretary of the English Embassy, they could not believe that this elegant gentleman in English suit was the one they were looking for. They expressed their disappointment by destroying the printing house and removing scraps of manuscripts and machine wreckage from there for all to see.

The printing house was put out of action. However, the plan failed. The Grand Mufti, to whom the vizier had sent Cyril's treatise, declared it harmless. Christians were allowed to assert their views, he said, even if they contradicted Islam. Scarcely had the vizier received this decision than Sir Thomas Rohe demanded an audience, attacked him for insulting a friendly power, and reminded him that he himself had given permission for the importation of the printing-house. Influenced by the Grand Mufti's decision, and knowing that Sir Thomas was on friendly terms with the Sultan, the vizier changed his policy. People who deceived him had to be punished. Three Jesuit brothers and Canaccio Rossi were thrown into prison. When the Comte de Cecy came to protest, he was received not by the vizier, but by his deputy, the Grand Kaimak, who told him that if he did not behave as an ambassador should, he would rather leave the country. Two months later, all the Jesuits were expelled from the Sultan's possessions. "They are ready to die of vexation because they have been exiled," wrote Sir Thomas Rohe. "I hope that they will disturb the unfortunate Greek Church as little as possible; their actions cost them twelve thousand thalers, not to mention the last attempt on the life and power of the Patriarch and on my honor."434

In the same year, Sir Thomas Rohe left Constantinople, taking with him, as a token of the patriarch's gratitude, a manuscript of the Bible known as the Codex Alexandrinus, which Cyril had brought with him from Alexandria and sent as a gift to King Charles I.435 The Comte de Cecy left three years later. His successor, the Comte de Marcheville, was allowed to re-establish the Jesuits as his chaplains. But the prestige of the French embassy was not high. In Rome, it was decided to entrust further action against Cyril to the ambassador of the Austrian emperor, Rudolf Schmid-Schwarzenhorn, who arrived at the beginning of 1629. Meanwhile, the tasks of the Jesuits were transferred to the Capuchins. The famous Father Joseph, the "gray cardinal" of Richelieu, was assigned to Constantinople to organize a campaign; Richelieu, however, forbade him to leave France. In the meantime, the Congregation was debating the extent to which bribery and intrigue could be legally used to destroy such a dangerous heretic.

Cyril Lukaris was supposed to play into their hands. Sir Thomas Rohe's departure was a blow to him. He quickly struck up a friendly relationship with Sir Thomas's successor, Sir Peter Witch. In 1635 he became godfather to Sir Peter's son, the future President of the Royal Society; he was also on good terms with Edward Pocock, chaplain at Aleppo from 1630 to 1638, who visited Constantinople from time to time. But his long-time correspondent, Archbishop Abbott, had been in disgrace since 1627 and died in 1633, and although his successor, Archbishop Laud, was interested in the Greek Church, neither he nor King Charles I could have a sympathetic attitude towards a bishop known as a Calvinist. Kirill had to rely more and more on his Dutch friends. In the autumn of 1628, a new chaplain arrived at the Dutch embassy. He was a Savoy Huguenot, named Antoine Léjé, who was educated in Geneva and associated with the Calvinists. He soon became a close friend of the patriarch, reinforcing Cyril's theological views and perhaps persuading him to express them openly. The printing house in Constantinople was destroyed; but Léger agreed that the Geneva printing house would print any work that Cyril offered.437

The first book published by Cyril was a translation of the New Testament into modern Greek, made by the learned monk Maximus Kallipolitos. For many Orthodox Christians, the very idea of changing the text of the Holy Scriptures is not the same. seemed outrageous, however incomprehensible it may be to the modern reader. To appease them, Cyril published the original and modern texts in parallel columns, and added only a few indisputable remarks and references. Since Kallipolit died shortly after the manuscript was delivered, Cyril read the proofs himself. The book was published in 1630, and despite Cyril's precautions, it provoked a storm of disapproval from many of his bishops.438

The bishops were even more amazed when it became known that the Patriarch had written a highly controversial book. Cyril Lukaris's Confession of Faith was published in Geneva in March 1629 with a dedication to van Haag. A manuscript of the Greek text, written by Cyril and dated 1631, is preserved in Geneva. This text was published with a Latin translation in Geneva in the same year and was reproduced in 1633. Translations into various European languages followed; The English version, without addition, was published by Nicholas Bourne in London in 1629, and a complete English translation was published in 1671 in Aberdeen, translated by William Wright.439

The Orthodox Church has never set itself the goal of bringing together dogmatic propositions. In the "Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith" of St. John of Damascus, everything that was necessary was said, although later councils could shed light on incomprehensible or controversial questions. But various patriarchs from time to time published summaries on doctrinal issues, usually for practical purposes. Gennadius himself prepared such a text at the request of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror; Jeremiah II's response to the Lutherans was of the same kind. Such expositions were of a completely private character.440 They were respected because they came from the patriarchal office, and also because of the personal reputation of the compilers. But they could not be binding on the Church, since they were not confirmed by the Ecumenical Councils. They were supposed to serve as a guide, not proclaim dogmas. It is clear that Cyril published his "Confession of Faith" in the hope of strengthening his flock in anti-Latin sentiments and laying the foundation for the reform of the modern Orthodox Church, as well as creating a basis for negotiations with other Churches.