Cyril I of Constantinople | |
|---|---|
| Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople | |
 Cyril I of Constantinople, 1632 | |
| Church | Church of Constantinople |
| In office | October 1612 (21 days) 4 November 1620 – 12 April 1623 22 September 1623 – 4 October 1633 11 October 1633 – 25 February 1634 April 1634 – March 1635 March 1637 – 20 June 1638 |
| Predecessor | Neophytus II of Constantinople |
| Previous post | Greek Patriarch of Alexandria as Cyril III |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 November 1572 |
| Died | 27 June 1638 (aged 65) Bosporus, Ottoman Empire |
Cyril I of Constantinople | |
|---|---|
 17th century depiction of Lucaris | |
| Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Pope andPatriarch of Alexandria Hieromartyr | |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized |
|
| Majorshrine | Monastery of Panagia Kamariotissa, Halki |
| Feast | 27 June |
| Attributes | Eastern episcopal vestments, holding aGospel Book or a crosier. He is depicted as having a big white beard. |
Cyril I of Constantinople (Cyril Lucaris orKyrillos Loukaris (Greek:Κύριλλος Λούκαρις; 13 November 1572 – 27 June 1638) was aGreekprelate and theologian, and a native ofHeraklion,Crete (then under theRepublic of Venice).[1] He later became theGreek Patriarch of Alexandria asCyril III andEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople asCyril I.[citation needed] He has been said to have attempted a reform of theEastern Orthodox Church alongCalvinistProtestant lines.[2][1] Attempts to bring Calvinism into the Orthodox Church were rejected, and Cyril I's actions, motivations, and specific viewpoints remain a matter of debate among scholars. Cyril I islocally venerated as ahieromartyr in the Alexandrian Orthodox Church; theHoly Synod of thePatriarchate of Alexandria glorified Loukaris on 6 October 2009, and he is commemorated on27 June.[3][4]
Cyril Lucaris was born inCandia (Heraklion),Kingdom of Candia on 13 November 1572,[5] when the island waspart of theRepublic of Venice'sStato da Mar.[citation needed] In his youth, he travelled through Europe, studying atVenice and theUniversity of Padua, and atGeneva where he came under the influence of Calvinism and the Reformed faith. Lucaris pursued theological studies inVenice andPadua,Wittenberg andGeneva where he developed greater antipathy for Roman Catholicism.[1] Probably, during that time he was the Rector ofOstroh Academy.[6]
While the exact date is unknown, Cyril Lucaris was ordained in Constantinople.[7] In 1596 Lucaris was sent to thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth byMeletius I of Constantinople,patriarch of Alexandria, to lead the Orthodox opposition to theUnion of Brest, which proposed a union ofKiev withRome.[1] For six years Lucaris served as professor of the Orthodox academy inVilnius (now in Lithuania).[1] In 1601, Lucaris was installed as the Patriarch of Alexandria at the age of twenty-nine. He would continue to hold this office for twenty years, until his elevation to theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. During these years, Cyril I adopted a theology which was heavily influenced byProtestant Reformation doctrine. On 6 September, he wrote a letter toMarco Antonio de Dominis, a former Roman Catholic Archbishop, writing:
There was a time when we were bewitched before we understood the very pure Word of God; and although we did not communicate with the Roman Pontiff... we abominated the doctrine of the Reformed Churches, as opposed to the Faith, not knowing in good truth what we abominated. But when it pleased the merciful God to enlighten us and make us perceive our former error, we began to consider what our future stand should be. And as the role of a good citizen, in the case of any dissension, is to defend the juster cause, I think it all the more to be the duty of a good Christian not to dissimulate his sentiments in matters pertaining to salvation, but to embrace unreservedly that side which is most accordant to the Word of God. What did I do then? Having obtained, through the kindness of friends, some writings of Evangelical theologians, books which have not only been unseen in the East, but due to the influence of the censures of Rome, have not even been heard of, I then invoked earnestly the assistance of the Holy Ghost, and for three years compared the doctrines of the Greek and Latin Churches with that of the Reformed... Leaving the Fathers I took for my only guide the Scriptures and the Analogy of Faith. At length, having been convinced, through the grace of God, that the cause of the Reformers was more correct and more in accord with the doctrine of Christ, I embraced it.[8]
Due toTurkish oppression combined with the proselytization of the Orthodox faithful byJesuit missionaries, there was a shortage of schools which taught the Orthodox Faith and theGreek language. Roman Catholic schools were set up and Catholic churches were built next to Orthodox ones, and since Orthodox priests were in short supply something had to be done. His first act was to found a theological seminary inMount Athos, theAthoniada school.
In 1627, he authorised the establishment of a Greek language printing press in Constantinople, the first of its kind. However, the French government lodged an official protest with Ottoman authorities once the press began to publish anti-Catholic polemics, and as a result, Ottoman authorities ordered its closure one year later.[9]
He sponsoredMaximos of Gallipoli to produce the firsttranslation of the New Testament inModern Greek.[10]
Cyril I's aim was to reform theEastern Orthodox Church along Calvinistic lines, and to this end he sent many young Greek theologians to the universities ofSwitzerland, thenorthern Netherlands andEngland.[1] In 1629 he published his famousConfessio (Calvinistic doctrine), but as far as possible accommodated to the language and creeds of the Orthodox Church. It appeared the same year in two Latin editions, four French, one German and one English, and in the Eastern Church it started a controversy which brought critics at several synods, in 1638 at Constantinople, in 1642 at theSynod of Iași and culminated in 1672 with the convocation byDositheus II of Jerusalem,Patriarch of Jerusalem, of theSynod of Jerusalem, by which the Calvinistic doctrines were condemned.[11][1]
Cyril I was also particularly well disposed towards theChurch of England, and corresponded with theArchbishops of Canterbury. It was in his time thatMetrophanes Kritopoulos – later to become Patriarch of Alexandria (1636–1639) – was sent to England to study. Both Cyril I and Metrophanes Kritopoulos were lovers of books and manuscripts, and many of the items in the collections of books and these two Patriarchs acquired manuscripts that today adorn the Patriarchal Library.
In 1629 in Geneva theEastern Confession of the Christian Faith was published in Latin, containing the Calvinist doctrine. In 1633 it was published in Greek. The Council of Constantinople in 1638 anathematised both Cyril I and theEastern Confession of the Christian Faith, but theSynod of Jerusalem in 1672, specially engaged in the case of Cyril I, completely acquitted him, testified that the Council of Constantinople cursed Cyril I not because they thought he was the author of the confession, but for the fact that Cyril I hadn't written a rebuttal to this essay attributed to him.
The overwhelming majority of Greek and Russian Orthodox scholars (Ivan Malyshevsky,[12] bishop Arsenius Bryantsev,[13] Vasily Malakhov,[14] George Michaelides,[15] Nikolay Talberg[16]) have denied the authenticity of the "Confessio", which resulted in the canonisation of Cyril I in 2009 by theGreek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria,[17] and on 11 January 2022 by theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.[18][19]
Nevertheless, some scholars[who?] argue that the Confession was the work of Lucaris, noting "the evidence that (the Confession) is his is overwhelming. There is an extant manuscript that is clearly in Cyril I's handwriting. The language used echoes that of his other writings. We have multiple records of his having admitted it to be his, and none of his denial of it, nor of any effort to counter it".[20]
Cyril I was several times temporarilydeposed andbanished at the instigation of both his Orthodox opponents and theFrench andAustrian ambassadors,[1] while he was supported by the ProtestantDutch andEnglish ambassadors to the Ottoman capital. Finally, when theOttomanSultanMurad IV was about to set out for the Persian War, the Patriarch was accused of a design to stir up theCossacks, and to avoid trouble during his absence the Sultan had him strangled[21] by theJanissaries on 27 June 1638 aboard a ship in theBosporus.[citation needed] His body was thrown into the sea, but it was recovered and buried at a distance from the capital by his friends, and only brought back to Constantinople after many years.[citation needed]
Cyril I was honoured as a saint and martyr shortly after his death, and Eugenios of Aitolia compiled anAcolouthia (service) to celebrate his memory.[citation needed]
According to a 1659 letter toThomas Greaves fromEdward Pococke (who, on his book-hunting travels for archbishopWilliam Laud, had met Lucaris), many of the choicest manuscripts from Cyril I's library were saved by the Dutch ambassador who sent them by ship to Holland. Although the ship arrived safely, it sank the next day in a violent storm along with its cargo.[22]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lucaris, Cyrillos".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 92–93.| Eastern Orthodox Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Neophytus II (2) | Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1612 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1620 – 1623 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1623 – 1633 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1633 – 1634 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1634 – 1635 | Succeeded by Cyril II (2) |
| Preceded by | Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1637 – 1638 | Succeeded by Cyril II (3) |
