Cyril Lucaris
A Cretan who was patriarch of Alexandria and then of Constantinople. A confession with Reformed teaching was printed under his name; the Synod of Jerusalem of 1672 denied that he wrote it and condemned its doctrine.
The Synod of Jerusalem calls him “Cyril Lucar of Crete” and says that he became pope of Alexandria and was then translated to the throne of Constantinople (Synod of Jerusalem, Acts preamble, pp. 16–17) (Synod of Jerusalem, Acts ch. 1, pp. 18–20). The confession that bears his name is dated at Constantinople in January 1631 (Confession of Cyril Lucaris heading and close).
Who wrote that confession was disputed. The synod of 1672 says that Cyril denied the chapters on oath many times, that no undisputed work of his contains their teaching, and that a synod at Constantinople nevertheless anathematised him by name because he never wrote against them (Synod of Jerusalem, Acts preamble, pp. 16–17) (Synod of Jerusalem, Acts ch. 1, pp. 18–20) (Synod of Jerusalem, Acts pp. 106–108). The same synod judges him harshly on other grounds: it says that he gained the throne of Constantinople four times, three of them unlawfully and with the help of the Dutch ambassador, and that he was put to death, and it refuses to count him a saint (Synod of Jerusalem, Acts p. 77). See the Synod of Jerusalem and the Confession of Dositheus.
In the timeline
- 16 March 1672, firm dateThe Synod of Jerusalem and the Confession of Dositheus
Gathered for the dedication of the rebuilt church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, a synod under Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem rejects a confession with Reformed teaching printed under the name of Cyril Lucaris and sets out Orthodox doctrine in eighteen decrees.