The spectre haunting Eastern Christianity: Kyrillos Loukaris
Kyrillos Loukaris (d. 1638) is the spectre haunting Eastern Christianity since the Early Modern period. This Greek Patriarch of Constantinople owes most of his enduring fame to a “Calvinist” Confession of Faith that was first published in Latin in Geneva in 1629, and then in Greek, with additions, in 1633. Translated into French, English, German, and Italian, and re-edited several times, the laconic text triggered passionate debates across Europe. Consequently, it forced Eastern Christianity to address theological issues it had never tackled before. Although declared a Hieromartyr by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in June 2009—a decision confirmed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in January 2022—Loukaris remains a controversial figure. There is no doubt, however, that he played a catalytic role in the making of Eastern Orthodoxy.
Title:
“Kyrillos Patriarch of Constantinople, aged 62, year 1632” (Cyrillus Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus, aetatis 62, anno 1632). Geneva – International Museum of the Reformation (Musée international de la Réforme). Painting (possibly 1632). Anonymous.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Lucaris#/media/File:Cyril_Lucaris_1632_Geneva.jpg
