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Due to Turkish oppression combined with the proselytism of the Orthodox faithful by Jesuit missionaries, there was a shortage of schools which taught the Orthodox faith and [[Greek language]]. Catholic schools were set up and Catholic churches built next to Orthodox ones; Orthodox priests were in short demand. Lucaris fought the influence of Roman Catholicism among his flock. He had a printing press established in Constantinople to publish books and enlighten the believers and also had the Bible translated into modern Greek by Maximus Kallipolitis.
It is alleged that the great aim of Loukaris' life was to reform the Orthodox Church on Calvinistic lines, and to this end he sent many young Greek theologians to the universities of Switzerland, the northern Netherlands and England. In [[1629]], he published his famous ''Confession'' which was basically Calvinistic in 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. This started a controversy in the Orthodox Church which culminated, in [[1691]], in a convocation of a synod, by Dositheos, [[Patriarch of Jerusalem]], which condemned the Confession and Calvinist doctrines.
Cyril was also particularly well disposed towards the Anglican Church, and his correspondence with the Archbishops of Canterbury is extremely interesting. It was in his time that Mitrophanis Kritopoulos — later to become Patriarch of Alexandria (1636-1639) — was sent to England to study. Both Lucaris and Kritopoulos were lovers of books and manuscripts, and acquired manuscripts that today adorn the Patriarchal Library.
