In 1913, he was a special guest in St. Petersburg of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia at the three hundredth anniversary of the rise of the Romanov dynasty to power.

Ghantus developed the desire for a career in the Holy Orders, and as a teenager requested of Archbishop Ghufara’el, who was Metropolitan of Archdiocese of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, to be allowed to join his ecclesiastical school.

Gregory was placed in charge of the St. Paul’s Society which was responsible for aiding the Orthodox Churches and schools of Mount Lebanon.

He continued with this responsibility until the St. Paul’s Society was dissolved when the Archdiocese was split into two: that of Beirut and Mount Lebanon in 1901.

As Archbishop of Tripoli, Gregory led with love and dedication to the common good, and soon healed the divisions that had grown under his predecessor Abp.

Gregory IV became the second Arab to ascend to the see of Antioch after it had been occupied by ethnic Greek hierarchs for 175 years, from 1724 to 1899, that is from the ascension of Sylvester the Cypriot to the deposition of Spiridon in 1898.

On August 14, 1909, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Joachim III, sent a letter to Gregory recognizing his election and established communion with him.

On this occasion, Tsar Nicholas issued a statement which said: "Because of the strong historical relations which existed between our predecessors, the Tsars of Russia, and the patriarchs of Antioch, we have decided to extend an invitation to His Beatitude, Patriarch Gregory of Antioch to preside over the religious ceremonies which will begin on February 21, 1913 (os), commemorating three hundred years of Romanov rule in Russia."