Patriarch Pavle of Serbia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Paul Павле |
|
| His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, Patriarch of Serbs | |
 |
|
| Church | Serbian Orthodox Church |
|---|---|
| See | Belgrade |
| Enthroned | December 1, 1990 |
| Reign Ended | |
| Predecessor | Hranislav German Đorić |
| Born | 11 September 1914 Kućanci, Austria-Hungary |
Patriarch Pavle (Paul) (Serbian: Патријарх Павле, Patrijarh Pavle; born 11 September 1914) is the 44th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church[1], the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs. His full title is His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch Pavle. He is the oldest living leader of an Eastern Orthodox church, and is currently in a clinic due to poor health. His duties are carried out by Metropolitan Amfilohije.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Pavle was born Gojko Stojčević (Гојко Стојчевић) on 11 September 1914 in the village of Kućanci, near Donji Miholjac in what is today Croatia. He lost both his parents in the childhood, and was raised by an aunt. After finishing elementary school, Pavle graduated from a gymnasium in Belgrade, then studied at the seminary in Sarajevo. During World War II he took refuge in the Holy Trinity monastery in Ovčar, and later moved to Belgrade. After the war, he worked in Belgrade as a construction worker, but due to his poor health he took monastic vow in Blagoveštenje monastery in Ovčar in 1946. His monastic name became Pavle (eng. Paul). He served as a hierodeacon in Blagoveštenje, and later in Rača monastery between 1949 and 1955. In 1954, Pavle was ordained in the rank of hieromonk. The same year he was ordained for protosyncellus, and in 1957 for archimandrite.
Between 1955 and 1957 Pavle took post-graduate studies in Athens, Greece. After returning from Greece, he was elected the Bishop of Ras and Prizren (which includes whole Kosovo) in 1957. He held that position for 33 years before he was elected Patriarch.
[edit] As a religious leader
As a bishop of Ras and Prizren, Pavle built numerous new churches and helped the reconstruction of old ones. He spent a lot of time in traveling and meeting with people of his eparchy. He also wrote books and made lectures.[citation needed]
After 33 years spent in Kosovo, Pavle was elected the Patriarch of Serbia in 1990, instead of ill Patriarch German, and moved to Belgrade. He was ordained for the Patriarch in the St. Michael's Cathedral in Belgrade on 2 December 1990, and in Patriarchate of Peć monastery, the ancient seat of the Serbian Church, on 22 May 1994. Just six days after his election, the parliamentary election was held in Serbia, in which Slobodan Milošević's SPS came to power. At first, the relations between the government and the church were good, bud gradually eroded following years due to Yugoslav Wars and ongoing crisis in Serbia[2]. During the war, the patriarch and the church gave support to the leaders of the Bosnian Serbs and Srpska Krajina. Famous photograph from this time shows Radovan Karadžić kissing Pavle's hand.[2] Paramilitary leader Željko Ražnatović Arkan called the patriarch in one speech his supreme commander, which Pavle welcomed.[2] Pavle also had conections to the Karić family and had numerous meetings with Milošević and Mira Marković, but also with the leaders of the opposition. In 1993 Pavle wrote letter to Milošević urging him to release Vuk Drašković from prison[2]. In 1995, Pavle gave his signature to the government's decision that Milošević should be the Serbian representative at the Dayton peace talks. After this, ten bishops requested him to resign, and the Holy Synod declared his signature invalid.
In 1997 Pavle took part in the massive anti-government protests in Belgrade. On 27 January (St Sava Day) he led the protesters to break the police cordon in Kolarčeva street. This was the first time that Pavle openly confront Milošević's government. Although in following years he became close to the opposition leaders and confronted Milošević, Pavle took part in the 1999 Republic Day celebration where he congratulated Milošević. Pavle later apologized and said that it was misapprehension. After this the relations between Pavle and Milošević hit new low. In 2000, Milošević didn't sand Pavle Christmas congratulations for the first time. Pavle later called Milošević and his government responsible for the Yugoslav catastrophe and asked him to resign[2]. After the turn of power in Serbia, Pavle continued to cooperate with the government, and was a frequent guest at various political ceremonies.
Pavle has been referred to by some as the "walking saint" based on his simple lifestyle and personal humility. All of the bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church have an automobile, which they use to travel through their dioceses, except Pavle. When asked why he never obtained an automobile, he replies: "I will not purchase one until every Albanian and Serbian household in Kosovo and Metohija has an automobile."
In his tenure as the Patriarch he has healed the schism with the Free Serbian Orthodox Church, now known as the New Gračanica Metropolitanate, and he has made efforts to heal the current schism in Macedonia with the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which is considered uncanonical by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and all other Eastern Orthodox churches. During his term, he visited numerous eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church both in Serbia and abroad. He visited Australia, United States, Canada and West Europe. He was also guest at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and at the White House.
Patriarch Pavle is the oldest among all living Patriarchs. He is especially devoted to and fond of the words of the Apostle Paul (after whom he was named Pavle), whom he often quotes and expresses admiration for. On April 27, 2007 Holy Synod announced that it had named Metropolitan of Zagreb, Ljubljana and All Italy Jovan as the Guardian of the throne (taking over the Patriarch's duties temporarily) while patriarch Pavle is on rehabilitation in Sveti Sava hospital. He was discharged from hospital on May 1 and returned to his duties on May 14. Patriarch's health increasingly worsened as he lost the strength to walk, bound to a wheelchair. On 13 November 2007 Pavle was institutionalized in a medical clinic, and the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije Radović, as the oldest Bishop, was elected by the Holy Synod to conduct the duties of the Patriarch.[3] On 20 November 2007 it was announced that his life was in danger. On 17 May 2008 the Holy Synod took over all Patriarch Pavle’s duties owing to his inability to carry out his functions following a long illness[4]. On 12 October 2008 His Holiness was reported to have asked the Holy Synod to accept his resignation due to declining physical ability[5]. On 11 November 2008, the Holy Synod has decided to ask Patriarch Pavle to remain on the throne for life.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Serbian Orthodox Church, history at spc.rs
- ^ a b c d e "Portret savremenika - patrijarh Pavle: Skromnost i tumačenja". Vreme. http://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=437739. Retrieved on 2009-02-22. (Serbian)
- ^ "Amfilohije: I am merely patriarch's assistant". b92. 15 November 2007. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=11&dd=15&nav_id=45439. Retrieved on 10 July 2009.
- ^ http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=05&dd=17&nav_id=50312
- ^ "Patriarch's resignation "no done deal"". b92. 27 October 2008. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=10&dd=27&nav_id=54526. Retrieved on 10 July 2009.
- ^ "Pavle remains Serbian patriarch". b92. 11 November 2008. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?mm=11&dd=11&yyyy=2008. Retrieved on 10 July 2009.
- "Biografija Patrijarha srpskog G. PAVLA". SerbianOrthodoxChurch.com. http://www.serbianorthodoxchurch.com/pages/s/pavle/biography-sr.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-22. (Serbian)
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Patriarch Pavle |
| Preceded by German Đorić |
Patriarch of Serbia 1990– |
Succeeded by none |
|
|||||||||||
