Pavle | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Peć Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci Serbian Patriarch | |
 Patriarch Pavle in October 1992 | |
| Church | Serbian Orthodox Church |
| See | Belgrade |
| Installed | 1 December 1990 |
| Term ended | 15 November 2009 |
| Predecessor | German |
| Successor | Irinej |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1954 |
| Consecration | 1957 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gojko Stojčević (1914-09-11)11 September 1914 |
| Died | 15 November 2009(2009-11-15) (aged 95) |
| Buried | Rakovica monastery |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Denomination | Eastern Orthodox Christianity |
| Signature |  |
| Styles of Serbian Patriarch Pavle | |
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Patriarch |
| Posthumous style | His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Blessed Repose |
Patriarch Pavle (Serbian Cyrillic:Патријарх Павле,PatriarchPaul;secular name:Gojko Stojčević,Serbian Cyrillic:Гојко Сточевић ) (11 September 1914 – 15 November 2009) was thePatriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 to his death.[1] His full title was:His Holiness theArchbishop of Peć, Metropolitan ofBelgrade andKarlovci, andSerbian Patriarch Pavle.
Before his death, he was the oldest living leader of anEastern Orthodox church. Because of poor health, he spent his last years in theMilitary Medical Academy in Belgrade, while his duties were carried out byMetropolitanAmfilohije (Radović) ofMontenegro and the Littoral.
Pavle was born asGojko Stojčević (Гојко Стојчевић) in the village ofKućanci nearMagadenovac, then part ofAustria-Hungary (present-dayCroatia). He lost both of his parents in childhood, and was raised by an aunt. After finishing elementary school, Pavle graduated from agymnasium in Belgrade, then studied at theseminary inSarajevo.
After completing seminary, Gojko entered the University of Belgrade where he studiedtheology and medicine in parallel. He quit medicine, but graduated with a Theology degree in 1942. During theSecond World War he took refuge in the Holy Trinity Monastery inOvčar and later moved to Belgrade.
During 1944, he was employed as a teacher and educator at the refugee children's home in Bosnia inBanja Koviljača. Once, when the children were running in the river, one boy began to drown and Gojko jumped into the cold water to help him. Soon he became seriously ill "on the lungs" and doctors believed that his illness wastuberculosis and they predicted he had another three months left to live. He then went to theVujan Monastery where he lived for some time isolated from other monks and managed to cure this disease. In gratitude, he carved and donated a woodencrucifix to the monastery.
After the war, he worked in Belgrade as aconstruction worker, but because of his poor health he tookmonastic vows inBlagoveštenje monastery inOvčar in 1946. Hismonastic name became Pavle (Paul). He served as aHierodeacon in Blagoveštenje, and later inRača monastery between 1949 and 1955. In 1954, Pavle wasordained to theHoly Priesthood. The same year he was promoted toProtosyncellus, and in 1957 toArchimandrite.
Between 1955 and 1957 Pavle tookpost-graduate studies in the Theological School of theUniversity of Athens, Greece. He received a doctorate in New Testament and liturgy by the Theological Academy in Athens.[2]
After returning from Greece, he was elected the Bishop ofRas andPrizren (theEparchy which includes all ofKosovo) in 1957. He held the see for 33 years before he was elected Patriarch.
As Bishop of Ras and Prizren Pavle built numerous new churches and aided the reconstruction of old ones. He spent a lot of time traveling and meeting with hiseparchy's believers. He also wrote books and gave lectures on Church music andChurch Slavonic.[3]
After spending 34 years in Kosovo, Pavle was elected theSerbian Patriarch in 1990, succeeding the illSerbian Patriarch German, and moved to Belgrade. He was enthroned as the Patriarch in theSt. Michael's Cathedral in Belgrade on 2 December 1990, and in thePatriarchal Monastery of Peć, the ancient seat of the Serbian Church, on 22 May 1994. Six days after his election, theparliamentary election was held in Serbia, in whichSlobodan Milošević'sSPS came to power. At first, relations between the Church and the government were good, but gradually eroded because of theYugoslav Wars and ongoing crisis in Serbia.[4] Pavle had connections to theKarić family and had numerous meetings with Milošević andMira Marković, but also with the leaders of the opposition. In 1993 Pavle wrote a letter to Milošević urging him to releaseVuk Drašković from prison.[4]
During the Yugoslav Wars, the Patriarch and the Church gave support to the leaders of theBosnian Serbs (inRepublika Srpska) andCroatian Serbs (in theRepublic of Srpska Krajina). Patriarch Pavle had been heavily criticized for his actions during the wars. The Orthodox church has been viewed as promoters ofSerbian nationalism by a number ofBosnian Muslims andCroats.[who?] Pavle visited the cities ofKnin,Pale while Serbian troops carried out a siege onGoražde.[5] Pavle met with Serb paramilitary leaderArkan, who he claimed was justified in his actions and presented him with an autographedicon ofSaint Nicholas; Arkan considered himself a favorite of Pavle and regarded the Patriarch as his "commander", stating that "we are fighting for our religion, theSerbian Orthodox Church."[6]
On 13 December 1991, Pavle wrote a letter which circulated to all Orthodox churches urging for the protection of Croatian Serbs from "the Croatian neo-fascist regime - the successor of theUstašas who massacred 700,000 OrthodoxSerbs in World War II."[7] He openly referred to the Republic of Croatia as the "newIndependent State of Croatia" and justified the war as "righteous".[8]
During theBosnian War, Pavle supported the President of Republika Srpska,Radovan Karadžić, in his rejection of theVance-Owen peace plan and supported Karadžić in his claims that there were no Serbianrape camps that kept Muslim women, but accused Bosnian Muslims and Croats of the same thing.[9] A famous photograph from this time is that of Karadžić kissing Pavle's hand.[4] In May 1993, Pavle received a letter from Karadžić which thanked him for his "advice and support" in the Bosnian Serbs' "just battle". Karadžić regarded the Serbian Church as the "only spiritual force capable of uniting the Serb nation, regardless of borders."[10] In 1994, Pavle claimed that Serbs were native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Bosniaks had only arrived there when the Ottomans invaded.[11]
When a swift Croatian offensive in May 1995 put the WesternSlavonia region back into Croatian control, he urgently calledSlobodan Milošević, asking if he will defend Serbia's "brethren in need".[12] On 31 July 1995, he traveled to the Krajina capitalKnin withRatko Mladić to assure the rebel Serbs of military and religious support.[13] However, the Republic of Krajina ceased to exist just three months later, followingOperation Storm which resulted in 200,000–250,000 Serbian refugees.[14]
In September 1997, Pavle signed a declaration to theUN Security Council which demanded suspension of the proceedings against Karadžić before the Hague tribunal.[15] Pavle urged Belgrade not to give up Karadžić and Mladić, indicted for war crimes, to the ICTY.[16] He and other nationalist intellectuals also signed a declaration demanding their pardon.[17]
In 1998, Pavle was invited toZagreb by CroatianRoman Catholic ArchbishopJosip Bozanić for talks on peace where he was snubbed by several leading Croatian party members and Christian groups for his and the Orthodox Church's role with the rebel Serbs during the war.[18]
After the launch ofNATO deployment intoKosovo andPristina in June 1999,Norwegian special force soldiers escorted Pavle from Pristina to thePatriarchal Monastery of Peć in the city ofPeć. The escort mission was regarded to be possibly provocative so soon after the atrocities in the area in question and there were fears of a possible assassination of Pavle. The Patriarch and the Norwegian soldiers were attacked several times on their way.[19]
In 1997 Pavle took part in themassive 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 confronted Milošević's government. Although in following years he became close to the opposition leaders and confronted Milošević, Pavle took part in the 1999Republic Day celebration where he congratulated Milošević. Pavle later apologized and said that it was misinterpreted. After this, the relations between Pavle and Milošević hit new lows. In 2000, Milošević didn't send Pavle Christmas congratulations for the first time. Pavle later called Milošević and his government responsible for the Yugoslav catastrophe and asked him to resign.[4] After thechange of power in Serbia, Pavle continued to cooperate with the government, and was a frequent guest at various political ceremonies.
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Pavle was referred to by some as the "walking saint" based on his simple lifestyle and personal humility.[20] All of the bishops of theSerbian Orthodox Church had cars, which they used to travel through their dioceses, except Pavle. When asked why he had never owned a car, he replied: "I will not purchase one until everyAlbanian andSerb household inKosovo and Metohija has an automobile." Asked by foreign journalists about alleged Church support for theGreater Serbian project, Pavle answered:
So I say: if aGreat Serbia should be held by committing crime, I would never accept it; may Great Serbia disappear, but to hold it by crime - no. If it were necessary to hold only a small Serbia by crime, I would not accept it. May small Serbia disappear, but to hold it by crime - no. And if there is only one Serb, and if I am that last Serb, to hold on by crime - I do not accept. May we disappear, but disappear as humans, because then we will not disappear, we will be alive in the hands of the living God.[21]
In his tenure as the Patriarch he healed the schism with the "Free Serbian Orthodox Church", now known as theNew Gračanica Metropolitanate, and he made efforts to heal the ongoing schism inMacedonia with theMacedonian Orthodox Church, which was considered uncanonical by theEcumenical Patriarchate and all otherEastern Orthodox Churches. During his term, he visited numerouseparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church abroad. He visitedAustralia, theUnited States,Canada and Western Europe. He visited Russia,[22] and was also a guest at theUnited Nations Headquarters inNew York City and at theWhite House.
Patriarch Pavle was the oldest among all living Patriarchs. He was especially devoted to and fond of the words of theApostle Paul, his namesake, whom he often quoted and expressed admiration for.
In October 2004, Pavle wrote an open letter in which he denounced theelections in Kosovo and urged Serbs to boycott the polls.[15]
On 27 April 2007, the Holy Synod announced that it had named the MetropolitanJovan (Pavlović) of Zagreb, Ljubljana and All Italy, as the Guardian of the Throne (taking over the Patriarch's duties temporarily) while Patriarch Pavle was recovering in Sveti Sava Hospital. He was discharged on 1 May and returned to his duties on 14 May. The Patriarch's health worsened and he was restricted to a wheelchair. On 13 November 2007 Pavle was admitted to a medical clinic, and theMetropolitanAmfilohije (Radović) of Montenegro and the Littoral, as the oldest member, was elected by the Holy Synod to conduct the duties of the Patriarch.[23]
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.[24] On 12 October 2008 Pavle was reported to have asked the Holy Synod to accept his resignation because of declining physical ability.[25] On 11 November 2008, the Holy Synod decided to turn down his request and to ask him to remain on the throne for life.[26]
Pavle died on 15 November 2009, after more than two years spent in theMilitary Medical Academy in Belgrade.[27] Citizens were able to pay tribute to Patriarch Pavle at theCathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Belgrade.[28] TheDivine Liturgy was held on 19 November inside St. Michael's Cathedral (Saborna Crkva), with his All-Holiness,Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew I of Constantinople presiding, while the funeral service was held outside ofCathedral of Saint Sava and he was laid to rest on 19 November, inRakovica Monastery.[29] The funeral was attended byEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople,Patriarch Daniel of Romania,Metropolitan Filaret (Vakhromeyev) of Minsk and Slutsk,Archbishop Anastasios of Albania,Metropolitan Christopher of Prague andRoman CatholicCardinal Angelo Sodano.[30]
TheGovernment of Serbia announced three days ofnational mourning over the death of Patriarch Pavle,[31] whileRepublika Srpska, theCity of Belgrade andBrčko District declared the funeral day as the official day of mourning.[32][33][34] PresidentBoris Tadić said that the Patriarch's death was an "irredeemable loss for the entire Serbian nation."[35] Condolences to the Serbian Church, people and officials were sent byPatriarchKirill of Moscow,[36]Bulgarian Orthodox Church,[37]Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew I of Constantinople,Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, who also held amemorial service,[38]Patriarch Daniel of Romania,[39]Pope Benedict XVI,[40] CardinalWalter Kasper,[41] Presidents and heads of Government of Russia,Belarus,Ukraine,Germany andFrance[42] as well as leaders of countries that are territorially part of the Serbian Orthodox Church -Bosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia,North Macedonia,Montenegro (PresidentFilip Vujanović).[43] TheJewish community, both Islamic communities in Serbia, the Islamic community in Bosnia, and theRoman Catholic Church in Serbia sent condolences.[44]
He was succeeded by theBishopIrinej (Gavrilović)of Niš in January 2010.
Necklace of theOrder of the Republika Srpska (byRajko Kuzmanović), 2009[45]
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Star of Karađorđe (by theKarađorđević dynasty), 2007
| Eastern Orthodox Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Serbian Patriarch 1990–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Vladimir (Rajić) | Bishop of Raška and Prizren 1957–1990 | Succeeded by |
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