Childhood and education Pavle was born as
Gojko Stojčević (Гојко Стојчевић) in the village of
Kućanci near
Magadenovac, then part of
Austria-Hungary (present-day
Croatia). He lost both of his parents in 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.
University education and teaching career After completing seminary, Gojko entered the University of Belgrade where he studied
theology and medicine in parallel. He quit medicine, but graduated with a Theology degree in 1942. During the
Second World War he took refuge in the Holy Trinity Monastery in
Ovčar and later moved to Belgrade. During 1944, he was employed as a teacher and educator at the refugee children's home in Bosnia in
Banja 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 was
tuberculosis and they predicted he had another three months left to live. He then went to the
Vujan Monastery where he lived for some time isolated from other monks and managed to cure this disease. In gratitude, he carved and donated a wooden
crucifix to the monastery.
Monastic life After the war, he worked in Belgrade as a
construction worker, but because of his poor health he took
monastic vows in
Blagoveštenje monastery in
Ovčar in 1946. His
monastic name became Pavle (Paul). He served as a
Hierodeacon in Blagoveštenje, and later in
Rača monastery between 1949 and 1955. In 1954, Pavle was
ordained to the
Holy Priesthood. The same year he was promoted to
Protosyncellus, and in 1957 to
Archimandrite. Between 1955 and 1957 Pavle took
post-graduate studies in the Theological School of the
University of Athens, Greece. He received a doctorate in New Testament and liturgy by the Theological Academy in Athens.
Episcopacy After returning from Greece, he was elected the Bishop of
Ras and
Prizren (the
Eparchy which includes all of
Kosovo) 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 his
eparchy's believers. He also wrote books and gave lectures on Church music and
Church Slavonic.
As Serbian Patriarch After spending 34 years in Kosovo, Pavle was elected the
Serbian Patriarch in 1990, succeeding the ill
Serbian Patriarch German, and moved to Belgrade. He was enthroned as the Patriarch in the
St. Michael's Cathedral in Belgrade on 2 December 1990, and in the
Patriarchal Monastery of Peć, the ancient seat of the Serbian Church, on 22 May 1994. Six days after his election, the
parliamentary election was held in Serbia, in which
Slobodan Milošević's
SPS came to power. At first, relations between the Church and the government were good, but gradually eroded because of the
Yugoslav Wars and ongoing crisis in Serbia. Pavle met with Serb paramilitary leader
Arkan, who he claimed was justified in his actions and presented him with an autographed
icon of
Saint Nicholas; Arkan considered himself a favorite of Pavle and regarded the Patriarch as his "commander", stating that "we are fighting for our religion, the
Serbian Orthodox Church." 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 the
Ustašas who massacred 700,000 Orthodox
Serbs in World War II." He openly referred to the Republic of Croatia as the "new
Independent State of Croatia" and justified the war as "
righteous". During the
Bosnian War, Pavle supported the President of Republika Srpska,
Radovan Karadžić, in his rejection of the
Vance-Owen peace plan and supported Karadžić in his claims that there were no Serbian
rape camps that kept Muslim women, but accused Bosnian Muslims and Croats of the same thing. A famous photograph from this time is that of Karadžić kissing Pavle's hand. 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." In 1994, Pavle claimed that Serbs were native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Bosniaks had only arrived there when the Ottomans invaded. When a swift Croatian offensive in May 1995 put the Western
Slavonia region back into Croatian control, he urgently called
Slobodan Milošević, asking if he will defend Serbia's "brethren in need". On 31 July 1995, he traveled to the Krajina capital
Knin with
Ratko Mladić to assure the rebel Serbs of military and religious support. However, the Republic of Krajina ceased to exist just three months later, following
Operation Storm which resulted in 200,000–250,000 Serbian refugees..In September 1997, Pavle signed a declaration to the
UN Security Council which demanded suspension of the proceedings against Karadžić before the Hague tribunal. Pavle urged Belgrade not to give up Karadžić and Mladić, indicted for war crimes, to the ICTY. He and other nationalist intellectuals also signed a declaration demanding their pardon. In 1998, Pavle was invited to
Zagreb by Croatian
Roman Catholic Archbishop
Josip 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. After the launch of
NATO deployment into
Kosovo and
Pristina in June 1999,
Norwegian special force soldiers escorted Pavle from Pristina to the
Patriarchal Monastery of Peć in the city of
Peć. 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.
1996–1997 protests in Serbia 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 confronted 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 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. All of the bishops of the
Serbian 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 every
Albanian and
Serb household in
Kosovo and Metohija has an automobile." Asked by foreign journalists about alleged Church support for the
Greater Serbian project, Pavle answered: In his tenure as the Patriarch he healed the schism with the "Free Serbian Orthodox Church", now known as the
New Gračanica Metropolitanate, and he made efforts to heal the ongoing schism in
Macedonia with the
Macedonian Orthodox Church, which was considered uncanonical by the
Ecumenical Patriarchate and all other
Eastern Orthodox Churches. During his term, he visited numerous
eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church abroad. He visited
Australia, the
United States,
Canada and Western Europe. He visited Russia, and was also a guest at the
United Nations Headquarters in
New York City and at the
White House. , 2005 Patriarch Pavle was the oldest among all living Patriarchs. He was especially devoted to and fond of the words of the
Apostle Paul, his namesake, whom he often quoted and expressed admiration for. In October 2004, Pavle wrote an open letter in which he denounced the
elections in Kosovo and urged Serbs to boycott the polls. 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. On 12 October 2008 Pavle was reported to have asked the Holy Synod to accept his resignation because of declining physical ability. On 11 November 2008, the Holy Synod decided to turn down his request and to ask him to remain on the throne for life.
Death Pavle died on 15 November 2009, after more than two years spent in the
Military Medical Academy in Belgrade. Citizens were able to pay tribute to Patriarch Pavle at the
Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Belgrade. The
Divine Liturgy was held on 19 November inside St. Michael's Cathedral (Saborna Crkva), with his All-Holiness,
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople presiding, while the funeral service was held outside of
Cathedral of Saint Sava and he was laid to rest on 19 November, in
Rakovica Monastery. The funeral was attended by
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople,
Patriarch Daniel of Romania,
Metropolitan Filaret (Vakhromeyev) of Minsk and Slutsk,
Archbishop Anastasios of Albania,
Metropolitan Christopher of Prague and
Roman Catholic Cardinal Angelo Sodano. The
Government of Serbia announced three days of
national mourning over the death of Patriarch Pavle, while
Republika Srpska, the
City of Belgrade and
Brčko District declared the funeral day as the official day of mourning. President
Boris Tadić said that the Patriarch's death was an "irredeemable loss for the entire Serbian nation." Condolences to the Serbian Church, people and officials were sent by
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow,
Bulgarian Orthodox Church,
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople,
Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, who also held a
memorial service,
Patriarch Daniel of Romania,
Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal
Walter Kasper, Presidents and heads of Government of Russia,
Belarus,
Ukraine,
Germany and
France as well as leaders of countries that are territorially part of the Serbian Orthodox Church -
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia,
North Macedonia,
Montenegro (President
Filip Vujanović). The
Jewish community, both Islamic communities in Serbia, the Islamic community in Bosnia, and the
Roman Catholic Church in Serbia sent condolences. He was succeeded by the
Bishop Irinej (Gavrilović) of Niš in January 2010. == Awards and honors ==