Serbian Orthodox Church patriarch dead
The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle has died. He was 95.
Pavle, who has led the church since 1990, has been hospitalized for months. He had heart and lung problems. The church said he died Sunday morning.
A respected theologian and linguist also known for personal humility and modesty, Pavle took over the church leadership just as the collapse of communism ended years of state policy of repressing religion.
He had headed the church during the turbulent years of the Balkan wars in the 1990s and the collapse of former President Slobodan Milosevic’s regime in 2000.
Bishop Amphilohije has announced the Patriarch’s death by saying that his “holy Christ loving heart has stopped ticking”.
“There are people whose very existence connects the entire peoples, that was our Patriarch. His departure is my personal loss,” said Serbia’s President Tadic.
Tadic said that during tough and tumultuous time he sought Patriarch’s counsel.
Patriarch Pavle was born on September 11, 1914 as Gojko Stojcevic in a village Donji Miholjac in Slavonia. He ran off from his village during the WWII when Croatia went on a genocide campaign against Serbs and Jews.
In 1948, Gojko became a monk at the Monastery Blagovestenje and was given the monastic name of Pavle (Paul).
Patriarch Pavle
In 1950 he became an assistant professor at the theological school in Prizren in Serbia’s Kosovo province. In 1955, he finished graduate studies at the university in Athens, Greece.
He became a Bishop of Ras and Prizren in 1957.
As a Bishop of Prizren, Patriarch Pavle gave a testimony to the UN about the Muslim Albanian repression and terror in Kosovo and the forced exodus of Christian Serbs from Serbia’s Kosovo province.
“It depends on us whether we’ll behave humane or inhuman, and that is our responsibility, to be humane even with those that are inhuman,” counseled the Patriarch.
In 1990, he became Serbia’s Patriarch after the stalemate in voting for the existing candidates.
The patriarch wrote 2 books and spoke Greek, Russian and German.
In 2005, the Patriarch received an award from the International Fund for Enhancement of Unity of Orthodox Peoples.
In 2007, Serbia’s crown Prince Karadjordjevic awarded him a medal of Saint Sava.
Russia awarded him a medal of Dignity for his role in the challenging days for Serbian existence.
From November 17, 2007 he was in the hospital.
In October 8, 2008, he resigned from the position of a Patriarch but Serbia’s Holy Synod has rejected the resignation.
Moments before his death, father Methodious served Patriarch Pavle with the Holy Communion.
Patriarch Pavle died at 10:45 am Serbian time.
November 15, 2009
SERBIANNA
Associated Press
Unlucky.
At least he had a long life and was an important figure to many.
Resilience of this man is remarkable. He was in the hospital, at his late age, for so long and many expected for him to die sooner. What coincidence/irony to die the day after Serbian president meets the pope (and irony that he is born on 9/11)
R.I.P. Your greatness Pavle, thank you for everything you have done for the Serbian people, you love faith and warm words will never be forgotten!
Expected but sad nevertheless. He was the glue. I hope the church can replace him with someone as close as who he was as possible.
Patriarch Pavle lived a long life, and I’ve read somewhere that God grants long days to those He loves.
Daniel so what if he had lived a long life that doesn’t make us less sad.
In his long life he had witnessed so much and I don’t mean good!
He was a precious jewel!
we coptic orthodox from egypt support the serbs
may he rest in peace
he led his people- our brothers the great nation serbia- in a very bad times
may our lord with you all
god bless the serbian orthodox church
from egypt the coptic orthodox church
Vel, he was possibly a good man but he failed just the same to stop a genocide in Srebrenica.
Daniel how mny times do you have to be told? there was no genocide in srebrenica,people were killed most of them would have been bosnian muslim army combatants who were trying to break out,if there was a genocide all the women and kids would have been killed,forensic experts found no mass graves eight thousand corpses have to go somewhere.Also the Dutch batt did not see any massacre.
“Oh Daniel you are something else!! Really!! Genocide? If that was the case we would have killed them all and not just men of fighting age.The women and children are still alive as are several of the so called victims. Alive enough to vote the following year in elections. I’m sure you already know this but muslims used Srebrenica to stage attacks on surrounding Serb villages,and then ran and hid behind UN peacekeepers like cowards. Why didn’t Bosnias head imam Mustafa Ceric stop those attacks on Serb civilians. Oh thats right, he was not commander in chief of the muslim army just a spiritual leader.You are an idiot of the highest calibur.Go find some other place to spread your stupidity.
Daniel I was just waiting for you to bring that up you fool.
Have you ever read about his work?
No I don’t think so.
Did the Vatican stop the nazi’s, NO they even supported them!
Patrijarh Pavle was the greatest man of peace!
My name is Veljkovic to hard to copy?
Daniel, you’re a bigger hypocrite than Bush, BLiar, Clinton, etc. Your points are worthless because you don’t back them up with anything when challenged.
As the heaad of the Christian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavel knew what was going on and as Pius XII, he did nothing.
You seem to have “known it”, why didn’t you do something about it?
We have discussed this a hundred times I have no wish of playing ping-pong with you.
Question?
Have you read anything about Patrijarh Pavle’s work?
There is a difference between knowing things and supporting!
If he knew and did nothing, we can assume that he was supporting.
I do not agree!
If we know and we do nothing, we agree!
Daniel is a Nazi bastard. He should be banned from this site.
Daniel, if you have nothing nice to say about this great man then don’t say anything at all because you will sound like Lucifer himself.
Go and condemn your Vatican leader “The Sith”.
Please answer my question and stay with the topic!
You knew and did nothing when they bombed Serbia
Veljkovic, the difference between you and the so called ‘Daniel’ is that your facts are supported by the source of your information. His arguments are often muddled, recently mixing up events in Bosnia with those in Kosovo, and finally he throws his toys out of the pram by trying to catch you out by playing with irrelevant words.
Veljkovic, I forgot to mention your use of the English language is excellent.
Serbia was bombed because of Milosevic.
Peggy, why should I have the same opinion as you?
Why the insults because I criticize Patriach Pavel?
Serbia was bombed because of Milosovic,i am asking once again what the HELL gave NATO the right to bomb the FRY? and don’t give me any of that clap trap about genocide.
Milosevic’s troops were destroying villages and killing civilians.
For Milo, all Albanians were members of the KLA.
Nations could not stand still and let a dictator kill innocent people.
Daniel my english is not so good I know that, but I try, how’s your Serbian these days?
You criticize Pathrijarh Pavle but know nothing about his work!
Daniel
November 16, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Nations could not stand still and let a dictator kill innocent people
YOU MEAN CLINTON AND BUSH? I AGREE FOR ONCE!
Daniel
November 16, 2009 at 7:35 pm
For Milo, all Albanians were members of the KLA.
FOR NATO ALL OFF IRAK AND AFGHANISTAN ARE TERRORISTS? RIGHT AGAIN!
Daniel, your comments are worthless because they are muddled and lack objectivity and impartiality.
Thank you Mark
No problem with our English Veljkovic,no problem at all.Now Daniel you say nations could not stand by,Serbia did not attack another country it was a internal security matter what NATO did was against international law against UN resolution 2131 against the Nuremburg protocol set up at the end of WW2 against even it’s own charter,in other words against international war it’s not rocket science.Like i said in the past using your logic the chinese would have been justified in bombing london because we were fighting Irish repuplican terrorism in Northern Ireland.
Dony,
Daniel knows this if he has a little bit of intelligence, he only wants to provocate.
Replace PAVLE with Mladic PEGGY .
Jedna govna ide a druga dolazi jos veca.
This Agron creature of the night is following me. He suggested all sort of things for me to do on another site and here he is again trying to taunt me.
Oh Argon, you evil bastard, don’t you know by now that you are the one in turmoil not me? You are the one who is obviously so upset that you cannot help yourself any more and needs to spew venom. This must be hell for you.
Guess what? I don’t feel sorry for you at all. Enjoy your torment and if I am helping in any way to torment you, I am overjoyed.