He was born on September 11, 1914, in the village of Ku\u0107anci, Donji Miholjac district (then in Austria-Hungary, now in Croatia), into a farming family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He finished gymnasium in Belgrade, the six-grade Seminary in Sarajevo, and the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was left without parents early\u2014his father went to work in the USA, contracted tuberculosis there, and \u201creturned home to die\u201d when the boy was three, and the same soon happened to his mother. He was raised by his aunt. Realizing that the child was \u201cvery frail,\u201d she spared him farm work and thus enabled him to study: although little Gojko preferred \u201csubjects that didn\u2019t require memorizing, such as mathematics and physics,\u201d and although he had a poor grade in religious studies, the influence of his relatives prevailed and his final choice was theological school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After completing lower gymnasium in Tuzla (1925\u20131929) and seminary in Sarajevo (1930\u20131936), he came to Belgrade, where he enrolled in the Faculty of Theology. There he also completed the remaining grades of gymnasium externally so he could simultaneously enroll in the Faculty of Medicine, where he reached the second year of studies\u2014he completed the Faculty of Theology\u2014when World War II reached Belgrade. To support himself, he worked on construction sites in Belgrade, which did not suit him due to poor health. At the invitation of his schoolmate Jelisej Popovi\u0107, he went to the Ov\u010dar-Kablar monasteries, where he spent the rest of the war and began his monastic life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He first stayed in the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Ov\u010dar, then worked as a religious teacher for refugee children in Banja Kovilja\u010da. At that time, he became seriously ill \u201cin the lungs.\u201d Doctors believed it was tuberculosis and predicted he had three months to live. He spent some time in the Monastery of Vujan, where he recovered and, in gratitude, carved and gifted the monastery a wooden cross. He was tonsured in the Monastery of the Annunciation in 1946, when he was elevated to the rank of hierodeacon. From 1949 to 1955, he was a member of the Monastery of Ra\u010da. He spent the 1950\/51 school year as a substitute teacher at the Prizren Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius. He was elevated to hieromonk in 1954, became protosyncellus the same year, and archimandrite in 1957. From 1955 to 1957, he pursued postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Theology in Athens. He was elected Bishop of Ra\u0161ka-Prizren on May 29, 1957, and consecrated on September 21, 1957, in the Belgrade Cathedral. The consecration was performed by Serbian Patriarch Vikentije. He was enthroned as Bishop of Ra\u0161ka-Prizren on October 13, 1957, in the Prizren Cathedral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Diocese of Ra\u0161ka-Prizren, he built new churches, restored old and destroyed ones, ordained and tonsured new priests and monks. He cared for the Prizren Seminary, where he occasionally lectured in church singing and Church Slavonic. He often traveled, visited, and served in all places within his diocese. As Bishop of Ra\u0161ka-Prizren, he testified before the United Nations to many statesmen about the suffering of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was elected Serbian Patriarch, the 44th head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was deeply engaged in scholarly work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During his patriarchal service, several dioceses were restored and founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the scholarly theological achievements of Serbian Patriarch Pavle, the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade awarded him an honorary doctorate in theology in 1988.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWE MUST NOT ALLOW NEW VICTIMS\u201d: Medical science students called on Dijana Hrka to suspend her hunger strike!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS: \u201cRemoving Russian control over NIS increases Serbia\u2019s energy security\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n THE SERBIAN IS THE WORLD CHAMPION: Jovan Cvetanovi\u0107 defeated the Frenchman in the final and won gold in jiu-jitsu!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/patrijarh-pavle-670x447-1.jpg\")
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