Jovan Pavlović ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Павловић; 22 October 1936 – 3 April 2014) was a Serbian

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

who was the

metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

of Zagreb and Ljubljana of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

from 1982 until his death in 2014. He was one of the most prominent individuals in Serbian community in Croatia during his lifetime. Jovan was born in the village of Medinci in 1936 and died in the Sisters of Charity Hospital in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

on 3 April 2014. He was the highest representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia for more than two decades.

Early life and education

Jovan was born in Medinci in 1936. He finished elementary school in Medinci and secondary in

Podravska Slatina Slatina is a town in the Slavonia region of Croatia. It is located in the Virovitica-Podravina County, at the contact of the Drava valley and the foothills of Papuk mountain, in the central part of the region of Podravina, southeast of Viroviti ...

. After he completed his seminary education at Rakovica Monastery he graduated at University of Belgrade Faculty of Orthodox Theology in 1963. Postgraduate studies he attended at several universities in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. At the Evangelical Academy in

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

and Faculty of Theology of

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

studies

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

theology. He studied

Catholic theology Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on canonical scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic ...

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. During this period, he spent some time in

Chevetogne Abbey Chevetogne Abbey, also known as the Monastery of the Holy Cross, is a Catholic Benedictine monastery dedicated to Christian unity located in the Belgian village of Chevetogne in the municipality of Ciney, province of Namur, halfway between Brusse ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and St. Matthias' Abbey and

Niederaltaich Abbey Niederaltaich Abbey (Abtei or Kloster Niederaltaich) is a house of the Benedictine Order founded in 741, situated in the village of Niederalteich on the Danube in Bavaria. Foundation and early history After its foundation in 741 by Duke Odilo o ...

in Germany. Jovan worked as a professor in the

Serbian Orthodox Seminary of Prizren The Serbian Orthodox Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius ( sr, Српска Православна Богословија Св. Кирила и Методија), known as the Prizren Seminary (Призренска Богословија), is a ...

and in

Krka monastery The Krka Monastery ( sr-Cyrl, Манастир Крка, sr, Manastir Krka, italics=yes; hr, Samostan Krka) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Archangel Michael, located near the river Krka, east of Kistanje, in central Dalmatia, ...

. In 1967, in Krka he became a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and in 1969 a

hierodeacon A hierodeacon (Greek: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a monk who has been ordained a deacon (or deacon who has been tonsured monk). Th ...

. In 1977, he became bishop of

Lepavina Monastery The Lepavina Monastery ( sr, Манастир Лепавина, Manastir Lepavina) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Presentation of Mary and located at the village of Sokolovac, near the town of Koprivnica in Croatia. From the ...

and Metropolitan of Zagreb in 1982.

Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana (1982–2014)

Between 1982 and 1992 Metropolitan Jovan was representative of

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

. He was member of

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

of Serbian Orthodox Church in several mandates. Serbian Orthodox churches in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

were also under his jurisdiction, from 1994 to 2011.

Awards and recognition

Croatian Helsinki Committee The Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (CHC; hr, Hrvatski helsinški odbor, HHO) is an organisation founded to protect and promote human rights in Croatia. It was founded on 31 March 1993, initially as a branch of the International Hel ...

Award for promotion of inter-religious dialogue and religious tolerance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlovic, Jovan 1936 births 2014 deaths Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church Croatian theologians Eastern Orthodox theologians Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana Serbs of Croatia Serbian theologians University of Belgrade Faculty of Orthodox Theology alumni University of Kiel alumni