Petar Jovanović (baptised as Pavle Jovanović; 18 February 1800 in

Ilok Ilok () is the easternmost town in Croatia forming a geographic salient surrounded by Vojvodina. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on the Fruška Gora hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Bačka region of Serbi ...

– 22 September 1864 in

Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-Cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka Districtautonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danube, from Novi Sad. According to the 202 ...

) was the

Metropolitan of Belgrade The Metropolitanate of Belgrade () was an Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical province (metropolitanate) which existed between 1831 and 1920, with jurisdiction over the territory of Principality and Kingdom of Serbia. It was formed in 1831, when t ...

, head of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

in the

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

from 1833 until 1859.

Biography

Early life

Born in

(present-day

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

), he graduated from the

Karlovci Gymnasium The Karlovci Gymnasium () is the high school ( gymnasium) located in the town of Sremski Karlovci. Founded in 1791, it is the oldest secondary school in Serbia. This type of school is comparable to U.S. college preparatory schools or English gr ...

and the

Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Богословија Свети Арсеније Сремац, Bogoslovija Sveti Arsenije Sremac) is the oldest Serbian seminary, a clerical Grande école. It is a college following the Fren ...

. Then he studied philosophy in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

. After graduating in 1819, he became a teacher at the Karlovci Gymnasium. In 1830 he went to Serbia to become secretary of the Metropolitan of Belgrade

Melentije Pavlović Melentije Pavlović (Gornja Vrbava, 1776 – Vraćevšnica monastery, 11 June 1833) was the first Serbs, Serb Metropolitanate of Belgrade, Metropolitan of Belgrade, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Principality of Serbia from 1831 u ...

, and at the same time secretary of the Supreme National Court, and then personal secretary of the Prince

Miloš Obrenović Miloš Obrenović (; ; 18 March 1780 or 1783 – 26 September 1860) born Miloš Teodorović (; ), also known as Miloš the Great () was the Prince of Serbia twice, from 1815 to 1839, and from 1858 to 1860. He was an eminent figure of the Firs ...

. He was a married man; his wife died shortly after they moved to Serbia.Đ. Slijepčević,''Istorija...'', p. 325.

Election as Metropolitan

After the death of Metropolitan Melentije in 1833, Prince Miloš offered Pavle Jovanović the office of the Metropolitan of Belgrade, after he refused the first candidate he considered, Metropolitan of Caesarea Cappadocia Gerasimos. Miloš wanted the Serb to be the new head of the newly established Metropolis. Before taking his

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of r ...

and receiving priestly and episcopal ordination, he demanded that the Prince promise that the secular authorities would not interfere in the affairs of the Church, in particular, that the priests would not be tried by ordinary courts, but by bishops.Đ. Slijepčević, ''Istorija...'', p. 326. In October 1833, he took his religious vows in front of the Bishop Nikifor Maksimović of the Eparchy of Užice. In the following days he was ordained successively to

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

and

presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...

, then he was given the dignity of

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

. On 20 September 1833, he was already archimandrite at the court of Prince Miloš in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

. On 6 December 1833, he was consecrated as bishop by the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

Constantius I Flavius Valerius Constantius ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was a Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as ''caesar'' from 293 to 3 ...

. He returned to Serbia before Christmas (which fell on 7 January 1834, according to the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

Metropolitan

Petar Jovanović had a solid general and theological education, so he was especially involved in the organization of schools for the clergy.R. Popović, ''Serbian...'', p. 58–59. He created in 1834 metropolitan seminary textbooks and invited lecturers from abroad, talented students were directed to religious schools in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1834–1835, he created a metropolitan consistory in Belgrade and acted to adopt the internal statute of the Orthodox Church in Serbia. Several of its subsequent versions were rejected by Prince Miloš, who ultimately imposed the version unfavorable to the prestige of the Metropolitanate. It provided that the Prince would preside over the Synod managing the Orthodox Church in Serbia and that he would correspond with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on behalf of the Church. In 1834 he developed a new law on marriage, providing that only men aged 17 and over, and women aged 14 and over, with parental consent and their own, would be able to marry. Consent to marriages of men over 50 and women over 40 years of age, as well as to the fourth marriage, was to be approved by a bishop. He also sought to improve the discipline among the Serbian clergy, which had not been high in previous years. This was the result of the earlier subordination of the canonical Serbian lands to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The bishops of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

origin operating in Serbia did not care about the education of the lower clergy and they cared mainly for their own enrichment. He wanted to improve the material situation of the clergy, so he created the funds for the benefit of them. He tried to sort out the situation in monasteries, removing alcoholics, assassins, thieves and

homosexuals Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

from them.Đ. Slijepčević, ''Istorija...'', p. 341. He liquidated the smallest monasteries, and determined the amount of state salary for monks.

Later life

In 1859 he left Serbia, ''de facto'' leaving the office due to a conflict with Prince Miloš. He returned to the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, where he stayed briefly in

Krušedol Monastery The Krušedol Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Крушедол, Manastir Krušedol, ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on the Fruška Gora mountain in the Syrmia region, northern Serbia, in the province of Vojvodina. The monastery is the lega ...

, and then he was elected as the Bishop of Gornji Karlovac in the jurisdiction of the

Patriarchate of Karlovci The Patriarchate of Karlovci () or Serbian Patriarchate of Sremski Karlovci (), was a patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church that existed between 1848 and 1920. It was formed when the Metropolitanate of Karlovci was elevated to the rank of ...

.Đ. Slijepčević, ''Istorija...'', ss. 350–351. The new Metropolitan of Belgrade became his former student, the Bishop of Šabac

Mihailo Jovanović Mihailo Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Михаило Јовановић; born 29 November 1975) is a Serbian retired football player. He was released by his former club South China in Hong Kong First Division League after 2006-07 season. He st ...

. After the death of Prince Miloš in 1860, the former Metropolitan again applied for the possibility of returning to Serbia, but he did not receive the consent of the new Prince

Mihailo Obrenović Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) is a South Slavic masculine given name. It is a variant of the Hebrew name ''Michael'', and its cognates include Mihajlo and Mijailo. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname. Notable peopl ...

. He was buried in the

References

Sources

* R. Popović, ''Serbian Orthodox Church in History'', Academy of Serbian Orthodox Church for Fine Arts and Conservation, Belgrade 2013. * Đ. Slijepčević,''Istorija Srpske Pravoslavne Crkve'', t. II, JRJ, Beograd 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanovic, Petar 1800 births 1864 deaths People from Ilok Habsburg Serbs Serbs of Croatia History of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia 19th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Metropolitans of Belgrade People from the Principality of Serbia Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia Burials at Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches