Sava Trlajić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Сава Трлајић; 19 July 1884 – August 1941) was a bishop 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 ...

serving as Bishop of the

Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac The Eparchy of Gornji Karlovac ( sr-Cyrl, Епархија горњокарловачка, ; "Eparchy of Upper Karlovac") is an eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church seated in the city of Karlovac, Croatia. It covers the area of Banovina (region ...

in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

from 1938 until the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was martyred by the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

in the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

sometime in August 1941. The

venerates him as a saint, with the titles of

new martyr The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr (-, ''neo''-, the prefix for "new"; and μάρτυς, ''martys'', "witness") is conferred in some denominations of Christianity to distinguish more recent martyrs and confessors from the old martyrs of the pe ...

and

hieromartyr In the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr (one who dies for his beliefs) who was a bishop or priest. Hieromartyrs do not constitute a special rank of saint and are commemorated at the Divine Liturgy toge ...

Biography

Early life

He was born as Svetozar Trlajić to his parents Stevan and Jelisaveta (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Karakašević) in Mol on 18 July 1884. His education included the primary school in his hometown, a grammar school in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

, and

seminary of Sremski Karlovci 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 ...

. He then went on to graduate from the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

and passed the qualifying examination for judges at the Faculty of Law at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

Career

In 1909, he was ordained a

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 ...

by the Bishop of Timișoara and then as a priest ten days later. As a parish priest, he served at parishes in Peška and

Bašaid Bašaid ( sr-cyr, Башаид) is a village located in the Kikinda municipality, in the North Banat District of the Republic of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has an ethnic Serb majority (89.15%) and ...

. Early in 1927, he was appointed to an administrative position, and later principal secretary, of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Church of Serbia. When his wife died, he took monastic vows on 27 October 1929 in the

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 ...

, being

tonsured Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

with the name Sava. Soon afterward he became rector and

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 ...

of the Krušedol Monastery. On 30 September 1930, Sava was elected Auxiliary Bishop of Sremski Karlovci. He was consecrated there by Patriarch

Varnava Varnavas ( "Barnabas") is a town in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Marathon, of which it is a municipal unit. It is part of Athens metropolitan area. On 11 Aug 2024, a large wildfire i ...

, Bishop Emilijan of Timok, Bishop Jovan of Niš, Bishop Tihon of the

Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina The Eparchy of Zahumlje, Herzegovina and the Littoral () is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church with its seat in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has jurisdiction over the region of Herzegovina, the littoral region of southern D ...

, and Bishop Simeon of Zletovo and Strumica. As Patriarchal Vicar Bishop Sava chaired the diocesan council of the

Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci ( sr-cyr, Архиепископија београдско-карловачка) is the central or patriarchal eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with seat in Belgrade, Serbia.Gornji Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

on 22 June 1938, with his residence in

Plaški Plaški is a village and a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is part of the region of Lika. Geography Plaški is situated in the lower part of the Ogulin-Plaški valley. Together with Gorski kotar and Lika, the Ogulin-Plaški valley ...

. After the death of Bishop Miron of

Pakrac Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina. Name In Croatian the town is known ...

in 1941, he was also named administrator of the

Eparchy of Slavonia Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Slavonia ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна епархија славонска, ) is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church encompassing areas of western and central Slavonia, Croatia. Since ...

Invasion of Yugoslavia, capture and martyrdom

After the

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

and the formation of the

in April 1941, Plaški was first occupied by Italian forces and then turned over to the Ustaše in late 1941. Bishop Sava and nine priests were then taken

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

. On 23 May 1941, the Ustaše occupied the bishop's residence and expelled him from it. On 8 June, the notorious executioner Josip Tomljenović ordered all diocesan money and records to be handed over to the Ustaše. Sava refused the Ustaše order to leave his diocese and go to Belgrade, not wanting to abandon his flock. Bishop Sava was arrested on 17 June, 1941, and confined, together with three other Serbian priests and thirteen eminent Serbian laymen, in a stable owned by Josip Tomljenović in Plaški. After experiencing intense

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

, Bishop Sava and the priests, Bogoljub Gaković, Đuro Stojanović, and Stanislav Nasadilo, were chained and taken to the Gospić concentration camp on 19 July 1941. There, they were tortured until mid-August. At that time Bishop Sava was taken together with 2,000 Serbs toward the

Velebit Velebit (; ; ) is the largest, though not the highest, mountain range in Croatia. The range forms a part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior. Velebit begins in the northwest near ...

Mountains. Somewhere on this mountain, he was murdered together with thousands of other Orthodox Serbs. The exact site is still unknown.

Canonization

In 1998, at the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Sava was glorified and entered into the

menologium A menologium (, pl. menologia), also known by other names, is any collection of information arranged according to the days of a month, usually a set of such collections for all the months of the year. In particular, it is used for ancient Roman ...

of the Serbian Orthodox Church as a

and

References