Pavle

Religious Leader. As head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he was instrumental in the downfall of President Slobodan Milosevic. Born Gojko Stojcevic in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he was educated in the local schools of Belgrade prior to attending seminary in Sarajevo. After seeking refuge in the Holy Trinity Monestary of Ovcar during WWII, he briefly worked in construction prior to taking a monastic vow. Following further theological training in Greece between 1955 and 1957, he was consecrated Bishop of Ros and Prizren, a position he was to hold until his elevation to Patriarch in 1990. Over the years, he became a highly respected author in the fields of church music and liturgy, as well as in the Slavonic languages. A fondness for the writings of St. Paul lead th his choice of "Pavle" as his monastic name. Promoted in 1990 just as Communism was falling, Pavle initially tried to end ethnic and religious strife without actually interfering in politics; it proved a difficult path. Praised for his scholarship and personal piety, he was criticized by some for not doing more to stop "ethnic cleansing", though he did have some success at healing schism within the Orthodox communion. Pavle first confronted the Milosevic regime in January 1997, leading an anti-government demonstration in Belgrade, and the Church eventually denounced Milosevic in 2000, calling for his resignation. The president ignored the plea but was ousted a few months later, eventually dying in 2006 during his war crimes trial. Widely traveled during his reign, he visited Australia and much of Europe, and was received at the White House and the United Nations. The Patriarch was hospitalized for the last two years of his life with chronic heart and lung problems; an attempt to resign during his final illness was rejected by his Church.