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Varnava, Serbian Patriarch

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His Holiness

Varnava I
Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch
ChurchSerbian Orthodox Church
SeeBelgrade
InstalledMay 12, 1930
Term endedJuly 23, 1937
PredecessorDimitrije I
SuccessorGavrilo V
Orders
Ordination1905
Consecration1910
Personal details
Born
Petar Rosić

September 11, 1880
Pljevlja, Ottoman Empire
DiedJuly 24, 1937(1937-07-24) (aged 56)
Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Styles of
Serbian Patriarch Varnava I
Reference styleHis Holiness
Spoken styleYour Holiness
Religious stylePatriarch
Posthumous styleHis Holiness Patriarch Varnava I of Blessed Repose

Varnava Rosić (Serbian Cyrillic: Варнава Росић; September 11, 1880 – July 24, 1937) was the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1930 to 1937.[1]

Varnava was a leading figure during the Concordat crisis, where the Serbian Orthodox bishops opposed the adoption of a concordat between the Holy See and Yugoslavia in the Yugoslav assembly.

Life

[edit]

He was born Petar Rosić in Pljevlja, belonging at that time to the Ottoman Empire, on August 29, 1880. He attended primary school in his hometown. He graduated from theological and teacher training in Prizren in 1900. As a cadet of the Russian Holy Synod, he studied at the Theological Academy in Petrograd and graduated in 1905 with the degree of candidate of theology. He was tonsured on 30 April 1905.[2]

Since Metropolitan Parthenios of Debar, and Veles (1907-1913) was frequently absent from his eparchy, serving as a member of the Holy Synod in Constantinople, it was decided that an auxiliary bishop should be appointed for the administration of the eparchy. By that time, Varnava Rosić was serving as a Serbian Orthodox priest in Constantinople. He was chosen and consecrated as bishop on 10 April 1910 in the Patriarchal Church of Saint George.[2][3]

As an auxiliary bishop serving in the Eparchy of Debar and Veles, he welcomed the liberation of that region from Turkish rule in 1912 and annexation to the Kingdom of Serbia. Metropolitan Parthenios was finally transferred to another eparchy in 1913, and bishop Varnava was left in charge not only in the Eparchy of Debar and Veles, since the administration of other ecclesiastical territories annexed to the Kingdom of Serbia was also entrusted to him.[2]

During First World War, upon the Bulgarian occupation of southern parts of Kingdom of Serbia in 1915, he had to leave his eparchy, returning after liberation in 1918.[2] In 1920, he was elected Metropolitan of Skopje and served in that eparchy until 1930, when he became a new Serbian Patriarch.[4]

During the office of Varnava, the dioceses of Zagreb and Mukacheve was formed. Between 1931 and 1937, the Serbian Church consisted of 27 dioceses and a vicariate in Skadar, Albania. Church life was on the move in all regions. Many monasteries, churches and church buildings were erected, some of these being the present Patriarchate building in Belgrade, and the Vavedenje Monastery. The construction of the edifice of the great Temple of Saint Sava was initiated in Belgrade (one of the largest churches in the world).

Varnava firmly resisted the introduction of legislation giving greater privileges to the Catholic Church not in Yugoslavia in general, but in Serbia in particular (hence The Concordat Crisis). He maintained that these would certainly undermine the positions of the Serbian Orthodox Church and other faiths in the country. He died unexpectedly on July 24, 1937, a few hours after the lower house of Parliament voted to ratify the Concordat, 166 to 128.[5] The Holy Synod was also against government pro-Concordat policy. His death resulted in protests and violent street demonstrations ensued, leading the government to withdraw the new legislation.[6]

During the crisis, in a German newspaper in May 1937, Varnava praised Adolf Hitler for his stance towards the Catholic Church, calling it "an example of decisiveness that Yugoslavia should emulate."[7]

An inquiry into his death found traces of poison.[8] It is believed that Patriarch Varnava was deliberately poisoned because of his struggle against Concordat, though his death is still unresolved.[9]

He was the great-uncle of performance artist Marina Abramović.[10][11]

Patriarch Varnava was awarded Order of the White Eagle and a number of other decorations.[12]

See also

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ Вуковић 1996, p. 50-52.
  2. ^ a b c d Слијепчевић 1966, pp. 585–590.
  3. ^ Aleksić-Pejković, Ljiljana (2016). "Metropolitan Question 1907–1910: Appointing a Serb as Chorobishop of Debar and Veles Eparchy". Vardar Collection of Papers (11): 1.
  4. ^ Boskovska, Nada (2017). Yugoslavia and Macedonia Before Tito: Between Repression and Integration. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 305. ISBN 9781786730732.
  5. ^ "Church Head Dies After Concordat Is Endorsed". Ottawa Citizen. July 24, 1937. p. 18. BELGRADE, July 24— Patriarch Varnava of the Serbian Orthodox Church died early today a few hours after the lower house of parliament...
  6. ^ Velikonja, Mitja (2003). Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 156–157. ISBN 9781603447249.
  7. ^ Hoare 2024, pp. 527–557.
  8. ^ Dedijer, Vladimir (1974). History of Yugoslavia. McGraw-Hill Book Company. p. 548. ISBN 9780070162358.
  9. ^ Stiles, Kristine (2016). Concerning Consequences: Studies in Art, Destruction, and Trauma. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226774534.
  10. ^ Stated on "The Eye of the Beholder," Season 5, Episode 9 of Finding Your Roots, April 2, 2019.
  11. ^ Thurman, Judith (March 8, 2010). "Walking Through Walls". The New Yorker. p. 24.
  12. ^ Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 94.

Sources

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Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by Metropolitan of Skopje
1920–1930 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Serbian Patriarch
1930–1937 		Succeeded by
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