His Holiness Irinej |
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Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch | |
Church | Serbian Orthodox Church |
See | Belgrade |
Installed | 23 January 2010 |
Predecessor | Pavle |
Successor | current |
Orders | |
Ordination | 1959 |
Consecration | 1974 |
Personal details | |
Birth name | Miroslav Gavrilović |
Born |
Vidova, Čačak, Drina Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
28 August 1930
Nationality | Serbian |
Denomination | Serbian Orthodox Church |
Signature |
Styles of Serbian Patriarch Irinej |
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Reference style | His Holiness |
Spoken style | Your Holiness |
Religious style | Patriarch |
Posthumous style | N/A |
Irinej (Irenaeus, Serbian Cyrillic: Иринеј, pronounced [irǐneːj]; born 28 August 1930) is the 45th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, since 22 January 2010. His full title is His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch Irinej. He served as the Bishop of Niš between 1975 and 2010.
Irinej was born Miroslav Gavrilović (Мирослав Гавриловић, pronounced [mǐroslaʋ ɡaʋrǐːloʋitɕ]). After graduating from high school, he enrolled and completed the Orthodox seminary in Prizren (the Serbian Orthodox Seminary of Prizren). He then enrolled the University of Belgrade's Theological Faculty and served in the army after graduating. After military service, he was tonsured a monk in 1959 in Rakovica monastery, receiving the monastic name of Irinej (from Ancient Greek: Εἰρηναῖος; Irenaeus). He was a professor at the Prizren Seminary, and completed postgraduate studies in Athens. In 1969, he was appointed a head of the monastic school at Ostrog monastery. He later returned to Prizren, where he was appointed Rector of the Prizren Seminary in 1969.