Patriarch Irinej of Serbia

Patriarch Irinej (; born 28 August 1930 in Vidova near Čačak, Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is the 45th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, since 22 January 2010Vladika niški Irinej novi patrijarh. His full title is His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch Irinej. Between 1975 and 2010, he served as the Bishop of NišEparchy of Niš: Нишка Епархија од пада у Турско ропство до данас .
==Biography==
===Early life===
Irinej was born Miroslav Gavrilović (Мирослав Гавриловић). After graduating from high school, he enrolled and completed Orthodox seminary in Prizren. He then entered the Theological Faculty in Belgrade, serving in the army after graduating. After military service, he was tonsured a monk in 1959 in Rakovica monastery, receiving the monastic name of Irinej (Irenaeus). He was a professor at 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.
===As a religious leader===
In May 1974, Irinej was elected Vicar Bishop of Moravica and consecrated by Patriarch German. In May 1975, he was elected Bishop of Niš and enthroned in the Holy Trinity Cathedral on 15 June 1975.ИРИНЕЈ ГАВРИЛОВИЋ on www.nis.co.yu Irinej headed the Niš eparchy for the next 35 years.
On January 22, 2010, he was elected the 45th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, after the death of previous Patriarch Pavle. He was one of the three candidates with the most votes from the 45 bishops eligible in the Serbian Orthodox Church, along with former locum tenens (interim leader) Amfilohije Radović and Irinej Bulović. In the final phase, his name was pulled from a sealed envelope. In this way, the Serbian Orthodox Church believes the patriarch is elected by divine intervention, sidelining human interests.Serbian church promotes Bishop Irinej to new patriarch He was enthroned on 23 January 2010 in St. Michael's Cathedral.
Irinej has been considered, both abroad and at home, as a moderate traditionalist, open to global inter-religious dialogue. In an interview, Irinej indicated he would not oppose the first-ever visit by the Roman Catholic Pope to Serbia in 2013 as part of celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, the law under which Roman emperor Constantine, who was born in Niš, ended the persecution of Christians. Irinej said that "there is the wish of the Pope" for a meeting in Niš and that it would be a chance "not just for a meeting, but for a dialogue".Irinej: Papa u Srbiji 2013. godine?
==References==
==External links==
*Serbian Orthodox Church
Category:Christian religious leaders
Category:Patriarchs of Serbia
Category:Serbian Orthodox Church