Irinej, Serbian Patriarch

Irinej (Иринеј,, Irenaeus; born Miroslav Gavrilović; 28 August 193020 November 2020) was the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 2010 until his death in 2020.

After compulsory military service, he was tonsured a monk in 1959 in Rakovica monastery, receiving the monastic name of "Irinej" (from 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.

In 1969, he returned to Prizren, where he was appointed Rector of the Prizren Seminary.

Irinej was elected titular bishop of Moravica in May 1974.

As the bishop of Moravica, he was a vicar to the Serbian patriarch, at the time to Patriarch German.

After one year, he left the position following his election for the bishop of Niš.

In May 1975, Irinej was elected bishop of Niš and enthroned in the Holy Trinity Cathedral on 15 June 1975 in Niš.

When the Prizren Seminary was displaced from Prizren due to Kosovo War in 1999, he made it possible that a new building of the Seminary was built in Niš, where the Seminary continued its work.

Irinej headed the Eparchy of Niš for 35 years.

Bishop Irinej was elected to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church as a member in May 2009.

He had first been the bishop of Niš between 1975 and 2010, and then the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 22 January 2010 succeeding Pavle, until his death.

He was considered, both abroad and at home, to be a moderate traditionalist, open to global inter-religious dialogue.

Irinej was born as Miroslav Gavrilović (Мирослав Гавриловић) in Vidova near Čačak, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Serbia).

After graduating from high school, he enrolled and completed the Serbian Orthodox Seminary of Prizren.

He then enrolled at the University of Belgrade's Theological Faculty and served in the army after graduating.

Irinej was elected Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church on 22 January 2010, two months after the death of previous patriarch, Pavle, becoming the 45th Patriarch.

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) Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral and Bishop Irinej of Bačka.

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.

Irinej was enthroned on 23 January 2010 in St. Michael's Cathedral in Belgrade.

The inauguration was attended by numerous government ministers of Serbia, representatives of churches and religious communities in Serbia, and various politicians including the Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, Apostolic Nuncio Orlando Antonini, Catholic archbishop of Belgrade Stanislav Hočevar, Serbian Mufti Muhamed Jusufspahić, and Crown Prince Alexander Karađorđević.

Irinej held his formal enthronement to the ancient throne of the Serbian patriarch in the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć on 3 October 2010.

The enthronement was attended by many dignitaries including Serbian President Boris Tadić, Croatian Parliament member Milorad Pupovac, Russian Metropolitan Hilarion, Jerusalem Archbishop Theophylactos of Iordanos, Georgian Metropolitan Gerasimos of Zugdidi and Tsaishi, Romanian Metropolitan Irineu, Bulgarian Metropolitan Domentian of Vidin, Cypriot Metropolitan Chrysostomos, Albanian Metropolitan Ignatios of Berat, Archbishop Hočevar, Mufti Jusufspahić, Crown Prince Alexander and princes Peter, Philip, and Alexander.

Irinej was considered, both abroad and at home, as a moderate traditionalist, open to global inter-religious dialogue.

On 28 January 2010, at his first news conference, Irinej stated that "Islam’s philosophy was that Muslims, when they are in small numbers, can behave well and be fair, but that once they become superior, they start to exert pressure."

The Islamic Community in Serbia (IZS) said that it found the remarks to be "insulting Islam" and responded with a letter to the Serbian Orthodox Church requesting an official interpretation of his statement.

The Islamic Community in Serbia condemned what they called "insulting and false accusations".

On 29 January, he expressed regrets for his statement and its consequences, and to Muslims, as neighbours and brothers he extended apologies.

Hereupon his apologies were accepted.

In 2010, Irinej indicated he would not oppose the first-ever visit by the pope of the Catholic Church 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 I, 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".

The visit of the Pope did not take place, as Irinej's Orthodox Church insisted on a papal apology for crimes committed against Serbian Orthodox during World War II.

”An apology would be a gesture that instills hope that something like that will never happen again," said Irinej.

A visit by Pope Francis (deemed politically useful for Serbia's battle against the international recognition of Kosovo) was discussed again for May 2016, but Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić called it off after hearing the negative opinion of Irinej's Orthodox Church.

In July 2018, Irinej confirmed that it was still not the right moment for a visit of the Pope to Serbia, "because of everything that has happened in the past, and a huge number of [Serb] refugees from Croatia, a large portion of the nation is against it."

In May 2019, Pope Francis stated that Irinej had helped in the reflection in the Catholic Church about the canonization of World War II Croatian Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac, which the Serbian Orthodox Church opposes due to his role in the Nazi-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

"I sought advice and I saw that I need to seek help from Irinej. He is a great patriarch. Irinej helped, we created a joint historic commission, and we cooperated," said the Pope.

"The truth is both mine and Irinej's only interest."