Herman (Serbian Patriarch)

Born in the family of a teacher, who later became a priest . He received his primary education in Velika-Drenov near Trstenik and in the city of Krusevac , in the seminaries in Belgrade and Sremski Karlovci (he graduated in 1921). He studied law at the Sorbonne, then entered the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade , which he graduated in 1942.

In 1924, Ephraim was ordained a deacon by Bishop Ziczki, after which he served in the clergy of the иiči Cathedral. Appointed servant of the ecclesiastical court of the ичiči diocese .

From 1925 to 1927 he taught the Law of God in the gymnasium of the city of Cacak .

In 1927 he was ordained a priest, and until 1931 served as a parish in Miokovtsi. In 1931 he was transferred to the city of Vrnjacka Banja by the rector of the church and the bishop governor, and at the church he established the monthly magazine “Pregled” and the annual calendar “Sveti Lazar”.

In 1938, he was widowed and moved to Belgrade , and was appointed as the Assistant of the Holy Synod.

By the decision of the Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, held from May 31 to June 12, 1951 ^{[1], he} was elected Chief Secretary of the Synod in the rank of bishop with the title of " Moravic ." On July 7, 1951, being a widower, Bishop of Sumadi Valerian (Stephanovich) was tonsured as a monk at the Studenitsa monastery , on July 12 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite .

On July 15, his episcopal consecration took place, which was accomplished by Patriarch Vincent in cooperation with the bishops of Shumadi Valerian (Stephanovich) , Sremsky Nikanor (Iličić) and Banyluksky Vasily (Kostich) .

On July 3, 1952, he was elected Bishop of Budim , but he was unable to occupy the pulpit due to the obstacles imposed by the Hungarian authorities.

In the years 1955-1956, the administrator of the Budimlyansk-Polimsk diocese .

From June 9, 1956 - Bishop Ziczky , restored more than 40 temples and founded the monastery of Jovana.

In 1956-1957, the administrator of the Rashsko-Prizrensky eparchy .

He was the editor of the main body of the Serbian Orthodox Church - magazine "Glasnik".

September 13, 1958 elected Serbian patriarch. Solving the acute personnel problem of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he initiated the election of 27 bishops.

In order to raise the level of religious education, he reformed the curricula of theological educational institutions of the TWS, resumed theological seminaries in Sremski Karlovtsi, in the Krka Monastery and the monastic school in the Dečany Monastery. The Orthodox People’s University was founded in the building of the Patriarchate in Belgrade, in which Patriarch Herman gave lectures. In the Patriarchate of Herman, the publishing activity of the TWC was expanded. Despite the obstacles of the communist authorities, he had special care in rebuilding churches and monasteries. During the reign of Patriarch Herman, the procedure for electing the patriarch was changed, and the so-called “Apostolic Principle” was introduced, according to which the bishops select three candidates at the council, and then use the lot to determine which of them will be the new patriarch.

The patriarchate of Hermann caused two divisions as a result of the interference of the authorities: a significant part of foreign parishes seceded, mainly in the USA, which formed the Free Serbian Church with its center in Novograchanitsky monastery , and also parishes in the Federal Republic of Macedonia , which formed the non-canonical Macedonian Orthodox Church. .

In 1989 he broke his hip and was unable to recover from this injury until the end of his life. Since Patriarch Herman was no longer able to fully manage the Church, on June 30 of the same year, Metropolitan Zagreb-Ljubljana John was elected Patriarch. On November 30, 1990, Patriarch Hermann retired by the decision of the Bishops' Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church due to a serious long-term illness, confirmed in the report of the council of doctors of the Military Medical Academy ^[2] . The next day, December 1, the bishop of Rashko-Prizrensky Pavel (Stojchevich) was elected Patriarch.

He became one of the longest-serving Serbian patriarchs in the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church, having fulfilled 32 years as head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

He died on August 27, 1991 in Belgrade . He was buried in the Church of the Apostle Mark in Belgrade.

• HERMAN // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church-Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2006. - T. XI. - S. 234-235. - 752 s. - 39 000 copies - ISBN 5-89572-017-X .
• HERMAN ЂORIЋ | Patriarch Arch | 1958-1990; † 1991