List of heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church

This is a list of heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church, since the establishment of the church as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219 to the contemporary patriarchate. The list includes all the archbishops and patriarchs that led the Serbian Orthodox Church, including the Serbian Archbishopric and Serbian Patriarchate of Peć. Since 1920, the Church is led by the Serbian Patriarch, officially styled as Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch.

The current patriarch is Porfirije, who acceded to the position in 2021.

Legend     Venerated to sainthood

Serbian Archbishopric (1219–1346) No.PrimatePortraitTenureNotes1 Sava I1219–1233First Archbishop of the Serbian Church.Styled "Archbishop of Serb Lands and the Littoral".Established seat at Žiča.2 Arsenije I1233–1263Moved the seat to Peć.3 Sava II1263–12714Danilo I1271–12725Joanikije I1272–1276Seat vacant from 1276 to 12796 Jevstatije I1279 – 4 January 1286Moved the seat to Žiča in 1285.7 Jakov1286–1292Moved the seat to Peć in 1291 amid foreign invasion, likely final transfer.8 Jevstatije II1292–13099 Sava III1309–1316Styled "Archbishop of All Serb and Maritime Lands".10 Nikodim I1316–132411 Danilo II1324–133712 Joanikije II3 January 1338 – 6 April 1346

Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (1346–1766) No.PrimatePortraitTenureNotes1 Joanikije II6 April 1346 – 3 September 1354First Patriarch of the Serbian Church.Styled "Archbishop of Peć and Patriarch of all Serb Lands and the Littoral".2Sava IV1354–13753 Jefrem I3 October 1375 – 13804 Spiridon I1380 – 11 August 1389 Jefrem I1389–13905Danilo III1390–13966Sava V1396–14067Danilo IV14068 Kirilo I1407–14199 Nikon I1420–143510Teofan I1435–144611Nikodim II1446–145512Arsenije II1457–1463Seat vacant from 1463 to 1557 due to Ottoman abolition and transfer of jurisdiction to the Archbishopric of OhridNo.PrimatePortraitTenureNotes13 Makarije I1557–1571Full styled "Archbishop of Peć and Patriarch of Serbs and Bulgarians"Basic styled "Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch".14Antonije I1571–157515Gerasim I1575–158616Savatije I158617Nikanor I158818Jerotej I1589–159019Filip I1591–159220Jovan II1592–161321 Pajsije I1614–164722 Gavrilo I1648–165523Maksim I1655–167424Arsenije III1674–1690 (1706)Leader of the First Migration of the Serbs into the Habsburg monarchy. After 1690, reorganized and headed the branch of the Serbian Church in the Habsburg monarchy.25Kalinik I1691–1710Ethnic Greek.26Atanasije I1711–171227Mojsije I1712–172428Arsenije IV1724–1737Leader of the Second Migration of the Serbs into the Habsburg monarchy.29Joanikije III1739–1746Ethnic Greek.Served as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.30Atanasije II1746–175231Gavrilo II175232Gavrilo III1752–175833Vikentije I175834Pajsije II1758Ethnic Greek.35Gavrilo IV1758Ethnic Greek.36Kirilo II1758–1763Ethnic Greek.37Vasilije1763–176538Kalinik II1765–1766Ethnic Greek.Resigned as Patriarch, effectively abolishing the post.Seat vacant from 1766 to 1920 due to Ottoman abolitionAfter the Ottoman Empire abolished the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć for the second and final time in 1766, the Serbian Orthodox population within the Ottoman Empire was under jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until 1920. Due to the Great Turkish War, a large number of Serbs migrated to the Habsburg monarchy in 1690 causing the establishment of a metropolitanate in Karlovci in 1708. This see was elevated to a patriarchate in 1848. After the founding of the Principality of Serbia, the autonomous Metropolitanate of Belgrade was created in 1831, under jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It gained full autocephaly in 1879 and merged in 1920 with the Patriarchate of Karlovci and the Metropolitanate of Montenegro to form the unified Serbian Orthodox Church.

Serbian Orthodox Church (since 1920) No.PrimatePortraitTenureNotes39Dimitrije12 September 1920 6 April 1930First Patriarch of the reunified Serbian Orthodox Church.Styled "Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch"40Varnava12 May 193023 July 193741Gavrilo V21 February 19387 May 195042Vikentije II1 July 19505 July 195843German14 September 195830 November 199044Pavle1 December 199015 November 200945Irinej23 January 201020 November 202046Porfirije19 February 2021Incumbent

Timeline This is a graphical timeline of the patriarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church since 1920. They are listed in order of first assuming office.

The following chart lists the patriarchs by lifespan, with the years outside of their tenure in blue.

See also Lists of patriarchs

References

Sources

External links Serbian Orthodox Church, history at spc.rs Pages on most of the Serbian Patriarchs Kosovo.com: another list of Serbian Patriarchs Hierarchical Succession of the Patriarchal See of Serbia from the Orthodox Research Institute