New Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected

6874_vladikaniski_fToday at 2:30 PM the bells of the Belgrade cathedral announced the election of the new Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Right Reverend Irinej, Bishop of Nis, birthplace of the Holy Emperor Constantine, was elected as the 45th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The newly elected Patriarch said that his election was the will of God and of the Holy Council of Bishops.

The Right Reverend was born in the village of Vidova near Cacak in 1930. After high school he graduated from the Theological Seminary in Prizren followed by the Theological College in Belgrade and Athens.

He was ordained deacon in 1959 by Patriarch German at the Rakovica monastery and on October 27 1959 he was ordained priest. He was a teacher and a principal at several theological schools. In 1974 he was elected patriarchal bishop vicar and in 1975 bishop of Nis.