See Belgrade Term ended July 23, 1937 Name Patriarch of Ordination 1905 | Installed May 12, 1930 Birth name Petar Rosic Role Vicar Consecration 1910 | |
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Church Serbian Orthodox Church Died July 24, 1937, Belgrade, Serbia Successor Patriarch Gavrilo V of Serbia Predecessor Patriarch Dimitrije of Serbia Parents Dorde Rosic, Krsmana Rosic | ||
Patriarch Varnava Rosic (Serbian Cyrillic: Varnava Rosiћ) was born in Pljevlja, at the time Principality of Montenegro, on August 29, 1880. He was the Head of Serbian Orthodox Church between 1930 and 1937. His birth name was Petar Rosic.
During the archipastoral rule of Patriarch Varnava, the dioceses of Zagreb and Mukacevo-Prjas were formed. Between 1931 and 1947, the Serbian Orthodox Church consisted of 27 dioceses and a vicarate in Skadar, Albania. Church life was on the move in all regions. Many monasteries, churches and church buildings were erected, some of these being the present Patriarchate building in Belgrade, monastery Vavedenje (Vavedenye, Entrance to the Theotokos into the Temple) etc. The construction of the edifice of the great Temple of Saint Sava was initiated in Belgrade (the biggest Orthodox Temple in Europe).
Varnava firmly resisted the introduction of legislation giving greater privileges to the Roman Catholic Church not in Yugoslavia in general, but in Serbia in particular (hence The Concordat Crisis). He maintained that these would certainly undermine positions of both the Serbian Orthodox church and those of other faiths in the country. He died unexpectedly during the night between July 23–24, 1937 when the Concordat legislation was carried into Parliament. The Holy Synod was also against government pro-Concordat policy, and the government was soon forced to withdraw this new legislation.
Many people believed that Patriarch Varnava was poisoned because of his struggle against Concordat, and his death is still unresolved.
He is the great uncle of performance artist Marina Abramovic.