Died 11 May 1881, Bela Crkva, Banat, Serbia | ||
Prokopije Ivačković (Serbian: Прокопије Ивачковић; Romanian: Procopie Ivașcovici; born Petar Ivačković; August 8, 1808–May 11, 1881) was an Austro-Hungarian cleric of the Romanian Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox churches who ultimately served as the latter's Patriarch.
Born in Deliblato, in what is now the Kovin municipality of Serbia, he was the scion of a priestly family called Ivașcu from Goruia village, in today's Caraș-Severin County of Romania. After attending gymnasium in Oradea and Novi Sad, he studied philosophy in Kesmark, theology in Vršac and law in Sárospatak. From 1833 to 1835, he was a clerk at the Serbian Orthodox Metropolis of Karlovci. Tonsured a monk at Grgeteg monastery, he was hired as a professor at the theological seminary in Karlovci in 1835, also taking on the role of secretary in 1838. In 1843, he became an assessor for the metropolis, and in 1846, having been made an archimandrite, became starets of Krušedol monastery. From 1853 to 1873, he was Bishop of Arad. While there, he built the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Cathedral. After 1864, when the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Transylvania was restored and he became a suffragan bishop thereof, he worked for the hierarchical separation of the Romanians from the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 1863, he was made the first president of Asociația națională arădeană pentru cultura poporului român, and was later honorary president.
Following the death of Andrei Șaguna, he was elected Metropolitan of Transylvania, serving at Sibiu from September 1873 to July 1874. A month after departing this office, he took up the post of Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with his residence at Karlovci. He remained until August 1880, when the Hungarian government compelled Ivačković to resign. He withdrew to Bela Crkva, where he died, and was buried at the Karlovci Cathedral.