Gerasim Petranovich

Gerasim Petranovich (Serbian Cyrillic: Sibenik, 23 April 1820 - Kotor, 5 April 1906) was a Bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Kotor (Montenegro), writer and theologian. He was known as a brilliant preacher, the author of several collections of sermons "The Good Shepherd" and a number of books. Honorary Doctor of Theology of the Theological Faculty of Chernivtsi University.

Biography[edit]

Born April 23, 1820 in Sibenik. He graduated from elementary school in Sibenik, then a gymnasium in Sremski Karlovci, the Karlovac Theological Seminary in the same place and the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb ^[1].

On October 14, 1844 in the monastery of Krupa was a monk. On December 9 of the same year he was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon. On July 20, 1846, he was ordained to the rank of archimandrite. On December 6, 1855, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite^[2].

He was a professor at the Theological Seminary in Zadar and an assistant to the chairman of the Theological Consistory^[3]. He was respected among Orthodox Serbs in Dalmatia. From 1862 to 1871 he was the editor of the Srpsko-Dalmatinsky Shop (Serbian-Dalmatian magazine), which was published by his brother Božidar Petranović ^[4].

When Emperor Franz Joseph I approved the creation of an independent diocese of Kotor on November 6, 1870, many representatives of the Serbian community proposed that Archimandrite Gerasim (Petranovich) be elected the first bishop of Kotor. Although the emperor fulfilled this appointment on February 25, 1871, a problem soon arose around the consecration of the newly appointed bishop. Orthodox Serbs hoped that the new diocese would remain in spiritual unity with the Metropolia of Karlovac, but it quickly became clear that the Austrian-Hungarian state authorities had other intentions. Since at that time the metropolitan throne in Sremsky Karlovtsy was vacant, the question of the consecration of Archimandrite Gerasim dragged on for three years^[5].

Meanwhile, the state authorities prepared the creation of a completely new metropolis. By decision of the emperor on March 30, 1874, the Bokotor diocese was included in the newly created Bukovina-Dalmatia metropolis with a center in Chernivtsi. Only after that, on May 9, 1874, Archimandrite Gerasimou was consecrated bishop, and then on May 26 he was solemnly served in Kotor^[6].

He managed the diocese of Boka Kotor very successfully, until his death in 1906. In 1874, he founded and was the first editor of the journal Shematizm Orthodox Diocese of Boka Kotorsko-Dubrovachka and Spichansk (Regulations of the Orthodox Diocese of Boka Kotor and Spichansk); the magazine was published in Zadar until 1908. He took special care of public schools, established several orphanages, and at his own expense founded a fund for material assistance to religious, educational and charitable institutions^[7].

He died on April 18, 1906 in Kotor and was buried in the Savina Monastery^[8].

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Add External links

This article "Gerasim Petranovich" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.