Serb Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle has passed away yesterday in Belgrade at the age of 95.

Patriarch Pavle took on his role in 1990, just days before Milosevic's SPS took power in Serbia. He went on to support Serbia's criminal wars in former Yugoslavia.

During the war, the patriarch and the church gave support to the leaders of the Bosnian and Krajina Serbs. A famous photograph from this time shows Radovan Karadzic kissing Pavle's hand. Serb paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan called the patriarch in one speech his supreme commander, which Pavle welcomed. Video footage shown by the Hague Tribunal shows Serb Orthodox priests blessing executors at Srebrenica.

After the debacle of Serb forces in Krajina, Croatia, which led to the evacuation of Serb civilians from the area, the Serb Orthodox Church grew distant from Milosevic blaming him for losing Krajina. Patriarch Pavle has not apologized to the victims of Serb forces which acted with the spiritual backing of his institution.

In Kosovo during his reign, the Serb Orthodox Church maintained its role as the spiritual supporter for Milosevic's criminal regime in return for its support of an ambitious church building program across Kosovo from taxes levied on the majority Kosovar Albanian population. Milosevic also lavished the Serb Orthodox Church with public land gifts. After the removal of Serb regime from Kosovo, Pavle, as a leader of Serb Orthodox Church opposed the construction of the Albanian Catholic Mother Teresa Cathedral in Prishtina.

 

He tacitly approved the violation of religous rights of Protestant Christians, Catholics, Muslims and Jews in Serbia.

A strong candidate to ensue Patriarch Pavle is Metropolitan Amfilohije, an outspoken Serb nationalist who has gotten the Serb Orthodox Church into conflict with Montenegrin and Macedonian state authorities. Metropolitan Amfilohije is opposed by more liberal elements within the church.