Draft:Nicifor Peric (bishop): Difference between revisions

 

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”’Nićifor Perić”’ (secular name Nikola Perić; [[Baranda]], 4 December 1862]] — [[Sofia]], 1 February 1918) was the [[Eparchy of Raška-Prizren|Metropolitan of Raška-Prizren]] from 1901 to 1911, as a Serbian hierarch of the then [[Patriarchate of Constantinople|Patriarchate of Constantinople]].{{sfn|Vuković|1996|p=378-379}}

”’Nićifor Perić”’ (secular name Nikola Perić; [[Baranda]], 4 December 1862 — [[Sofia]], 1 February 1918) was the [[Eparchy of Raška-Prizren|Metropolitan of Raška-Prizren]] from 1901 to 1911, as a Serbian hierarch of the then [[Patriarchate of Constantinople|Patriarchate of Constantinople]].{{sfn|Vuković|1996|p=378-379}}

== Biography ==

== Biography ==

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Nićifor Perić (secular name Nikola Perić; Baranda, 4 December 1862 — Sofia, 1 February 1918) was the Metropolitan of Raška-Prizren from 1901 to 1911, as a Serbian hierarch of the then Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Nikola Perić was born in 1862 in the Banat village of Baranda, to father Petar and mother Olimpija. He was given the name Nikola at baptism. He completed elementary school in his native village. Then, to continue his education, he moved to Principality of Serbia.^[2] In Belgrade, he graduated from the gymnasium^[3] regularly, and theology (1889) subsequently, as an already ordained presbyter (in 1881 in Karanovac).

He became a monk in the Vraćevšnica on September 14, 1880, and in the same year he was ordained as a hierodeacon. He was ordained a hieromonk on March 1, 1881. Later, on the recommendation of the theology professor Firmilian, he was sent to the Theological Seminary on Halki Island in Constantinople, which he graduated in 1892. ^[4] Upon his return to Kingdom of Serbia, he was a clerk in the office of the Belgrade Metropolitan Mihail Jovanović, and then became the abbot of the Ravanica. Then he was sent again to Constantinople, where in March 1893. godine^[5] was appointed professor of the Serbian Gymnasium. He transferred to the service of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and was appointed rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.^[6] Patriarch of Constantinople Anthim VII promoted him to archimandrite, and at the request of the Greek, Metropolitan of Skopje Methodius, sent him as protosinghe to the Skopje Diocese.

When, after the death of Methodius, his successor, the Greek, Ambrose, came to Skopje, the Slavic people rose up. The rebellious believers simply threw him out of the church and expelled the new metropolitan. Because of the merits that Nicephorus had as a national leader, during those turbulent events of 1896, the Patriarch of Constantinople punished him. After penance, he was now exiled from Skopje to the island of Patmos, where he spent several months, between July and November 1897.^[5] At the request of the Serbian supplicants, the Patriarch returned him to Skopje, where he had several short assignments for the Patriarchate of Constantinople. From the end of 1899, until his election as metropolitan, he spent the rest of the year in Constantinople, now as the “warden” of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Farikeia.

After the death of the Metropolitan of Raška-Prizren Dionisije Petrović (1900), Nićifor was elected as the new Metropolitan of Raška-Prizren. He was ordained immediately after the election, on 21 January 1901. in the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Constantinople.^[9] The election of another Serbian hierarch was welcomed by Orthodox Serbs in the regions of Raška, Kosovo and Metohija. According to Grigorije Božović, Metropolitan Perić was a “capricious and unbalanced monk”, from whom anything could be expected.^[10] Immediately upon his arrival in Prizren, he reorganized the spiritual court, and also established a special mixed court for resolving general disputes, composed of priests and laity. In order to improve Serbian education and schooling, he established a main education committee, with subcommittees in larger towns in the diocese. On September 16, 1905, he celebrated 25 years of his pastoral work in Pristina, and was awarded the Order of St. Sava, 1st degree, by the Kingdom of Serbia. He described the conditions in Old Serbia in his work: “Travelogue of Metropolitan Nićifor Perić through the Kosovo Sandžak in 1906.On several occasions, he tried to protect the Serbian people from the abuse of local Turkish officials and Albanian violence in the territory of the Kosovo Vilayet. He was given great problems by resolving the “Dečani Question”, which was caused by the unpatriotic activities of Archimandrite Joanikije in the Visoko Dečani monastery. By replacing Joanikije and saving the Visoko Dečani, he gained great reputation among the people, but at the same time he caused dissatisfaction with various influential factors. By bringing Russian monks from the cell of Saint John Chrysostom on Mount Athos to the Dečani Monastery, he caused additional controversy and criticism in a part of the Serbian public. The main opponent of the Russian monks and the metropolitan himself was hieromonk Gavrilo Dožić, the later Serbian Patriarch. Due to various complications, there was an open disagreement between Metropolitan Nićifor and Serbian diplomacy, as a result of which he resigned in 1911, and was replaced the following year by Gavrilo Dožić.

After retiring from diocesan service, former Metropolitan Nićifor lived a secluded life until the outbreak of the First Balkan War. He returned from the Kingdom of Serbia as a volunteer in the Serbian army. It was said about him because of his courage and immoderation, that in terms of temperament and character he was “more suited to a duke than a bishop”. He was captured during the war by the Bulgarian occupation authorities and then interned in Bulgaria in 1915, where he died on February 1, 1918, “under unclear circumstances” in the Rila Monastery.^[12]

• Sava Stojanović: “Memorial of the twenty-five-year service of His Eminence, Mr. Nicephorus, Metropolitan of Raška-Prizren, Exarch of Upper Moesia…”, Belgrade 1906