Funeral of Serbian Patriarch Pavle, a witness to 20th century Kosovo tragedy

Patriarch Pavle was in charge of the Serbian Orthodox church in Kosovo from 1957 until his election in 1990.

"Pavle was appointed Bishop of Kosovo and Metohija, a holy land, half a century ago, and he carried the troubles of that land within his heart throughout his life," wrote Russian Patriarch Kirill in a message to the Serbian people.

He witnessed the plight of the Serb people in Kosovo, the desecration of churches and monasteries and various attempts at the general eradication of the Serb Orthodox culture in the province.

Some members of the KosovoCompromise staff have witnessed his historic visit to Kosovo on June 17, 1999, during the massive campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kosovo Serbs carried by the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Patriarch Pavle's own convoy was attacked during the trip around Kosovo, but he urged the Serb population to remain in their homeland despite the terror.

His Holiness Patriarch Pavle passed away at the age of 95 in Belgrade. His secular name was Gojko Stojcevic, born in 1914 in what is today Slavonia, Croatia.

In December 1990, Pavle was chosen as the 44th patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Amfilohije, who served along with Patriarch Bartholomew, said during the ceremony that Patriarch Pavle, "the holy old man", awoke hidden goodness, love of fellow men and God in people, who during the past days recognized him in his death as their closest of kin.

"When a man is born, the whole world is rejoicing, and only he is crying, but one must live in such a way that when one passes away, the whole world cries, while only he rejoinces," the metropolitan reminded of the patriarch's words.