POVRATAK PATRIJARHA GAVRILA DOŽIĆA
THE RETURN OF PATRIARCH GAVRILO DOŽIĆ

Summary/Abstract: Patriarch Gavrilo Dožić spent the occupation during the Second World War imprisoned in monasteries Rakovica, near Belgrade, and Vojlovica. Towards the end of the war he was taken, together with Bishop Nikolaj, to Dachau in Germany. Following liberation from the German camp, he went to Austria and later to Italy. Government authorities in the new Yugoslavia were interested for several reasons in ensuring the Patriarch’s return to the country and contacted him in the course of 1945. The initial phases in the relationship between the state and the Serbian Orthodox Church were difficult and it was thought that cooperation might be achieved more easily through Patriarch Gavrilo, who was known for his anti-Fascist sentiments and his approval if Yugoslav unity. The return of the Serbian Patriarch in the same year in which Draža Mihailović was tried was meant to demonstrate that the new regime did not hold Serbs in disfavor. It would also show the international community, after the trial of A. Stepinac, that the authorities in Yugoslavia were not opposed to the church. However, the return, hindered by the Patriarch’s hesitation and other obstacles, did not pass smoothly and, consequently, did not have the planned effect. Patriarch Gavrilo proved to be unexpectedly unyielding to the pressure made on him by the state. He made certain concessions but was not prepared to accept all that was asked of him. Realizing that the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church would not cooperate sufficiently, government authorities changed tactics towards the end of the forties, turning to the lower clergy, creating state-patronized organizations for them and introducing other activities aimed at achieving the goals desired.

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