Pavel was born September 11, 1914, to Stefan and Ana Stojčević (Стефан и Ана Стојчевић), in the village of Kučani, in the county of Donji Miholjac, in Croatia. His baptismal name was Gojko (Гојко). He graduated with high honors from the Fourth Male Gymnasium (high school) in Belgrade 1929. He also graduated from the seminary in Sarajevo in 1935, аnd from the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Belgrade in 1940. He did postgraduate studies at the Orthodox Theological Faculty at the University of Athens from 1955 to 1957. During his stay in Greece, he studied the New Testament and developed an expertise in liturgics, which resulted in the Patriarch becoming one of the most prolific liturgical writers in the Serbian Church. For his patient and prominent work in the field of theology, the Theologi