Prokopije or Procopius (; or , ; born Petar Ivačković, Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Ивачковић, , ; August 8, 1808 – May 11, 1881) was an Austro-Hungarian cleric of the Romanian Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox churches who ultimately served as the latter's Patriarch at Karlovci. He was born in the Banat as a subject of the Austrian Empire, his ethnic affiliations alternating between the Serb and Romanian communities. Ivačković's early life was spent in Serbian Orthodox institutions, and he was seen as a Serb loyalist before he became Bishop of Arad. During the 1860s, he expressed support for Romanian nationalism, primarily as a founder of the National Aradian Association for Romanian Popular Culture. He backed Andrei Șaguna's bid to set up the Romanian-centered Metropolis of Transylvania, becoming its suffragan bishop; during the Serb–Romanian church partition, he extended the Arad Bishopric south into the Banat.
In the final part of his career, Ivačković's mission intertwined with the ethnic conflicts of Transleithanian Hungary. In 1873, following Șaguna's death and the row between Romanian conservatives and liberals, and being the more neutral choice, he was elected Transylvanian Metropolitan. A similar conflict among the Serbs propelled him to the office of Patriarch in 1874. Rejected by Romanian nationalists for having left his Transylvanian seat, Ivačković came to be seen as an associate of the Serb liberals. Although already old and ailing, his resignation in 1879 was widely attributed to Hungarian intrigues, involving Kálmán Tisza, Ágoston Trefort, and Ivačković's eventual successor, German Anđelić. Ivačković spent his final years away from the public eye, dying in Bela Crkva.
Biography Early career The future bishop was born in the village of Deliblato, on the Banat Military Frontier (now within the Kovin municipality of Serbia). He was the scion of a priestly family called Ivașcu, Iovașcu, Ivacicovici, Ivașcovici, Ivacicoviciu, Ivacskovics;,"Ungari'a. Prim'a adunare generala a Associatiunei natiunale in Aradu, pentru cultur'a si conversarea poporului romanu (Continuare lá Nr. 39)", in Telegraful Român, Nr. 40/1863, p. 164 from Goruia village in today's Caraș-Severin County, Romania. During his youth, most of the Banat was administered by Austria as part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. In this ethnically diverse environment, he frequented Serb and Romanian Austrians, which were at the time united under a single Serbian Orthodox jurisdiction: the Metropolis of Karlovci. In some church circles and several historical records, Ivačković is described as a "Serb-educated" ethnic Romanian,Ovidiu Pecican, "Istoria Aradului în oglinzi mișcătoare. Aradul anilor 1873–1874", in Monitorul Cultural. Lunar Arădean de Informație Culturală, July 2017, p. 13 or moreover as "Serbified". An 1888 feuilleton in the church magazine Biseric'a si Scóla claims that Ivačković was raised by "our brothers the Serbs", "which is why we thought he was one of them"."Epistolele parochului betranu, XI", in Biseric'a si Scóla, Nr. 49/1888, p. 392 Historian Aurel A. Mureșianu argues that Ivačković, a "Romanian Banatian", was actually born Ivașcu. His name was given a Serbian suffix because "Serbifying Romanian names was the fashion in Transylvania and the Banat" before 1850.Aurel A. Mureșianu, "Episcopul Nestor Ioanovici (1765—1830).—Cu două scrisori inedite", in Țara Bârsei, Vol. I, Issue 1, May 1929, p. 25 Researcher Cvetko Pavlović links Prokopije with the "Romanian rebel" clan Ivačković, who had settled in Montenegro Vilayet as Muslims.Cvetko Pavlović, "Pomeni Vlaha na području opštine Bar", in Matica, Summer/Autumn 2011, p. 281
In other records, the family appears as Serb and Romanianized. From 1815, Sofronie Ivașcovici from Deliblato, who was Prokopije's older brother,Costa Roșu, "Aniversări 2012. Instituții românești, publicații și oameni de seamă români din Voivodina", in Anuar. Publicație Anuală a Institutului de Cultură al Românilor din Voivodina, 2011, p. 199 taught Romanian at the seminary of Vršac. A complaint against him identified him as "Serb by birth".Ștefan Lupșa, "Contribuțiuni la istoria bisericească a Românilor Bănățeni in secolul XIX", in Biserica Orthodoxă Romană. Jurnal Periodic Eclesiastic, Vol. 56, Issues 11–12, November–December 1938, pp. 793–794 As reported in 1870 by the Arad magazine Gura Satului, the family's ethnicity was seen as neither "plain Serb" nor "plain Romanian", with members of both communities rejecting them. However, the same source claimed that the Ivașcus were "an old Romanian family".Vatavulu I., "Celebritati monstruóse. I. Georgiu Ivacicoviciu", in Gura Satului, Nr. 27/1870, pp. 106–108 In a 1906 book, Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga referred to Prokopije as "the Serb Ivacicovici",Nicolae Iorga, Neamul romănesc în Ardeal și Țara Ungurească. Vol. 1, p. 158. Bucharest: Minerva, 1906. a designation also found in a 1909 piece by Ioan Russu-Șirianu, who further contends that the bishop "could not speak Romanian".Ioan Russu-Șirianu, "Andrei Baron de Șaguna", in Viața Romînească, Nr. 8/1909, p. 201 In his 1920s memoirs, the novelist Ioan Slavici describes the bishop as "a Banatian who did not speak proper Romanian, but was seen as a Romanian". Historians Dejan Mikavica and Goran Vasin also suggest that Ivačković was a Serb, though one "acquainted with the Romanian language and perceived by the Romanians as their bishop.". Mihai Spariosu wrote: "the most accurate way of evaluating both brothers, as well as their entire family, is not in terms of one national history or another, but as an illustrious representative of the intercultural history of a culturally diverse, borderland region".Mihai I. Spariosu
After attending gymnasium in Oradea and Novi Sad, Ivačković studied philosophy in Kesmark, theology in Vršac and law in Sárospatak. A protege of Metropolitan Stefan Stratimirović, he began a career in teaching in 1833. Before 1835, he was a clerk of the Metropolis, in the eponymous seat of Karlovci. Tonsured a monk at Grgeteg monastery, he was hired as a professor at the Theological Seminary in Karlovci in 1835, also taking on the role of secretary in 1838. In 1843, he became an assessor for the Metropolis, and in 1846, having been made an archimandrite, became superior of Krušedol monastery (located, from 1849, in the Serbian Voivodeship).
From 1853 to 1873, Ivačković was Bishop of Arad, within the new Patriarchate of Karlovci. The Serb hierarchy viewed this as a compromise move, the appointment of a fellow prelate who seemingly opposed Romanian nationalism. He frustrated this attempt by working closely with dissident bishop Andrei Șaguna, insisting that his own priests read and circulate Romanian books and newspapers, and organizing theological education in the Romanian vernacular. In 1855, he and Șaguna reputedly endorsed Nicolae Tincu-Velea as Archpriest of Caransebeș, but their favorite was rejected by Emilijan Kengelac, the Bishop of Vršac. In other aspects of his mission, Ivačković also adhered to the Austrian line, ordering in 1854 the destruction of church documents which showed trace of collaboration with the rebellious Hungarian State of 1849.Gelu Neamțu, "Distrugerea documentelor românilor ardeleni pentru a-i elimina din istorie. 1848–1854", in Anuarul Institutului de Istorie George Barițiu, Vol. LII, 2013, pp. 245–246, 249 His early contributions included solving a conflict between Romanian and Greco-Hungarian parishioners of the church in Szentes.Eugen Glück, "O parohie de odinioară a episcopiei arădene: Senteș", in Lumina. Publicație Subvenționată de Fundația Publică pentru Minoritățile Naționale și Etnice din Ungaria, 1998, p. 19 While in Arad, he also built the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Cathedral.
During the 1860s, Ivačković's involvement with the nationalist cause was public. In September 1862, Romanian Orthodox notables in Transylvania, the Banat, and the Duchy of Bukovina co-wrote a petition to the Emperor Franz Joseph, asking for a Romanian jurisdiction to be carved out of Karlovci territories. Ivačković, Șaguna, Ioan Popasu and Theophil Bendella were the leading church officials included on the signatories' list; lay names included Emanoil Gojdu, Baron Wassilko, the Hurmuzachis, and the Mocioni family.J. Gagarin, "L'Église roumaine. Le Siége de Carlowitz et le Patriarche de Constantinople", in Études Religieuses, Historiques et Littéraires par des Pères de la Compagnie de Jésus, Vol. 7, 1865, pp. 327–328 In 1863, Ivačković was made the first president of National Aradian Association for Romanian Popular Culture, and was later honorary president. Also known as the "Aradian ASTRA" after Șaguna's similar institution, it was reportedly founded on Ivačković's initiative.Maria Alexandra Pantea, "Rolul preotului și dascălului în satele românești din Câmpia Aradului în secolul al XIX-lea" in Doru Sinaci, Emil Arbonie (eds.), Administrație românească arădeană. Studii și comunicări. Colecția Slaviciana, serie nouă: Vol. IV, pp. 288–289. Arad: Vasile Goldiș University Press, 2012. This activity brought Ivačković into contact with a generation of Romanian nationalists and House of Lorraine loyalists. They include Vincențiu Babeș, Ioan Rațiu, and the Mocionis: Anton Mocioni was the executive secretary; through Andrei Mocioni, the Association claimed patronage from the emperor.
Transylvanian suffragan and Metropolitan After 1864, when the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Transylvania was restored and he became a suffragan bishop thereof, Ivačković worked for the hierarchical separation of the Romanians from the Serbian Orthodox Church.Bocșan, p. 359; Cherescu, pp. 70–73; Mikavica & Vasin, p. 334; Pantea (2011), pp. 72, 75; Frigyes Pesty, A Szörényi bánság és Szörény vármegye története, pp. 377–378. Budapest: Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1877. He then helped Șaguna tackle what he saw as abuse from the Serb coreligionists, during the splitting of property. During partition, he lost his Serb parishioners, including as many as 5,000 in Arad-proper, as well as the Greek parish of Szentes, which went to Karlovci. However, he was able to consolidate his province with new Banatian parishes, as the Protopopiate of Timișoara, followed in 1865 by the Diocese of Caransebeș.Cherescu, passim. See also Bocșan, pp. 366–367; Pantea (2011), pp. 65, 72 By 1900, church historian Ilarion Pușcariu noted that the Protopopiate was never raised into a bishopric, because the "greedy" Ivačković would not relinquish control; this verdict was contested by author P. Ionescu, who noted that Pușcariu had little proof for his claim.P. Ionescu, "Observări la rĕspunsul Prea Cuv. Sale Dlui arhimandrit Dr. Ilarion Pușcariu", in Foaia Diecesană, Nr. 28/1901, p. 5 In 1868, Ivačković gave his blessing to the separation of Oradea Mare Diocese, although this never occurred during his reign.Gh. Tulbure, "Chestiunea episcopiei din Oradea-mare la congresul din 1868", in Biserica și Școala, Nr. 20/1914, pp. 163–165