New Hieromartyr Peter of Dabro-Bosnia

Ecclesiastical Career

Petar Zimonjić was born into a notable family; sources identify his father as the nobleman and priest Bogdan Zimonjić. He studied at the seminary in Reljevo from 1883 to 1887 and at the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Cernovice from 1887 to 1893, after which he taught at the Reljevo seminary and later served as a consistorial advisor in Sarajevo.

He received monastic tonsure in 1895, taking the name Peter, and was soon ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood. In 1903 he was elected and enthroned at Mostar as Metropolitan of Zahumlje and Herzegovina, and by royal charter dated November 7, 1920 he was appointed Metropolitan of Dabar and Bosnia, succeeding Evgenije (Letica).

Arrest and Martyrdom

Following the Axis occupation and the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, Metropolitan Peter was arrested on May 12, 1941. He was first held in the Beledija prison and then transferred to the Kerestinec camp. Accounts relate that he refused opportunities to abandon his flock, regarding it as his duty to remain with his people.

After enduring imprisonment and torture, he was moved through several locations and is recorded to have died in 1941; testimony preserved in the tradition places his death at the Jasenovac concentration camp, while some accounts name other camps. He was numbered among the many Serbian clergy and faithful who perished in this period.

Glorification

Metropolitan Peter was glorified as a saint by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1998. He is venerated as a New Hieromartyr and is commemorated together with the other New Martyrs of the Serbian Church who suffered during the Second World War.