Patriarch Pavle was born Gojko Stojcevic in the village of Kucani (Kucanci) in Slavonia on 11 September 1914. As Serbian patriarch, he is also the archbishop of Pec and the metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovac.

Pavle attended primary school in his native village, middle school in Tuzla, and high school in Belgrade. For six years, he studied at the Orthodox Seminary in Sarajevo and later graduated from Belgrade University's School of Theology.

At the beginning of World War II he was mobilized to serve in the Yugoslav Army's health corps, but later managed to return to Slavonia.

Between 1944 and 1955 he was a monastic in Raca Monastery, and during the 1950-51 academic year he became a lecturer at the Theological Seminary in Prizren. He remained a lecturer at this institution until his election as Serbian patriarch.

In 1955, Pavle left for postgraduate studies at the Orthodox Theological Faculty at the University of Athens.

After his return to Serbia, Bishop Emilian of Slavonija elevated Pavle to the rank of archimandrite in 1957. That same year, he was elected Bishop of Raska and Prizren.

During his time as bishop, Pavle authored numerous scholarly publications on liturgics. As head of the Holy Synod's Commission on Translations, Bishop Pavle was responsible for the publication of a Serbian version of the New Testament.

On 1 December 1990, Bishop Pavle was chosen by lot from three candidates nominated by the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The following day, he was enthroned as Serbian patriarch. The procedure to choose the patriarch by lot was introduced in 1967 in order to thwart attempts of the then-communist authorities to influence the elections.

Because of his simple lifestyle and personal humility, official sources describe Patriarch Pavle as a "walking saint." He reportedly refuses to have a personal car and driver and prefers to walk or use public transport.

Patriarch's Pavle's election coincided with the upsurge of Serbian nationalism under Serbian and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Patriarch Pavle and the Serbian Orthodox Church have been criticized by Croats, Muslims, and Kosovars for not unambiguously criticizing Serbian ethnic-cleansing campaigns in those regions during the 1990s.

Patriarch Pavle did, however, oppose Milosevic within the context of Serbian domestic politics. Following the fall of Milosevic in 2000, Pavle and the SPC drew criticism from many politicians and commentators for becoming involved in political issues such as the selection of state symbols and the drafting of school curricula.