A woman kisses the cross in the hand of late Serbian Patriarch Pavle during a farewell ceremony at the Cathedral Church in Belgrade, on November 15, 2009. (ALEXA STANKOVIC/AFP)

BELGRADE, November 15, 2009 (AFP) - The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church during the fall of communism and the Balkan wars, patriarch Pavle, died on Sunday in a Belgrade hospital, the church announced. He was 95.

The patriarch had suffered from poor health for several years and was frequently hospitalised.

Pavle took over the leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) in 1990, amid upheavals over the bloody break up of Yugoslavia, the fall of communism and rise of Serb nationalism.

His rule saw the church take a prominent role in the country, with religion back on the curriculum in Serbia's schools after more than 60 years of enforced atheism.

The majority of Serbia's population of seven million people are Orthodox Christians.

President Boris Tadic said the patriarch's death was an "irredeemable loss for the entire Serbian nation."

"His death is also my personal loss," Tadic was quoted by Beta news agency as saying.

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said the Orthodox church and Serbian nation had "lost a wise head... a spiritual leader we could be proud of both as a nation and as a state."

The Serbian government held an extraordinary session and proclaimed three days of mourning starting from Monday.

Church bells were set to toll every hour throughout the country, while Serbian state television switched from its regular programme to tributes to the deceased patriarch.

A coffin with the body was brought to Belgrade's main cathedral where it was displayed to followers coming to pay tribute.

According to state TV, the Holy Synod, the church's top body, was expected to hold an extraordinary meeting later on Sunday to proceed with funeral preparations.

The president of neighbouring Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, and the prime minister of the Republika Srpska, the Serb-held entity in Bosnia, Milorad Dodik, whose nations share the Orthodox faith and the church , sent letters of condolences to the SPC.

"I express a sorrow for the death of his holiness patriarch Pavle who served God, church and the people in the most difficult times," Dodik wrote.

Highly appreciated by the faithful for his simple lifestyle and personal humility, Pavle has often been referred to as the "saint who walks."

He was widely viewed as the leader of a moderate wing within the church, and is widely expected to be replaced by a hardliner.

State TV quoted him as saying at the beginning of the Balkans wars in 1990s: "It is our oath not to make a single child cry or sadden a single old woman because they are of another religion or nation."

However, during Pavle's rule the church backed Serb nationalists in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s, and was believed to have given sanctuary to a number of war crime suspects, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic during his 13 years in hiding before his arrest in July 2008.

The patriarch once signed a petition asking the international community to drop the case against Karadzic, currently standing trial for his role in the war in Bosnia, notably the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Before he was appointed as the 44th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Pavle served as bishop in Kosovo, the breakaway Serbian province considered the cradle of Serb history and culture.

Known for his support of the Serbs throughout the Balkans, Pavle only distanced himself from the autocratic regime of late president Slobodan Milosevic after it had lost control over Kosovo, following the end of 1998-1999 conflict.

The Serbian Orthodox Church has been playing an active role in Belgrade's efforts to prevent Kosovo gaining independence, and rejected Pristina's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in February 2008.

During Pavle's mandate the church was also hurt by several paedophilia scandals and by bishops who blessed paramilitary troops ahead of campaigns in Croatia and Bosnia, where they committed war crimes.