Fr. Milovan was born as the oldest son to +Zdravko and Smiljana Katanic in Sombor, Serbia on October 9, 1972.

In 1979, Zdravko and Smilja immigrated to America with their then seven-year-old son and four-year-old daughter, Milica. They moved to Akron, OH, where Zdravko quickly found work at the Akron Foundry. Fr. Milovan soon learned English as he attended Akron public schools, taking extra courses to graduate from Kenmore High School an entire year earlier than the rest of his class, in 1990.

After high school, Fr. Milovan was accepted into the St. Sava School of Theology in Libertyville, IL. He graduated from Libertyville in 1995 with a Bachelor's Degree in Theology. After gradutation, he returned to Akron where he continued to live and work for another year.

The following year, on September 8, 1996, he wed Tatiana (Kostur), daughter of Archpriest Lazar Kostur, rector of St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Merrillville, IN. The wedding took place at Akron's St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church.

A short five weeks later, Fr. Milovan was ordained as a deacon by his grace, Bishop Dr. Mitrophan on October 13, 1996, also in Akron. He served as a deacon to Fr. Dragomir Tuba until his elevation to the priesthood on the feast of St. Nicholas, December 19, 1996 at the St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church in Midland, PA.

One week later, the new priest (age 25) and his young wife (age 20) moved to Atlanta, Georgia to officially begin a mission parish, dedicated to the missionary, Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. With a short roster of around 40 families, Fr. Milovan served Atlanta's first liturgy on the Nativity of our Lord, January 7, 1997.

During his seven-plus years in Atlanta, Fr. Milovan created a home for the Orthodox Serbs residing there. He quickly started a church school program, church choir, published a monthly church newsletter and church website, started a Kolo Sestara, folklore group and soccer club. Together with his Popadija, they worked tirelessly to get the parish on its feet. From 1997-2002 the group met at a midtown Anglican church hall, which Fr. was able to secure for them to use at no charge. Each vespers, Fr. and Popadija transformed an old, neglected hall into an Orthodox place of worship, with a Holy Table, moveable icon panels and candle stands. After liturgy, they returned those holy items to their storage closet until the next week.

A year later, in 1998, they were blessed with the the birth of their firstborn son, Vasilije. But, the next year brought more turblent times, with the bombing of our Serbian homeland by the NATO allies. With the group's close proximity to CNN, located in downtown Atlanta, Fr. and Popadija organized numerous, outdoor peaceful protests and prayer vigils for the faithful who were being persecuted in the former Yugoslavia. Popadija herself appeared on CNN talk shows many times, as a guest panelist.

The aftermath of the NATO bombings brought hundreds of Serbian souls to the Atlanta area. Suddenly, the group size had doubled, then tripled, and more. By 2000, there were around 250 Serbian families in the area. That same year, Father and Popadija were blessed again with another son, Lazar.

Watching his parish and family grow, Fr. Milovan did everything he could to get the parish organized and motivated to take the leap to purchase property of their own. Finally in 2002, the church bought an old bank in the northeastern suburb of Lilburn, GA. The bank walls were gutted, the parking lot patched and the holy items were placed in their proper places in a real altar, as the new church was consecrated by Bp. Mitrophan on February 10, 2002. Fr. Milovan was awared the Red Sash honor at this occasion, by Bishop Mitrophan.

The next few years were "lean years" where the church often struggled to make ends meet. The active members were primarily refugees who were trying to establish themselves in this new land and the needs of the community was great. Sacrifices were made all around, but with the blessing of a third child, Nikolina, born in 2003, Fr. Milovan had to make the difficult choice to leave the parish who could not afford to financially support a full-time priest at that time.

During his time in Atlanta, Fr. Milovan also served as the first temporary administrator to two other mission parishes in the South: St. Arsenije of Srem, Charlotte, NC, St. Archangel Michael in Huntsville, AL. He travelled to these parishes once a month to serve the Divine Liturgy, before they had their own priests.

Desiring to be closer to family and our diocese, Fr. Milovan accepted his current position at St. George with mixed emotions. While sad to leave the parish he started from scratch, he was also excited to come to such an established community, with such a beautiful temple and truly hospitable parishioners. One cannot help but notice the attention to detail that was used in planning, building, decorating and maintaining this church. May such love and devotion of the members continue forever!

His official start date in Hermitage was November 1, 2003. He quickly worked to meet all of his new parishioners and get to know them and the history of this parish. Church school classes and the folklore groups were restarted, as were the Mens Club and Parents Club, and Father even joined the local Chetnik Lodge: all groups which have all continued to work and grow for the good of the Church.

In 2004, he accepted the positions of Health Care Administrator for the SOC Clergy Health Plans and as English Editor of the Path of Orthodoxy Newspaper, which is the Official Newpaper of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the US and Canada. He also created and still maintains the diocese website, www.easterndiocese.org. In mid-2004, he was appointed as one of two temporary administrators for the Shadeland Mission Parish, dedicated to St. Nikolaj of Zhicha. He is very active with the Shadeland Camp as well, and serves on the Shadeland Committee.

With new responsibilities and another daughter, Jelena, born in 2005, Fr. was reenergized to work even harder. During his time so far at St. George, he has expanded the schedule of services, restarted the parish newsletter, created this website, increased attendance, taught church school classes himself, closed bingo, reopened catering and supported many auxiliary groups' events, for the glory of God. In addition, he serves as the layout editor for the Clergy Messenger, the official publication of the Serbian Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood Association. He is also a member of the SOC Standing Committees.

On December 17, 2006, the parish celebrated his first ten years of the priesthood, with a fish banquet at the social center. The next month, on January 20, 2007, on his Slava, (the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist), Fr. Milovan was elevated to the rank of Protonamesnik, by his grace, Bishop Mitrophan. In March 2007, he launched the official website for the Serbian Orthodox Church in the US and Canada, www.serborth.org. In November 2007, he was elected a President of the Shenango Valley Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood Association.

Father Milovan is fluent in Serbian and English and even translates for the patriarchal website, www.spc.yu, on occasion.

If you have a question or concern for Father, please email or phone him to arrange a meeting. You can also read his blog here.