In his secular life, Nedeljko Iličić was born on November 6, 1906, in Novi Bečej to father Nedeljko and mother Sofija (née Tucakov). After completing primary school in his hometown, he attended high school in Veliki Bečkereki, and after graduating from the Theological Seminary in Sremski Karlovci, he obtained his degree from the Theological Faculty in Belgrade as a student of Bishop Georgije Letić of Timișoara.
In the same year, he was tonsured by Archimandrite Sava (Trlajić), the Bishop of Upper Karlovac, at the Krušedol Monastery on Đurđic, a position Nikanor would soon inherit on the episcopal throne. During this time, he also became a brother of the St. George Monastery in the Timișoara Diocese and was appointed as a substitute teacher at the high school in Veliki Bečkereki. He was also appointed as a parish deacon and worked on organizing the religious movement. He passed the professor’s exam in 1933, and in 1939, he became a proto-deacon, a position he held until May 20, 1947. He was ordained a priest on May 24 of the same year by Metropolitan Damaskin of Zagreb. He was consecrated as a bishop in the Belgrade Cathedral on June 3, 1947, by Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo.
In addition to the episcopate of Upper Karlovac, he was also appointed to administer the Dalmatian Diocese, a position he held until 1951. Under very difficult political conditions during the time he took charge of the diocese, he was severely beaten in Kistanje and physically prevented from reaching the diocesan headquarters by members of the new government. By his request, he was transferred in 1951 to the Srem Diocese, where he was particularly engaged in the reconstruction of monasteries that had been destroyed or damaged during the time of the Independent State of Croatia. After the death of Bishop Irinej Ćirić of Bačka, he was elected as the Bishop of Bačka in 1955, a position he held until his death.
He wrote and published extensively. As a professor, he wrote a textbook on liturgics for the fourth year of high school and a Catechism. He wrote articles for church magazines such as Duhovna Straža and Glasnik Srpske pravoslavne crkve.
He passed away on November 6, 1986, in Sremski Karlovci, and was buried in the courtyard of the Cathedral of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Novi Sad, next to the Bishops of Bačka, Mitrofan Šević and Irinej Ćirić.
This text was written based on information from the book Serbian Hierarchs from the 9th to the 20th Century by the Bishop of Šumadija, Sava (from Senta), Belgrade 1996, and my own research.
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