He was the first head of the restored Serbian Patriarchate of Peć, after its lapse in 1463 that resulted from the Ottoman conquest of Serbia.

[1] He is variously reported to have been the brother, nephew, or first cousin of the Ottoman Grand Vizier Mehmed-paša Sokolović, who used his influence in the Ottoman Empire to reestablish the Serbian Patriarchate with its seat in Monastery of Peć.

He was born in the 16th century, his family hailing from the Serb clan of Piva in Old Herzegovina.

Metropolitan of Smederevo Pavle was one of many that did not recognize the current status of Serb Orthodox in the Ottoman Empire and sought to make the Serbian Church independent once again.

The Ottoman Sultan gave Makarije the same rights as the Patriarch of Constantinople.