Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Joanikije (Lipovac) was born on February 16, 1890, in Stoliv in the Bay of Kotor to father Špiro Lipovac and mother Marija Damjanović. At baptism, he was given the name Jovan. His ancestors lived in Cuci in the Katun district, and from there they left at the beginning of the 18th century and settled in Boka. His father first worked as a sailor, and then as a postman. He completed elementary school in Prčanj, high school in Kotor, the Orthodox Theological Institute in Zadar, and the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, where he also passed the professorial exam in theological subjects.
He was ordained a deacon by Bishop Vladimir of Boka Kotor and Dubrovnik on St. Michael's Day in 1912, and two days later he received the rank of presbyter. He was ordained in the Kotor Church of the Holy Father Nicholas. He was appointed as the parish chaplain in Kotor and remained in that position until the end of November 1918. From February 1916 to November 1918, he also served as a reserve military chaplain. At the end of November 1918, he was appointed as the administrator of the parish in Petrovac, where, after passing the parish exam, he became a permanent parish priest. He was transferred to the position of substitute teacher of the Cetinje Gymnasium on October 30, 1922, when he was transferred to the lower women's gymnasium and the women's teacher training school in Cetinje. During that period, he was also a part-time professor at the Cetinje Theological Seminary. In 1925, he was transferred from Cetinje to Belgrade, to the First Men's Gymnasium. In that position, as a widowed priest, he was also elected Bishop of Budimlje. Metropolitan Gavrilo (Dožić) of Montenegro and the Littoral, later Serbian Patriarch, awarded him a red sash, and on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1925, he was also elevated to the rank of archpriest (Biographical information about Metropolitan Joanikije is taken from the "Glasnik SPC" No. 5 from 1940). At the session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the SPC on December 8, 1939, he was elected Vicar Bishop of Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo in Montenegro with the honorary title of Bishop of Budimlje. He was tonsured a monk by Metropolitan Josif (Cvijović) of Skopje on February 1, 1940, in the Rakovica Monastery near Belgrade. Upon tonsure, he was given the name Joanikije. He was ordained on February 11, 1940, in the Belgrade Cathedral Church.
On Saturday, February 10, 1940, in the Cathedral Church in Belgrade, the ordination of the newly elected Bishop of Budimlje, Mr. Joanikije (Lipovac), vicar of His Holiness the Patriarch of Serbia, Mr. Gabriel, took place.
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