The future Metropolitan Petar was the son of a nobleman and priest Bogdan Zimonjić from the region of Herzegovina. He was born in Grahovo on 24 June 1866. He attended the seminary in Reljevo between 1883 and 1887 and continued his education at the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Cernovice from 1887 until his graduation in 1893. In October 1893, Petar was appointed assistant professor at the Reljevo Seminary, and a year later he was appointed professor. He received the name Petar when he took monastic vows on 6 September 1895. He was ordained deacon on 7 September and presbyter the following day. He became a consistorial advisor in Sarajevo in 1901. He was then elected the Metropolitan of the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina and then on 9 June 1903, Petar was consecrated and enthroned in Mostar. After the retirement of the Metropolitan of Dabar-Bosna Evgenije, Petar was appointed Metropolitan of the diocese by a royal charter dated 7 November 1920.
Martyrdom
After World War II had broken out, Metropolitan Petar was advised to leave Bosnia and move to Serbia or Montenegro. He replied saying: “I am the people's shepherd, which means that I am bound to stay here and share evil with these people, as I used to share well with them; thus I have to share the destiny of my people and stay where I am supposed to be". He defended consistently the Orthodox faith in front of German Gestapo by insisting on continuing use of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet instead of changing to the Latin alphabet. A Roman Catholic priest, Božidar Bralo, an adherent of the Croatian Ustaše in charge of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had a decisive role in this severe policy of forbidding the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, including the arrest of Metropolitan Petar. Metropolitan Petar was arrested on 12 May 1941. He was imprisoned first in the "Beledija" prison, and then three days later he was transported to the "Kerestinac" prison where he was assigned the number 29781. There, his beard and hair were shaved and all his bishop's insignia were taken away from him. The circumstances of his death are inconsistent. After enduring severe torture, he was moved to Koprivnica and then to Jasenovac or Gospić. According to the testimonies of Jovo Furtula and Jovo Lubura from the Sarajevo District, Metropolitan Petar was killed in Jasenovac
