 Archbishop Stefan, whose secular name is Stojan Veljanovski ("Стојан Вељановски"), was born on May 1, 1955, in the village of Dobrushevo, Mogila Municipality in SFR Yugoslavia, today in North Macedonia.In 1969, he enrolled in the "Macedonian Orthodox Theological Seminary of St. Clement of Ohrid" in Dračevo, where he graduated in 1974.The same year he went on to study at the University of Belgrade Theological Faculty, graduating in 1979.