Saint profile
Josaphat Kuntsevych
About Josaphat Kuntsevych
Josaphat Kuntsevych was a Basilian monk and Greek Catholic bishop in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Born around 1580 in Volodymyr, he entered monastic life in Vilnius and was ordained a priest. He later became archbishop of Polotsk. He worked to strengthen the church associated with the Union of Brest, through which some bishops of the Ruthenian church entered communion with Rome while retaining their Eastern liturgy.
That union was contested, and church allegiance was bound up with political and local tensions. Josaphat was killed at Vitebsk on November 12, 1623, during a violent confrontation. Catholic sources honor him as a martyr for church unity; the account should describe the historical dispute carefully rather than assign guilt to an entire religious community. He was canonized in 1867.
The Catholic memorial of Josaphat falls on November 12. In 1963 his relics were placed in St Peter's Basilica, where their presence became a visible reminder of the Eastern Catholic community in Rome.
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