Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych (c. 1580-1623)

Birth and formation

Josaphat was born around 1580 (some sources say 1584) at Volodymyr-Volynsky, in Volhynia, into a Ruthenian noble family. He grew up in a world where the Byzantine and Latin rites coexisted, and where the Union of Brest (1595) had just brought part of the Ruthenian hierarchy into communion with the Holy See.^[3]

He entered the Order of Saint Basil (the Basilians), which played a central part in the religious life of the united Church. He was ordained priest in 1609, at the monastery of Vilnius, where he distinguished himself by preaching, hearing confessions and caring for the poor.^[4]

The Union of Brest (1595)

The Union of Brest is the founding act of the milieu in which Josaphat moved. In 1595, bishops of the metropolis of Kiev (Kiev, Polotsk, Lutsk and others) accepted communion with Rome while keeping the Byzantine rite, the Slavonic liturgy, a married clergy (according to local usages) and Eastern structures.^[5]

This union remained controversial: part of the Orthodox clergy and people rejected it, and tensions between the "uniates" and the "non-uniates" marked the whole period. Josaphat placed himself resolutely in the camp of the uniates, convinced that unity with Rome was the path of salvation for the Ruthenian Church.

An episcopal office (1617-1618)

After serving as archimandrite of the monastery of Vilnius, Josaphat was consecrated bishop on 12 November 1617, then became Archbishop of Polotsk on 31 March 1618. His jurisdiction extended over Polotsk, Vitebsk and Smolensk, a key territory on the eastern border of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.^[6]

He undertook a work of reform: restoring monastic discipline, forming the clergy, combating religious ignorance, works of charity. He had liturgical and catechetical books printed to strengthen the faith of the people.^[7]

Zeal for the union

Josaphat's zeal for union with Rome was complete and at times unbending. In a climate of confessional tensions, he sought to bring Orthodox communities back into communion with the Holy See, which earned him the hostility of part of the clergy and of the inhabitants of Vitebsk and Polotsk.^[8]

In 1622, he had Orthodox churches in Vitebsk closed, a decision that rekindled anger. The following year, tension became extreme. It should be noted that modern sources record these measures without justifying or absolving them: they belong to a context of wars of religion in which each camp sought to establish its authority.^[9]

A context of rivalries

To understand the crisis, it must be remembered that the metropolis of Kiev was then disputed between several obediences: the uniates (Greek-Catholics), attached to Rome since Brest ; the Orthodox, linked to the Patriarchate of Constantinople or to Moscow ; and the Protestants (Calvinists, Lutherans, anti-Trinitarians), present among the Polish-Lithuanian nobility. In this landscape, the Archbishop of Polotsk was a political actor as much as a pastor.^[10]

The Basilians of Vilnius, from whom Josaphat came, then formed the intellectual elite of the united Church: they published catechisms, liturgical books and defences of the union. The monastery of Vilnius was a centre of preaching and formation, and it was from there that Josaphat drew his vision of a Ruthenian Church united to Rome and faithful to its rite.^[11]

The last months (1623)

In 1623, the situation in Vitebsk was explosive. The sources report tumults, insults and threats against the archbishop and his supporters. Josaphat was warned of the danger, but he refused to flee, out of pastoral duty or out of acceptance of martyrdom, according to interpretations.^[12]

On 12 November, the mob made for his residence. The exact details of the attack vary according to the versions (blows, stones, weapons), but the outcome is constant: the archbishop was killed, and his body was thrown into the Dvina so as to erase even the trace of his sepulchre.^[13]

The attack

On 12 November 1623, an angry mob invaded the archbishop's residence at Vitebsk. Josaphat was assassinated ; his body was thrown into the Dvina. Several of his companions were killed with him.^[14][15]

The account of the martyrdom, reported by Greek-Catholic sources and taken up by the painting of Józef Simmler kept at the National Museum in Warsaw, shows the archbishop refusing to flee and offering his life for the unity of the Church. The body, recovered from the river, was found intact according to tradition, and the relics were scattered and then gradually gathered together.^[16]

An ecclesial martyrdom

Josaphat's death was not a martyrdom in the sense of the ancient persecutions: it was born of intra-Christian tensions, in a conflict between unionists and Orthodox. The Holy See recognised him as a martyr for the unity of the Church, which earned him his swift beatification (1643) and then his canonization (1867).^[17]

"The first Greek-Catholic saint canonized by the Holy See." French Wikipedia, article "Josaphat Kountsevitch"^[18]

Recognition as a martyr means that the Church judges that Josaphat was killed in hatred of the faith (or of the unity of the Church), and not in a mere settling of political scores. It is this qualification that opened the way to beatification, then to canonization.

The iconography of the martyrdom

The painting by Józef Simmler (National Museum in Warsaw) is one of the best-known depictions of Josaphat's death. It shows the archbishop, calm, surrounded by his murderers, in a composition recalling the martyr scenes of the first centuries.^[19]

Other images, portraits or icons, show him as a bishop of the Byzantine rite (phelonion, omophorion, crosier), sometimes with the attributes of a martyr (palm, cross). The figure of Josaphat is that of a shepherd slain for unity, both in the Latin tradition and in the Eastern tradition.

Beatification (1643) and canonization (1867)

Josaphat was beatified on 16 May 1643 by Pope Urban VIII, twenty years after his death. He was canonized in 1867 by Pope Pius IX, together with other martyrs of ecclesial union.^[20]

Chronology correction: some popular sources give a beatification in 1643 and a canonization in 1967 by Paul VI. This second date is incorrect: the canonization took place in 1867, under Pius IX. Josaphat is the first saint of the Greek-Catholic Church canonized by the Holy See.^[21]

The relics

After the assassination, Josaphat's body was thrown into the Dvina. The relics were then recovered and scattered in several places. Part of them is today at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, on the altar of Saint Basil.^[22]

The presence of relics in Rome bears witness to the universal recognition of the martyr and to his role in the history of the united Church.

Feast and memory

Saint Josaphat is celebrated on 12 November in the Latin calendar, the anniversary of his martyrdom. The Greek-Catholic calendar celebrates him on 25 November.^[23]

He is invoked for the unity of Christians, in particular between Rome and the Eastern Churches, and for the martyrs of the faith.

The facts presented here rest on the French Wikipedia article "Josaphat Kountsevitch", on Wikidata data and on Wikimedia Commons files (painting by Józef Simmler, portrait). The acts of the beatification trial and the Ruthenian sources of the period have not been read in full ; elements drawn from them are indicated as belonging to tradition.

The date of birth remains uncertain (around 1580 or 1584): no contemporary source has been consulted to settle it. The chronology of the beatification (1643) and the canonization (1867) is, on the other hand, solid and verified.

• Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584): the great reformer of the Counter-Reformation, whose spirit inspired the founders of the united Church.
• Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622): a contemporary of Josaphat, apostle of gentleness amid religious conflicts.
• Saint Peter Canisius (1521-1597): Doctor of the Church, artisan of the Counter-Reformation in northern Europe.
• Saint John Fisher (1469-1535): another martyr of fidelity to Rome, in the context of the Reformation.