Josaphat Kuntsevych
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Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych O.S.B.M. |
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| Archeparch of Polotsk | |
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| Church | Ruthenian Catholic Church |
| Diocese | Archeparchy of Polotsk |
| Appointed | 1618 |
| Term ended | November 12, 1623 |
| Predecessor | Gedeon Brolnicki |
| Successor | Anastazy Antoni Sielawa |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Ioann Kuntsevych |
| Born |
c. 1580 Volodymyr, Volhynian Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |
| Died | November 12, 1623 Vitebsk, Vitebsk Voivodeship, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day |
November 12 (Latin Church, Romanian Greek Catholic Church, Ruthenian Catholic Church) November 25 (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) |
| Title as Saint | Bishop and martyr |
| Beatified | May 16, 1643 Rome by Pope Urban VIII |
| Canonized | June 29, 1867 Rome by Pope Pius IX |
| Patronage | Ukraine |
| Ordination history of | |
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Priestly ordination
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| Date of ordination | 1609 |
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Episcopal consecration
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| Date of consecration | November 12, 1617 |
November 12 (Latin Church, Romanian Greek Catholic Church, Ruthenian Catholic Church)
November 14 (Latin Church, extraordinary rite)
Josaphat Kuntsevych, O.S.B.M., (c. 1580 – 12 November 1623) (Belarusian: Язафат Кунцэвіч, Jazafat Kuncevič, Polish: Jozafat Kuncewicz, Lithuanian: Juozapatas Kuncevičius, Ukrainian: Йосафат Кунцевич, Josafat Kuntsevych) was a monk and archeparch (archbishop) of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who was killed at Vitebsk,Vitebsk Voivodeship, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (now in Belarus), on 12 November 1623. He is "the best-known victim" of sectarian violence related to implementing the Union of Brest, and is declared a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church.
King Sigismund III Vasa's policy for the Counter-Reformation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was to reunite, "through missions to non-Catholics, both Protestant and Orthodox," all Christians into the Roman Catholic Church. After preliminary negotiations with Sigismund III and with Grand Chancellor and Great Hetman of the Crown Jan Zamoyski, a delegation of bishops from the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Kiev (1458–1596) was sent to Rome in 1595 to accede to the Union of Florence on condition that their rituals and discipline were left intact. Most Eastern Orthodox bishops within the Commonwealth, including Michael Rohoza, metropolitan of Kiev – but at Vilnius,Vilnius Voivodeship, the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – were signatories of the Union of Brest in 1596 which brought the Metropolitanate of Kiev into communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Two ecclesiastical factions, those Eastern Orthodox bishops who were signatories and those Eastern Orthodox bishops who were not signatories, met and excommunicated each other, but those who did not assent were in a much worse position than before, because they was no longer officially recognized. The Union resulted in two sectarian groups:
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