St. Josaphat

Their story

John Kuntsevych was born around 1580 in what is now Ukraine. In 1596, at the Union of Brest, many Orthodox Christians in the region chose to return to full communion with the Pope while keeping their own Byzantine liturgy and traditions. These Christians are today’s Ukrainian Greek Catholics. John grew up in this church and loved it deeply. He became a monk of the Order of St. Basil in Vilnius, taking the name Josaphat. He was known for his prayer, fasting, preaching and care for the poor, and he worked tirelessly to bring Eastern Christians into unity with Rome. In 1617 he was ordained a bishop, and the next year he became archbishop of Polotsk, where he rebuilt churches, taught the clergy, and visited his people. Unity was a painful and divisive question at the time, and Josaphat faced fierce opposition. In 1623, while visiting the city of Vitebsk, he was attacked by a mob and killed. He forgave his attackers. Josaphat was canonized in 1867, the first saint of the Eastern Catholic Churches to be formally canonized by Rome. He reminds us that Jesus prayed that all his followers would be one.