Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr – Readings

Commentary on Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13; John 17:20-26

The reading from John’s Gospel is from Jesus’ long discourse at the Last Supper. The last section of this discourse consists of a long prayer which Jesus makes: first, on the completion of his own work; second, a prayer for his disciples; and third, a prayer for all believers.

It is this third part of the prayer which forms our reading today. It is above all a prayer for unity among all Jesus’ followers. Even when John’s Gospel was written, divisions had already appeared.

So Jesus prays:

I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their [i.e. his immediate disciples] word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us…

And why does Jesus so especially emphasise this unity?

…so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

And he continues, speaking to his Father:

The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

How, then, can people be expected to accept the message of Jesus, when those who claim to be his followers are so deeply divided among themselves, even to the point of violence? This was the sad situation in Josaphat’s world. It was later the tragic situation in the Reformation, an ongoing process of splintering that has hardly stopped in our own day. It is scandal even today in many parts of the world.

Earlier, at the Last Supper, Jesus had told his disciples:

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)

He loved them to the point of giving his life for them. And he added that the sign by which outsiders would recognise his followers would be the love they had for each other. How can there be love without union, or union without love? It was this universal and unconditional love that Josaphat gave his life to uphold. It is as necessary today as it was then.

The First Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians speaks in a slightly different way of the conditions for true unity in the Church and among Christians. First there are the elements which bind us together. To begin with we need to live a life that truly reflects the gospel (especially today’s):

…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…

Then there is the presence of the Spirit and the binding force of true peace. Under the Spirit:

…there is one body…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

These are the elements we must have in common. They give us our unique identity.

At the same time, there is room for a great deal of variety, as each one is called in a different way to serve and build up the community:

…some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…

In this way, we grow together:

…until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Let us continue to work for greater unity among all Christians—first, in our own Church and then with members of other churches. The witness of the gospel depends on it.

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Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

John Kuntsevich (whose family name is also found as Kuncevic, Kuncevyc and Kuntsevych) was born of a merchant family in the small town of Volodymyr (Vladimir) in the region of Volhynia (Vilna), then part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, about 1580.

After a local education, he was apprenticed to a merchant in Vilna. In 1604, at the age of twenty-four, John entered the Monastery of the Trinity of the Basilian Fathers in Vilnius, and it is here that he took the name Josaphat. His religious devotion, charity and sanctity rapidly became known, and prominent people came to consult him. About the same time, after a distinguished life as a layman, a certain Benjamin Rutski also joined the order. The number of novices steadily increased under Rutski, who had meanwhile been ordained priest.

Then began the regeneration of Eastern Catholic religious life among the Ruthenians (Belarusians and Ukrainians). In 1609, after private study under under the Jesuit priest, Fabricius, Josaphat was ordained priest by a Catholic bishop. After a period of time, he became the superior of several monasteries, and on 12 November, 1617, was reluctantly consecrated Bishop of Vitsebsk, with right of succession to the Archbishopric of Polotsk. He subsequently became archbishop in 1618.

Five hundred years before, a schism had taken place between the Eastern and Western Churches. Over the years, the split only grew worse, mainly centred on the authority of the pope in Rome. Then in the 16th century, in what is now known as Belarus and Ukraine, but was then part of Poland-Lithuania, an Orthodox archbishop of Kiev and five Orthodox bishops decided to commit the Christians under their pastoral care to reunion with Rome. Josaphat was still a young boy when the Synod of Brest Litovsk took place in 1595-96. However, there were many of the faithful who did not accept the bishops’ decision. Sadly, efforts to solve the disagreement involved not only words, but violence. Among the leaders of the anti-union party, Meletius Smotrytsky was conspicuous, and the most celebrated of his opponents was Josaphat, who promoted Catholic unity with Rome. There were martyrs on both sides and Josaphat tried to be a voice of peace and reconciliation.

As Archbishop, Josaphat restored the Byzantine churches, issued a catechism with instructions that it should be learned by heart, composed a code of behaviour for priests, assembled synods in various towns in the dioceses and firmly opposed the Polish Imperial Chancellor Sapieha, who wanted to make concessions in favour of the Eastern Orthodox. Throughout all his labours, he continued his religious life as a monk, with no lessening in a life of penance and prayer.

In 1620, a rival hierarchy was set up and Josaphat now had a serious problem of widespread schism to deal with. The situation was complex. There were conflicting interests, stirred by nationalism, long-standing customs and an Eastern dislike of Rome. Josaphat strongly supported union with Rome, but also held the right of Byzantine clergy, together with their local customs, to be on the same level as those of the Roman church.

During the schismatic conflict, he refused to avail himself of the opportunity of flight afforded him. Sadly misrepresented by both sides, Josaphat eventually became the victim of a murder plot, instigated by violent and uncontrolled supporters of his rival to the bishopric of Polotsk.

He clearly foresaw he would die a violent death. Finally on 12 November, 1623, while pleading that none of his servants should be made to suffer, he was struck by a halberd and then shot by Orthodox supporters.

After numerous miracles were claimed and reported, a commission was appointed by Pope Urban VIII in 1628, to inquire into the cause of Josaphat, and examined on oath 116 witnesses. Although five years had elapsed since Josaphat’s death, his body was claimed to still be incorrupt. In 1637, a second commission investigated his life, and in 1643, twenty years after his death, Josaphat was beatified. He was canonised in 1867 by Pope Pius IX.

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