November 12--St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

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In 1995, Pope St. John Paul II declared: “The Church must breathe with her two lungs!” (Ut Unum Sint, 54) What he meant was that the Church was only breathing with one lung, namely the Western Church. He declared that we needed the Eastern Church as well. The Catholic Church has been separated from her Eastern Orthodox sister churches since 1054. However, since then, there have been efforts at union. One prominent event toward union was the Union of Brest in 1596. Seven Orthodox bishops in Lithuania/Poland/Ukraine came into full communion with the pope, while still retaining their Eastern Rites.

Why is this important for our saint? He became an archbishop in one of these dioceses after 1596. St. Josaphat was born in 1580 to Ruthenian Orthodox Catholic parents. After the Union of Brest he became a monk in 1604 in the Ruthenian Rite. His zeal for his faith led him to write catechisms and apologetics, defenses of the Church. He defended the rights of the Eastern Rite Churches, but some opposed him on the grounds that he was trying to “go Latin” and not be faithful to the Eastern traditions.

In 1623, an Orthodox priest insulted St. Josaphat and tried to force his way into the archbishop’s residence. St. Josaphat had him removed, but he had assembled a mob, which then attacked St. Josaphat, shooting him and hitting him in the head with a battle axe, killing him. He was canonized in 1867 as a martyr.

The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches have the same sacraments, the same faith, and the same love of God. However, the difference between the two is the role of the pope. Pope St. John Paul II wrote about the need for unification. May the prayers of St. Josaphat bring us into communion with each other.

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Josaphat_Zbarazh.jpg