Josaphat Kuntsevych(1580-1623) was a Polish- Lithuanian monk and archbishop. He was born in Volodymyr in 1580. He was baptized into a family associated with the Eastern Orthodox Church. His father had embarked in business and held the office of town councilor. Both of Kuntsevych’s parents encouraged religious participation and Christian piety in the young Josaphat.
In 1604, in his early 20s, he entered the Monastery of the Trinity of the Order of Saint Basil the Great. Stories of his sanctity rapidly spread and distinguished people began to visit the young monk. Later he was ordained to the diaconate. As a result of his efforts, the number of novices to the Order steadily increased. In 1609, after private study under Jesuit Valentin Groza Fabricy, Josaphat has ordained a priest. On 12 November 1617, he was consecrated as the coadjutor archepach for the Archepachy of Polotsk. He succeeded as an archeparch in March 1618.
Kuntsevych faced the daunting task of bringing the local populace to accept union in Rome. He faced stiff opposition from the monks, who feared the liturgical Latinisation of the Byzantine Rite. He restored the churches. Issued a catechism to the clergy, with instructions that it should be memorized; composed rules for priestly life, and entrusted deacons the task of superintending their observance. He assembled synods in various towns in the dioceses. And he firmly opposed the Grand Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who wished to make what Josephat saw as too many concessions to the Eastern Orthodox.
Throughout his strivings and all his religious devotion as a monk. Later, in 1623 he was murdered. In January 1624, a commission presided over by Sapieha investigated Kuntsevych’s murder and sentenced 93 people to death for their involvement in the conspiracy. He was canonized on June 26 in 1643 by Pope Pius IX. The body is now in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, placed under the altar of Saint Basil the Great.