Josaphat Bulhak (20 April 1758 – 25 February 1838) was a hierarch of the

Ruthenian Uniate Church The Ruthenian Uniate Church ( Belarusian: Руская Уніяцкая Царква; Ukrainian: Руська Унійна Церква; la, Ecclesia Ruthena unita; pl, Ruski Kościół Unicki) was a particular church of the Catholic Church ...

in the western Russian empire. As head of the church, he had the title of Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia, and All Russia. After his death, the Ruthenian Uniate Church was absorbed by the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

, making him the last head of the Uniate confession in the Russian empire.

Biography

He was born into Polish nobility near

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

. In 1763-1774 he was educated in schools of the Basilian order. In 1774, he entered the order and assumed the name Josaphat. In 1782-1784 he got higher education in the Collegio Urbano in Rome, graduating as a Doctor of Theology. In 1787, he was elevated to the Bishop of Turov. In 1795, after the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian W ...

, he was removed from his seat and the Turov bishopric was closed by the Russian government. After the death of

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

and the creation of the Roman Catholic Spiritual College in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Bulhak was appointed to the Uniate department of the college. In 1817, he was appointed to the Metropolitan seat of

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

, thus becoming a titular head of the Uniate church in the Russian empire. This appointment was made without prior approval from Rome but was approved after the fact. In 1818, he also served as the head of the Uniate department of the Roman Catholic Spiritual College and also Vice President of the Russian Biblical Fellowship. During the

Polish uprising This is a chronological list of military conflicts in which Polish armed forces fought or took place on Polish territory from the reign of Mieszko I (960–992) to the ongoing military operations. This list does not include peacekeeping operation ...

of 1830–1831, Bulhak had to publicly side with the imperial government. His pastoral letters were printed and distributed in rebellious territories. In the last 10 years of his life, he was surrounded by hierarchs hostile to the independence of the Uniate church, such as Bishop Yosyf Semashko. Though Semashko pushed Bulhak to approve the liquidation of the church, Bulhak never joined this project, and the Church was liquidated by the decisions of the

Synod of Polotsk The Synod of Polotsk was a local synod held on February 12, 1839 by the clergy of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in the city of Polotsk for reunification with the Russian Orthodox Church. Polotsk was the center of the Greek Catholic Arch ...

after Bulhak's death.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulhak, Josaphat 1758 births 1838 deaths Belarusian Eastern Catholic bishops Belarusian Eastern Catholics