Rafajil Nikolai Korsak (, , ) (c. 1599 – 28 August 1640) was the " Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia" in the

Ruthenian Uniate Church The Ruthenian Uniate Church (; ; ; ) was a Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church of the Catholic Church in the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was created in 1595/1596 by those clergy of the Ea ...

— a ''

sui juris ''Sui iuris'' (), also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both the Catholic Church's canon law and secular law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic ''Code of Canon ...

Eastern Catholic Church The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. He reigned from 1637 until he died in 1640.

Life

Mikalai Korsak was born near Navahrudak from a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

family. Primaries sources disagree on his birth year, which anyway can be fixed into a range from 1598 to 1601. He was studied by the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s in Niasviž and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, and later in Papal Missionary College in

Braniewo Braniewo () (, , Old Prussian language, Old Prussian: ''Brus''), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of Braniewo County. Braniewo is the seco ...

and by the Jesuits in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. By the Jesuits, he converted to the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

, and later, supported by Metropolitan Jazep Velamin-Rutski, he joined the Greek Catholic Church. In 1620, he entered in the Order of Saint Basil the Great, taking the religious name of Rafajil (Rafael), and passed his year of

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

in the monastery of Byten. Быцень, in Ivatsevichy Raion He studied in the Greek College in Rome from December 1621 to November 1624, when he was requested to return to his country to serve as a bishop. In 1625, Korsak became

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

of the monastery of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius (the main monastery of the Order), in 1626 Proto-Archimandrite (i.e.

Superior general A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

) of the whole order (an office he kept till 1636) and in September 1626 he was consecrated a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

with the title of Galicia. Metropolitan Rutsky chose him as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

with the right of succession, and so he was confirmed by

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on 9 March 1631 notwithstanding the King's initial concern about his young age. In 1632, he became Eparch (bishop) of

Pinsk Pinsk (; , ; ; ; ) is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of t ...

. In 1632 the situation of the Greek-Catholic Church had a downturn because of the death of the King Sigismund III who had supported the Church since the

Union of Brest The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...

. The new king, Władysław IV, in order to be elected, was compelled to sign the ''"Pacta Conventa"'' which was favorable to the Orthodox faction, supported by the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

s, and prejudicial to the Greek-Catholic Church. Korsak was sent to Rome to find support for the position of his Church, as he succeeded to do. He remained in Rome from 1633 to 1635. Metropolitan Rutsky died on 5 February 1637, and Korsak became the new Metropolitan of Kiev and head of the Greek-Catholic Church. As with his predecessor, he continued to negotiate with the prelates of the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia, and all Ruthenia who remained loyal to the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

. In particular, he engaged with Metropolitan Peter Mogila, seeking a way to unify the Church in Ukraine. However, in 1639, he had to return to Rome for the third time at the request of the pope ( visit ad Limina). He arrived in Rome in September 1639 and passed the winter there. In 1640 he fell ill and died in Rome on 28 August 1640. He was buried in the

Greek Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

church of Santi Sergio e Bacco. He wrote a biography of Metropolitan Rutsky, and he translated in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

the works of Meletius Smotrytsky.

Sources

The Golden Horde: The Encyclopedia. The 3 tons / red. GP Pasha and others. Volume 2: Cadet Corps - Jackiewicz. - Minsk: Belarusian Encyclopedia, 2005. - 788 s.: Il. . Encyclopedia. At 6 vols 4: The Cadets - Leschenya / Belarusian. Encyclopedia.; Editorial Board.: GP PASHKOV (Chief Ed.) And others.; Sett. EE Zhakevich. - Mn.: BelEn, 1997. - 432 p.: Il. . Entsiklopediya istoriї of Ukraine: V. 5: Con - Kyu / Editorial Board.: VA Smolichi (head) that in. National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Istoriї Institute of Ukraine. - K.: B-"Naukova Dumka", 2008. - 568 p. Nazarko I. Metropolitans of Kiev and Galician: Biographical Sketches (1590-1960) . - Rome, 1962. On Sat Praha-Vilnius, 1981: Florovský Antonín V., Čeští jezuité na Rusi. Jezuitské provincie a slovanský východ, Prague, Vyšehrad 1941. Poor SN Papacy and Ukraine. Politics Rymskoy chickens at Ukrainian lands in XVI-XVII centuries. K., 1989. Wise S. Essay on the History of the Church in Ukraine. Ivano-Frankivsk, 1999. Sapelyak A. Kiev church in Slavic East. Canonico-ecumenical aspect. Buenos Aires, Lviv, 1999.

Notes

References

External links

* http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Korsak_R {{DEFAULTSORT:Korsak, Rafajil 1640 deaths People from Nowogródek Voivodeship (1507–1795) Ruthenian nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Calvinism Order of Saint Basil the Great Metropolitans of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia (Holy See) Year of birth unknown Archimandrites Leaders of the Ruthenian Uniate Church 17th-century Christian abbots Belarusian nobility