Abstract
The figure of Archbishop Josaphat Kuntsevych has long been overshadowed by legends about his life. Contemporary critical academic reflection on his work now attempts to provide a balanced view. This paper focuses on a lesser-explored aspect of Josaphat's work, namely his Regulations and
Canons, which can be considered a testimony about the state of church law during the incipient Union of Brest.
By analyzing the relevant canons and comparing them with similar legal systems of the time, we conclude that they represent locally valid regulations explicitly referring to Eastern legal theory and practice. However, at the beginning of the union, an implicit Western influence was already present, leading to a synthesis of both influences. The current value of these regulations is primarily historical, as they can be considered an additional source providing insight into the challenges faced by the emerging Greek Catholic hierarchy. Simultaneously, these regulations allow us to deduce the self-perception of hierarch Kuntsevych in relation to his faithful, clergy, and secular administration.
The controversies accompanying the implementation of the union have been examined primarily from historical, theological, and anthropological perspectives. The legal perspective thus presents another integral approach to a comprehensive understanding of the period. At the same time, it enables a precise description of where injustices occurred according to secular and ecclesiastical law, thus moving towards a better understanding.