[4] The church is named after St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a Greek Catholic priest, who became archbishop of Polotsk, Poland, (now Belarus) in 1617.

It is possible that the choice of location was intended to compete with Sweetest Heart, which was at the time a Polish Catholic church unsanctioned by the diocese.

The school was closed and demolished, and St. Josaphat struggled with dwindling membership and the upkeep of the aging church.

[4] In 2004, St. Josaphat became the home for the Archdiocese of Detroit's first regular celebrations of the Tridentine Latin Mass since the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council.

This ceased in 2016, when responsibility for this service was entrusted to the Institute of Christ the King at the St. Joseph Oratory in the city.

[3] The exterior of the church is built from red and orange brick, extensively trimmed with Bedford Indiana buff limestone.

Because the congregation did not have the funds to make necessary repairs, it announced on November 19, 2013, that the spire would be demolished and replaced with a small roof.