Yosafat Shishkov was born on February 9th, 1884 in Plovdiv, in a catholic family. In 1900, he became a novice in Turkey and accepted the name of Yosafat. He studied Philosophy and theology in Belgium. In 1909 he ordained as a catholic priest. In 1948, when all foreign priests are expelled from Bulgaria, Father Yosafat was appointed a parish priest in Varna.
He was arrested by the militia forces in December 1951 in accusation of conspiracy against the communist state. Father Shishkov was accused of being one of the oldest spies. He was shot on November 12th, 1952, in the city of Sofia, together with other catholic priests.
During his visit to Plovdiv in May 2002, Pope John Paul II declared three Bulgarian martyr priests as beatific - Kamen Vitchev (born in 1893), Pavel Dzhidzhov (born in 1919) and Yosaphat Shishkov born in (1884), executed by the communists in 1952. The pontiff officially announced their beatifications - the last step before raising someone to sainthood - during his visit to Plovdiv in May 2002.