New cardinal’s brave background
Whoever was called to step up as Australia’s next cardinal after George Pell was always going to have immense shoes to fill. Not for the first time, Pope Francis has surprised his flock, promoting Melbourne-based Bishop Mykola Bychok, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, to the role. At 44, cardinal-elect Bychok, who will be part of the December 8 consistory, will be the youngest member of the College of Cardinals. All going well, he faces 36 years serving on Vatican dicasteries that advise this and future popes and voting in conclaves to elect their successors.
The appointment is a major break with tradition. But Bishop Bychok and the Ukrainian Church are known for traditional liturgies, adherence to Catholic teaching and having the courage to provide unflinching support for Ukrainians suffering under the jackboot of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine was launched in February 2022. From that background, the new cardinal’s understanding of the church’s just war teaching will be worth hearing.
In his day-to-day working life in Australia, Bishop Bychok will continue to lead his flock who worship in parishes in every state and territory and in New Zealand. It is not the job of cardinals to run or manage Australia’s dioceses, apart from their own. But many Australians look to cardinals, as the nation’s most senior Christian leaders, for moral insights on subjects relevant to their roles. We look forward to the cardinal-elect’s participation in the national conversation and welcome him to the public square. Like his predecessor, he should feel confident in speaking up when the need arises.
In this, Bishop Bychok, who was born in the Ukrainian city of Ternopil in 1980, will bring broad experience and perspective, despite arriving in Australia only four years ago. Before his ordination in 2005 he studied at the seminary of the Redemptorist order in Poland, in an era when St John Paul II made the presence of the church feel like never before in his native land. The young Father Bychok served as a missionary in Siberia for two years and as vicar of a Ukrainian Catholic parish in Newark, New Jersey. As a student he wrote a thesis on work with youth groups. Those insights should be relevant to many mainstream churches in Australia facing declining and ageing congregations.
As Bishop Bychok steps up to a challenging office in which the red robes signify willingness to shed his own life and liberty for Christ, we wish him well.