This Australian Cardinal will pick the next Pope: Mykola Bychok
Among the Catholic Church’s most senior officials tasked with electing the next pontiff following the death of Pope Francis is Cardinal Mykola Bychok, a 45-year-old based in Australia.
Born on February 13, 1980, in Ternopil, Ukraine, Cardinal Bychok is a prelate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and currently serves as Eparch of the Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne. He was ordained a priest in 2005, consecrated a bishop in 2020, and elevated to cardinal on December 7, 2024, by Pope Francis—becoming the youngest member of the College of Cardinals at the time.
His formal installation took place during a Vatican ceremony in October 2024, alongside 21 other new cardinals. The appointments reflected Pope Francis’ push to broaden representation in Church leadership, with 163 cardinals from 76 countries, including 25 nations never previously represented.
Before his role in Melbourne, Cardinal Bychok served internationally—as a missionary in Prokopyevsk, Russia, superior of Saint Joseph’s Redemptorist Monastery in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, and vicar of Saint John the Baptist Parish in Newark, New Jersey.
His elevation highlights not just personal achievement but also the growing influence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church globally.
As a leader within a diaspora community, Cardinal Bychok navigates the challenge of preserving Ukrainian identity while engaging younger generations. He advocates integrating English into liturgies to ensure accessibility without losing cultural traditions.
Fluent in Ukrainian and English, and likely proficient in Polish, he brings a multilingual, multicultural approach to his pastoral work.
A vocal advocate for peace, particularly amid the war in Ukraine, Cardinal Bychok emphasizes the Church’s role in promoting unity and healing.
As the conclave approaches, he will participate in one of the Church’s most sacred traditions: the papal election. After casting and counting ballots, they are pierced with a needle and burned—producing white or black smoke to signal whether a new pope has been chosen to lead 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide.
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