Pope calls 21 new cardinals, including Melbourne’s Cardinal Mykola Bychok, to build church unity

Becoming a cardinal is an insistent call to put Jesus at the centre of one’s life, to love the poor as he did and to strengthen the bonds of unity within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said as he created 21 new cardinals from 17 nations. Among them was Cardinal Mykola Bychok of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Sts Peter and Paul in Melbourne, who at 44 becomes the youngest serving cardinal and Australia’s highest ranking Catholic.

‘To walk in the path of Jesus means, in the end, to be builders of communion and unity,’ the Pope told the new cardinals during an afternoon consistory on 7 December in St Peter’s Basilica.

The elevation of cardinals took place within a prayer service, attended by thousands of people, including current members of the College of Cardinals and Australian representatives Archbishop Peter A Comensoli of Melbourne and vice-president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) Bishop Greg Bennet of Sale.

Drawing on the Gospel reading, Pope Francis warned that the ambition for earthly glory can infect the followers of Jesus today, saying, ‘Our hearts can go astray, allowing us to be dazzled by the allure of prestige, the seduction of power, by an overly human zeal for the Lord. That is why we need to look within, to stand before God in humility and before ourselves in sincerity, and ask, Where is my heart going? Where is it directed?’

The Lord is looking to you, who come from different backgrounds and cultures ... He is calling you to be witnesses of fraternity, artisans of communion and builders of unity.

On the cross Jesus fulfilled his saving mission, the Pope said, and he tore down ‘the dividing wall of hostility’ so that ‘all might see themselves as children of the same Father and as brothers and sisters of one another.

‘For this reason, the Lord is looking to you, who come from different backgrounds and cultures, and represent the catholicity of the Church,’ the Pope told them. ‘He is calling you to be witnesses of fraternity, artisans of communion and builders of unity.’

Reflecting the Church’s diversity and universality, four of the new cardinals were not wearing a red cassock with a white surplice, topped by a red cape. Instead, the two cardinals from Eastern Catholic churches—Cardinal Bychok and George Jacob Koovakad, a Syro-Malabar Catholic—wore vestments from their church traditions.

Cardinal Bychok wore a purple robe in the old Kyivan tradition, adorned with embroidered images of Sts Peter and Paul. On his head, he wore a black koukoulion in accordance with Ukrainian monastic tradition, styled after the 17th-century Brest Union and trimmed with a thin red border. And the two Dominicans—Cardinals Timothy Radcliffe, a theologian, and Jean-Paul Vesco, Archbishop of Algiers—wore their white habits.

Be fearless witnesses to Christ and his Gospel in the city of Rome and in faraway regions.

Each cardinal received a scarlet biretta, symbolising their readiness to defend the Christian faith with courage, even to the point of martyrdom. They also received a cardinal’s ring, signifying their love for the Church. Echoing the practice centuries ago, when the clergy of Rome elected the Bishop of Rome, each of the new cardinals was assigned a ‘titular’ church in the city, making them members of the diocese’s clergy. Bishop Mykola received the Basilica of Santa Sofia, which will now be his seat in Rome.

Pope Francis asked the cardinals to wear the cardinals’ red as a reminder of their call to ‘be fearless witnesses to Christ and his Gospel in the city of Rome and in faraway regions.’

During the consistory, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Creed in Latin and made an oath of fidelity to Pope Francis and his ‘canonically elected’ successors.

With the consistory, the College of Cardinals reached 253 members, 140 of whom were under the age of 80 and eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope.

In his homily, the Pope told the new cardinals that the Lord was calling them to be ‘a radiant sign in the midst of a society obsessed with appearances and power’ by not arguing over who is the greatest or who is right most often.

‘Love one another with fraternal love and be servants to one another, servants of the Gospel,’ Pope Francis told them.

A young cardinal from a young church

Speaking with reporters on the eve of the consistory, Bishop Bychok said he hoped the characteristics that make him unique in the College of Cardinals will benefit the Catholic Church and the Ukrainian people.

Bishop Bychok said that because the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to which he belongs has only been able to operate freely since the 1990s, appointment of young people to senior roles in the Church is not something unusual.

Many Ukrainian bishops, they are about my age, which is not bad. I think that is good for the future of the Church.

During the 70 years the Ukrainian Church was outlawed and persecuted under the Soviet Union’s communist regime, bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful were martyred, jailed or sent to Siberian gulags, he said. The faithful kept the church alive in the underground, and full freedom came only with Ukrainian independence in 1991.

‘For that reason, our Church is a young Church,’ Bishop Bychok said. ‘Many Ukrainian bishops, they are about my age, which is not bad. I think that is good for the future of the Church.’

Bishop Bychok has led the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Sts Peter and Paul of Melbourne since 2021. Before that, he spent five years at St John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Newark, New Jersey. A Redemptorist, he also has ministered in Siberia and in his native Ukraine.

Close to the Pope, close to the Church

Asked by a reporter if he sees speaking to Pope Francis on behalf of Ukrainians as part of his role, Bishop Bychok said, ‘The main task of a cardinal is to be close to the Church, to be close to the Pope, to share my experience,’ which includes being Ukrainian and having family and friends living in the war-battered nation, but also includes sharing his experience of the church in Australia.

Cardinals are eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope until they reach the age of 80. That means Cardinal Bychok, who will be 45 in February, will be eligible to vote for a new pope for the next 35 years.

The main task of a cardinal is to be close to the Church, to be close to the Pope, to share my experience.

Asked what qualities he would look for in a prospective pope, Bishop Bychok said the most important quality is that he be ‘close to Christ, because you know, if you are close to Christ, you are close to people.’ He said that popes, cardinals and bishops should also have a ‘strong foundation, which is the Holy Bible.’

At the same time, he said, the election of a pope ‘depends on God, because, yes, we are doing this election between cardinals, but actually God does it through us.’

Breathing with two lungs

Bishop Bychok also brings to the College of Cardinals his Eastern Catholic spirituality, but he is not the only one in the group of 21 new cardinals. Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, a papal diplomat who has organised Pope Francis’ foreign trips since 2021, is a member of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.

Having members of the Eastern churches in the College of Cardinals, Bishop Bychok said, is good for the whole Church because, as ‘St John Paul II said, the Church breathes with two lungs, Eastern and Western.’

Celebrations in Rome and the Vatican

Following the consistory, the new cardinals participated in the traditional ‘courtesy visit’, meeting with members of the faithful in the halls of the Apostolic Palace. Cardinal Bychok had the opportunity to meet with well-wishers in the Hall of Blessing (Aula della Benedizione), located at the entrance to St Peter’s Basilica. Several decorated Christmas trees were scattered throughout the palace and the halls of the Vatican, creating a festive atmosphere, as a large group of Ukrainians gathered around Cardinal Bychok to sing a traditional Ukrainian Christmas song. Two guards in charge of keeping order tried in vain to convince the crowd to form a line behind the velvet ropes forming the reception line.

It means a lot to have a cardinal from Ukraine, especially during this hard time of war.

Volodymyr Babiy came from London with his wife and child, and all three were wearing the colourful traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt or vyshyvanka. Babiy and his family are from the Cardinal’s hometown of Ternopil, Ukraine, and his sister-in-law is married to the Cardinal’s brother.

‘He’s very down-to-earth, a very simple man and very easy going,’ he said of the new cardinal.

‘It means a lot to have a cardinal from Ukraine,’ he said, ‘especially during this hard time of war. It’s very symbolic as we’re struggling to defend the country and Christians have it hard as well,’ Babiy told CNS.

The cardinal was also greeted by members of Plast Ukranian Scouts Australia, including CEO Chrestyna Kmetj, who joyfully held up the Ukranian and Australian flags. ‘We expressed our heartfelt gratitude for his unwavering support of youth, particularly plastuny, who represent the future of our community,’ she later reported.

‘In these challenging times, Cardinal Bychok’s dedication to shining a light of hope inspires us all as we strive to live by our creed of being true to God and Ukraine. We are deeply proud of this momentous achievement and pray that God grants His Eminence strength and wisdom in his new role.’

A cardinal for Ukraine and Australia

Speaking the next day after Mass at St Peter’s Basilica for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Bishop Greg Bennet said it had ‘been an absolute pleasure’ to represent the ACBC at the consistory in support of Bishop Bychok. ‘We ask the Lord’s blessing upon him, [and] for all those who have travelled to Rome,’ he said. ‘And we look forward to his return to Australia as he continues his ministry among the Ukrainian Catholic community of Australia and New Zealand and, of course, among us, representing our many interests here in Rome.’

That evening, a special prayer service or ‘Moleben’ for peace in Ukraine was held at the Basilica of Santa Sofia. Ukrainian metropolitans, bishops, clergy and faithful, along with Australian representatives, gathered to pray for peace in Ukraine and throughout the world, and to give thanks for Bishop Bychok on his elevation to the College of Cardinals.

His voice will be important, and we give thanks to the Lord that his voice might be a part of our faith life in our country, in Ukraine and throughout the world.

Speaking before the service, Archbishop Comensoli described the events of the weekend as ‘an important moment for the life of the Church’, giving thanks ‘that Bishop Mykola has received this gift that we might share with him in Australia, but he might also share of himself within our local Church. His voice will be important, and we give thanks to the Lord that his voice might be a part of our faith life in our country, in Ukraine and throughout the world.’

As Bishop Bychok takes up his role as cardinal, Archbishop Comensoli said, we also have ‘an opportunity to be a part of his ministry, his witness to the faith, and in doing so, we have the opportunity to also give witness to our faith.’