By Marilyn Rodrigues and OSV
Bishop Mykola Bychok CSrR, Eparch of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Australia and Oceania, was made the Catholic Church’s youngest cardinal by Pope Francis in a solemn yet joyous ceremony held in Rome on 7 December.
While the consistory to institute 21 new cardinals chiefly concerned the church of Rome, “it also affects the entire ecclesial community,” the pope said.
“We will call certain of our brethren to enter the College of Cardinals, so that they may be united to the Chair of Peter by a closer bond our apostolic ministry.
“Having been invested with the sacred purple, they are to be fearless witnesses to Christ and his Gospel in the City of Rome and in faraway regions.”
Also, in St Peter’s Basilica from Australia, about as far away a region as can be from the Eternal City, were supporters of the cardinal-elect.
They included the Eparch’s vicar general Fr Simon Ckuj, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference vice-president Bishop Greg Bennet, Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli, bishops conference general secretary Fr Chris De Souza.
Many more of the faithful belonging to the Ukrainian diaspora stayed awake or set their alarms for 2am (4pm Rome time) to watch the live-streamed event with pride and prayers of thanksgiving.
As one of only two cardinal-elects chosen from the Eastern Catholic Churches—the other being Fr George Jacob Koovakad, a Syro-Malabar priest from Kerala in India—Cardinal Bychok, 44, was easily distinguished by a traditional Kyivan robe.
In addition, Pope Francis gave him a black monastic veil with a thin red trim, known as a koukoul, rather than the Roman red zucchetto for his head covering,
The new Australian-based cardinal is the eighth cardinal in this country as well as the eighth for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.
In his homily, Pope Francis urged the new members of the College of Cardinals to make “every effort” to walk in the path of Jesus.
He said the word “cardinal” itself referred to placing Christ at the centre of all of life.
“At times, in our spiritual lives and our pastoral activity, we risk focusing on what is incidental and forgetting what is essential,” he said.
“Too often, secondary things replace what is necessary, external appearances overshadow what truly counts.
“We dive into activities that we consider urgent, without getting to the heart of the matter.
“Instead, we should constantly be returning to the centre, to what is basic, and divest ourselves of all that is superfluous, in order to clothe ourselves in Christ. (cf. Rom 13:14).
“The very word ‘Cardinal’ reminds us of this, as it refers to the hinge inserted in order to secure, support and reinforce a door.
“Dear brothers: Jesus is our true support, the ‘centre of gravity’ of our service, the ‘cardinal point’ which gives direction to our entire life.”
After reciting the Profession of Faith and promising fidelity to Christ and obedience to the church and the Holy Father, the cardinals were each given a scarlet biretta and cardinal’s ring.
They were each then assigned their titular church, with Cardinal Bychok receiving the title of Basilica of Santa Sofia, which will now be his cardinal seat in Rome.
Following the consistory, Cardinal Mykola gathered in the Hall of Blessing (Aula della Benedizione) near the entrance to St Peter’s with clergy and faithful who had travelled to share the historic moment with him.
A large group of Ukrainians gathered around him to sing a traditional Christmas song, while two guards tried in vain keep them in an orderly reception line formed by velvet ropes.
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 said.
Cardinal Bychok told the ABC the pope had greeted him with the words “Glory be to Jesus Christ” spoken in Ukrainian, which he said was a “very great moment for me, of support.”
He said he aims to be a cardinal who is “flexible, holy, accessible and without eminence” who will keep the people of Ukraine in his thoughts and prayers.
Cardinal Bychok has led the Melbourne-based eparchy 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.
With additional reporting from the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.
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