Understanding Mykola Bychock, the Melbourne bishop involved in selecting the next pope

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Australia’s most senior Catholic, who will be among a select group of bishops helping to pick the next pope, has paid tribute to the late Francis as a “pope of peace”.

Melbourne-based Cardinal Mykola Bychock, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic, learnt of the death of Francis shortly before boarding a flight to the Middle East on Monday evening.

He is now on his way to Rome to attend the funeral and join the papal conclave to select the next pope.

Bychok described Francis as a pope for the “marginalised and those on the periphery”.

“He was a man of simple piety who strove to bring the Church closer to people. He gave freely of his gifts and had a unique personal approach to all he met,” he said.

Who is Mykola Bychock?

At the age of 45, Bychock became the Catholic Church’s youngest cardinal on 7 December 2024, when he was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis at a consistory ceremony in the Vatican.

He was born in the Ukrainian city of Ternopil in 1980, joined the monastery at the age of 17, and was ordained a priest at 25.

He served in various Ukrainian cities, Poland, Siberia and New Jersey in the United States before arriving in Melbourne in 2020.

Bychok is the first cardinal appointed from Australia since George Pell, and the eighth in Australia’s history.

He’s been vocal and the impact it has had on his homeland. Last month, he addressed a crowd at a conference by the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, calling for an end to the war.

Pope Francis ordaining a bishop during a ceremony. There are two men standing next to them in white robes.

Mykola Bychok (right) says he told Pope Francis to pray for Ukraine and the people of Australia at the consistory ceremony in Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican last year. Source: ANSA / Fabio Frustaci

During his elevation ceremony in the Vatican, Bychok said he told Pope Francis to pray for Ukraine and “help free stolen Ukrainian children and to pray for me in my new mission as an Australian–Ukrainian cardinal”.

“I now pray that Pope Francis may intercede before Christ for the people of Australia and Ukraine and that God may grant me the grace to live my mission as a cardinal of the Catholic Church,” he said in a statement following the pope’s death.

What is his role in choosing the next pope?

Bychok will be among several cardinals under the age of 80 who will choose the next pope when the conclave starts in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel in about 15-20 days.

He will be in daily meetings known as general congregations to discuss Church matters, and lay out the characteristics he and others believe the new pope should have.

“I also ask for your prayers for the cardinal electors that will be meeting in conclave, that the Holy Spirit may enlighten our hearts and minds that we may choose a worthy candidate as the 267th Bishop of Rome and successor of Saint Peter,” Bychok said.

The group will need a majority of at least two-thirds plus one to elect the new pope, so the voting can take several rounds spread over numerous days. When the election is concluded, the new pope is asked if he accepts and what name he wishes to take.

The world learns a pope has been elected when an official burns the paper ballots with special chemicals to make white smoke pour from the chapel’s chimney. They use other chemicals to make black smoke, indicating an inconclusive vote.

— With additional reporting by Reuters

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