Pope Francis has elevated Melbourne Bishop Mykola Bychok to the position of cardinal, during a grand ceremony attended by hundreds of people at St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

At the age of 44, Cardinal Bychok becomes the youngest member of the College of Cardinals, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic, and the first cardinal from Australia since George Pell.

The Ukrainian-born missionary, who moved to Melbourne four years ago and will be eligible for Australian citizenship next year, told the ABC he “never expected” this.

“At this age, my dream was to be a Redemptorist to belong to the congregation of The Holy Redeemer, to be a priest and that’s it,” he said.

He said he does not know why he was chosen to be a cardinal — most other cardinals are in their 70s — but he added that he believed God would “strengthen” him in his new role.

He said he aims to be a cardinal who is “flexible, holy, accessible and without eminence”.

He has also pledged to use his new position to keep raising awareness about the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Pope Francis choosing cardinals from the periphery

In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the most senior title after the Pope is cardinal.

Cardinals are chosen by the pontiff to be his inner council and give advice on how to run the church.

Because Cardinal Bychok is under the age of 80, he will also be eligible to vote in the Papal Conclaves to select future popes.

His selection has been seen by some Vatican observers as part of an effort by Pope Francis to choose outsiders and make the church more geographically diverse with cardinals from all corners of the globe.

“This pope really has kind of a tendency to favour people that work in the peripheries,” the Catholic News Service’s Rome Correspondent, Justin McLellan, told the ABC.

“People that are very deeply embedded in their communities, people that tend to create a sense of community around them, that is what the pope looks for in pastors.

“He doesn’t want bureaucrats or just church officials — they may be good at getting certain kind of tasks done, but they kind of have this distance from the people.”

Cardinal Bychok is also from a generation of church leaders not linked to the sexual abuse scandals of the past.

“By naming younger people, it’s definitely an effort to perhaps turn a new page,” Mr McLellan said.

First cardinal from Australia since Pell

Mykola Bychok was born and raised in Ternipol, in western Ukraine.

He said he first felt a calling to follow Christ when he was 15 years old and was an altar boy.

After graduating from high school, he entered a monastery at the age of 17 and professed his first vows the following year.

He was ordained as a priest in Lviv, Ukraine, seven years later, and has also studied and served in Poland, Russia, and the United States.

In January 2020, he moved to Melbourne after Pope Francis appointed him as the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne, also known as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church of Melbourne.

In October 2024, the Pope announced he would install Bishop Bychok as a cardinal — overlooking high-profile Catholic leaders in Australia such as the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, and the Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli.

Cardinal Bychok said he had received “many words of support” from the archbishops.

“They are good friends of mine, they support me, and they are growing with me because I am new in Australia,” he added.

Cardinal Bychok is one of only eight cardinals to ever be chosen from Australia, and the first since the death of controversial cardinal George Pell.

“We now have a very young man who has a completely different background to George Pell and, and that’s good, there’s a great variety in the church,” Christopher Prowse, the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn told the ABC.

“This man will bring all sorts of gifts to the church, local and universal, and will complement the wider church.

“We’re used to the Western rites of Roman Catholics, but he’s from the Eastern rites, and the rise of them in Australia is incredible, unstoppable, and wonderful through migration.”

During the ceremony at the Vatican, known as a consistory for the creation of cardinals, Cardinal Bychok did not receive the traditional four-pointed red hat.

Instead, Pope Francis placed on his head a black monastic veil with red trim, which is representative of the Eastern Rite.

The pontiff spoke to his youngest cardinal in Ukrainian after he had done so.

Prayers for Ukraine

Cardinal Bychok still has family and friends in Ukraine and said his thoughts and prayers were always with the people there as well as the soldiers on the front line.

“They are under attack every day, day-by-day,” he said.

“It is really a genocide of our people because Russia is in war mode, with army, with soldiers, and they are killing our people,”

When asked whether he thought Pope Francis was sending a message to Russia by appointing him, he said that could be possible.

“Maybe it was not just a message to Russia, but maybe it was some support, some words of hope for Ukrainians as well,” he said.

‘Historic, momentous occasion’

Back in Melbourne, parishioners at Cardinal Bychok’s church told the ABC they were surprised by his appointment, but incredibly proud.

“It’s such a big, historic, momentous occasion for the community here, I think everyone is overjoyed, and I think we all have such a big belief that he will do a great job in this role,” Andrew Bernyk said.

Melanie Moravski Dechnicz and Alex Dechnicz said they had got to know Cardinal Bychok well and were excited to watch the Vatican’s live stream of the consistory.

“I think it’s an unbelievable honour for him,” Ms Moravski Dechnicz said.

“We thought he was an extremely young bishop and now he’s going to be an extremely young cardinal, which is fantastic for the church.”

Mr Dechnicz added, “ever since he has come to Australia, he has been a big presence, but he has the personality of one of the people as well”.