Pope Francis Chooses Ukrainian Catholic Bishop to Become Cardinal

Pope Francis announced on Sunday, Oct. 6 that he will create 21 new cardinals. Included among the list is a Ukrainian bishop in Australia, Mykola Bychok, Eparch of Sts. Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians.

The 44-year-old Bishop Bychok will become the youngest cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals.

Bishop Bychok was born in 1980 in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil. He was ordained a priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) in 2005. The UGCC shares the full communion with Rome, although it adheres to the Byzantine rite, with a liturgy more similar to that of Orthodox Christians and a married clergy. Bychok was consecrated a bishop in 2020 by the head of the UGCC, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

It came as somewhat of a surprise to Ukrainians that Shevchuk, 10 years older than Bychok and with a vastly broader pastoral experience, would be passed over in favor of the more obscure Bychok.

Church-watchers attribute Pope Francis’ choice to a cynical expediency, in line with his decision not to directly criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin or Kirill, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church who openly supports Russia’s war against Ukraine.

On the one hand, the Pope appears to be admonishing Archbishop Shevchuk for breaking with the Vatican’s stance on Ukraine’s recent law to ban religious organizations affiliated with Moscow.

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On the other hand, Pope Francis has managed to give Australia a cardinal despite the sexual abuse scandal that entangled Australian Cardinal George Pell, who was close to Pope Francis and died in 2023. By choosing a Byzantine-rite bishop, the pontiff is also seen to be admonishing Australia’s Roman Catholic hierarchy.

When Sviatoslav Shevchuk was asked by Radio Svoboda how he felt about the Pope’s choice, the highest ranking member of the UGCC said: “The appointment of new cardinals is the personal and sovereign right of the Pope. When he nominates someone as a cardinal, he invites that person to become his assistant.”

Regarding how it would affect the UGCC in general, Archbishop Shevchuk added: “Our Church rejoices because it will have another bishop who, in addition to the Head of the Church, will competently speak to the Pope and stand up for the protection of our Church and the people of Ukraine.

“Today, our episcopate… is as unanimous as ever. As shown by the various moments of crisis that arose with the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we speak with one heart and one mouth to Pope Francis, to the Catholic Church in the world, and to the world community. Having one more such speaker with the possibilities of the rank of cardinal, even in Australia, is not only a great benefit for the UGCC, but also a great grace of God for our nation and state.”

The UGCC has only ever had four cardinals chosen by Rome since its inception at the Union of Brest in 1596, when a large element from Ukraine’s Orthodox living under Polish rule unified with the Holy See. There has never been more than one Ukrainian cardinal at a time.

Bishop Bychok has been a defender of Pope Francis’ controversial “equidistant” stance over Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In a May 2022 interview with Catholic news outlet Crux, Bychok said: “From the beginning of this war, Pope Francis has tried to be a minister of peace. He broke diplomatic rules going to Russia’s embassy to the Holy See in Rome, with the intention of speaking with Putin. But it wasn’t possible. I don’t know what is happening, but Putin is afraid of the Pope. He has a huge fear of him.”

Yet Bychok criticized the Vatican’s decision during the 2022 Via Crucis ceremony to have a Ukrainian and Russian woman appear together, calling it “stupid” before offering a possible explanation:

“It was difficult to understand when we have the active face of the war, to have a Ukrainian and a Russian woman carrying the cross,” he said. “It was stupid, but what happened was that this program was created before the war began, and maybe before the war, it wouldn’t have been such a big problem.”

Kyiv post reached out to the UGCC for comment with regard to any perceived admonishment, but the Church spokesman simply cited the Radio Svoboda interview.

The new cardinals will be enthroned at a council of cardinals known as a consistory on Dec. 8.

Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has created 142 cardinals from 70 countries during 9 consistories.

The last consistory to create new cardinals took place on Sept. 30, 2023, according to the Catholic News Agency.

Fifteen members of the College of Cardinals have turned 80 since the last consistory, thus losing their chance to participate in a future papal election, as cardinals 80 and older are not permitted to cast a vote.

After the December consistory, there will be 141 cardinal electors (barring the unexpected death of any of the cardinals) – 111 (79%) of whom have been appointed by Pope Francis.