With just 45 yearsthe Ukrainian Mykola BychokBishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparquía de Melbourneit will become the youngest member next conclavewhere 117 cardinals with the right to vote will choose the successor of the papa Franciscodeceased last Monday.
Bychok received the Birreta Cardenalicia On December 7, 2024, in the last session held by Francisco, just four months before the death of the Pontiff.
“Be a priest and now”, Then replied to the Australian public channel ABCto be consulted about their expectations when entering the seminar.
Bychok admitted to never having imagined that, two decades after his ordination, he would become a cardinal before completing 50. In that same dialogue, he affirmed his commitment to a church model close to the people.
“I want to be a flexible, holy, accessible and eminence cardinal”, He said.
Ordered priest in 2005 as a member of the Congregation of the Blessed Redeemerknown as the RedemptoristsBychok moved to Australia In 2020 to assume the direction of a community that brings together a small but active Ukrainian diaspora in the Ocean continent.
His pastoral career, marked by migration and war, has given him a unique profile in the new map of the Cardenalicio College, composed of representatives of 71 countries.
From MelbourneBychok has used its visibility as bishop and now as a cardinal to keep alive the complaint of the Russian invasion about Ukraineconflict that he has described as “A genocide”.
In different homilies and public messages, he has urged the faithful to maintain hope and resist from faith.
“Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and minds so that we can choose a worthy candidate as the 267th Bishop of Rome”, Wrote in his official account of Facebookafter announcing that it would participate in the conclave.
Bychok also recalled in that publication a personal moment with Pope Francis during the December town hall, when he asked him to pray for Ukraine.
“Now it is I who prays for the late Pontiff to intercede before Christ for the peoples of Australia and Ukraine“, He said. He added that he asked God to live his new mission” as a cardinal of the Catholic Church. “
In contrast to their youth, the oldest cardinals of the Cardenalicio College, Angelo Acerbi (Italy) and Esteban Estanislao (Argentina), both of 99 yearsthey will not participate in the conclave due to the norm that excludes those who exceed 80 years.
The most veteran among voters will be Spanish Carlos Osoro Sierraof 79 yearsarchbishop emeritus Madrid.
Bychok will thus join a diverse group of voters, many of whom do not know each other or share a unified vision of the future of the Church.
His presence in the Sistine chapelin addition to contributing a young voice and a perspective marked by the war, it represents the growing prominence of non -European local churches in the decision processes within the Vatican. The figure of the Australian-Ukrainian cardinal embodies the new face of Catholicism: more global, more mobile, and committed to the social challenges of his time.
(With EFE information)
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