Melbourne-based Cardinal Mykola Bychok, 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”. Source: SBS News.
Cardinal Bychok learnt of the death of Francis shortly before boarding a flight to the Middle East on Monday evening.
He will head to Rome to attend the funeral and join the papal conclave to select the next pope.
Cardinal 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.
At the age of 45, Cardinal Bychok became the Church’s youngest cardinal on December 7, 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 before arriving in Melbourne in 2020.
Cardinal Bychok is the first cardinal appointed from Australia since Cardinal George Pell, and the eighth in Australia’s history.
He will be among the voting 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,” Cardinal Bychok said.
FULL STORY
Melbourne bishop who’ll help to pick the next pope is Catholic Church’s youngest cardinal (By Rashida Yosufzai, SBS News)
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Australia-based cardinal Mykola Bychok will join the conclave to elect a new pope (ABC News)
