The only Australian link to the selection of a new pope currently underway in the Vatican is Melbourne-based Ukrainian-born Cardinal Mykola Bychok.

The 45-year-old is the youngest member of the college of cardinals and is the first Australian-based cardinal since George Pell.

Cardinal Bychok arrived in Australia in 2020 after being appointed the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne.

Last October he was surprisingly made a cardinal by Pope Francis and was sworn in alongside 21 others on December 7 at a ceremony in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

He is now among 136 cardinals who will select the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Cardinal Bychok is much loved and respected by Australia’s Ukrainian community and becomes eligible for Australian citizenship this year.

Community members says he is known for his humility. They say he flexible, accessible, without airs and graces but profoundly devout.

One community member who has worked alongside Cardinal Bychok, as a member of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchial Finance Council and as a Director of the Ukrainian Museum of Australia, is Melbourne architect Maru Jarokyj.

She says he is a man of the people who is approachable, passionate about social justice and a fierce defender of Ukraine’s sovereignty and its response to Russia’s invasion.

“Cardinal Bychok is very personable and approachable with a good sense of humour. For example, he is musical with a great singing voice and he plays the accordion,” Maru said.

“He is very down to earth and very practical with humble tastes; he’s not afraid to pitch in on working bees with parishioners, mow the lawns or prepare coffee and snacks for meetings,” she said.

“The cardinal is a very caring personality who mixes with all sorts of people, including, politicians, clerics, invalids, widows, children, soldiers, students other cardinals and even Pope Francis.

“But he is also deeply patriotic and references Ukraine and the war constantly. He has visited Ukraine during these years of war and personally delivered humanitarian aid to civilians and soldiers in combat.”

“He constantly prays for Ukraine and advocates for peace.”

Maru said the cardinal is an analytical and incisive decision maker but also a deeply spiritual person.

“He is very easy to work with and grasps concepts and ideas instantly. The cardinal has a calm analytical personality and a well-balanced outlook on issues. He is cool, calm and level-headed in challenging situations,” she said.

“But at the same time, he is deep and spiritual person who upholds the values of traditional religious ritual, teaching and dogma. And his homilies are relevant and touch on the actualities of today.”

Maru said Cardinal Bychok was well read, highly cultured and lover of tradition.

“He’s also very principled on church cannons and church laws and uncompromising on moral issues and Christian values. Truth and peace are his key values. He’s also fiercely loyal to the Ukrainian Catholic Church and its Patriarch Sviatoslav,” she said.

Maru said the cardinal had connected well with the local Ukrainian community.

“He’s been very supportive of youth initiatives and educational advances. And he’s been very supportive of the Ukrainian Museum of Australia, and he values the cultural diplomacy work of this institution,” she said.

Born in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil in 1980, Bychok entered a redemptorist monastery after high school.

His religious training took place in Ukraine and Poland, where he obtained a licentiate in pastoral theology. On 17 August 2003, Bychok took his religious vows, and on 3 May 2005 he was ordained a priest in Lviv.

Following his ordination, Bychok spent time as a missionary at the Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Prokopyevesk in Russia ministering to Ukrainians exiled under Soviet rule.

After being made a cardinal, Bychok told how he spoke to the late Pope about the fate of 20,000 Ukrainian children taken by force to Russia since the beginning of the war.

“When I knelt before him, I asked him to help them. This is the future of our country,” he said.

When Pope Francis came under fire for not condemning Russia sufficiently after its invasion of Ukraine, Bychok defended him, saying his strength was pastoral not geopolitical.

“What he offered was something uniquely Christian; a fatherly concern, and a call for peace,” he said.

“In our darkest hours, he did not forget us. He prayed for peace. He wept with us. He reminded the world not to grow indifferent,” Cardinal Bychok said.

The recent hit film Conclave, based on a Robert Harris novel, charts the process of selecting a new pope.

In the film, after a process of horse trading and intrigue among prominent cardinals from Europe, Africa and the Americas inside the conclave, an outsider from the Asia-Pacific is chosen.

Who knows, could Australia be about to see its first pope?