Bishop Mykola Bychok

Bishop of the Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne

Bishop Mykola Bychok, the son of Petro and Hanna, was born on 13 February 1980 in the city of Ternopil. He has a younger brother named Paul.

From 1987 until 1997, he studied at school No 14 in the city of Ternopil and upon his graduation he had to make a very important decision in his life: QUO VADIS (where are you going)?

He felt a calling to follow Christ at the age of 15, when he was in 9^th grade. The Redemptorist Fathers helped him to recognize his calling because it was at their parish that he regularly attended Liturgy.

Afterwards, he was an altar boy and joined the fathers on Missions and retreats at various monasteries. But what had the strongest influence on him was the example of the lives of the Redemptorists and their great zeal in the preaching of God’s Word. His first teacher was Father Mykhajlo Shevchyshyn, a great preacher and missionary.

Another of his teachers was Father Volodymyr Vons, thanks to whom he became certain that God was calling him to this congregation.

He entered the monastery on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 12 July 1997.

He professed his first vows in August 1998 in the village of Kokhavyno in the region of Lviv.

In 1998–2001, he studied at the Higher Spiritual Institution of blessed Mykolay Charnetsky.

In the years 2001–2004, he studied at the Redemptorist Seminary in Tukhiv, Poland, and there defended his master’s thesis on the topic of “Work with youth groups in Greek Catholic parishes in Ukraine.”

On 17 August 2003, he professed his final vows.

On 12 July 2004, Bishop Michael Hrynchyshyn ordained him deacon at the church of Hieromartyr Josaphat in Lviv.

March-April of 2005, he did his diaconate practice at the mission in the city of Berdiansk in the region of Zaporizhia.

He was ordained a priest by Bishop Ihor Wozniak, CSsR on 3 May 2005 in the city of Lviv.

In 2005–2007, he served as missionary at the parish of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help in Siberia (Russia) in the city of Prokopyevsk.

On 10 March 2007, he was assigned pastor of youth in the parish of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

From 1 November 2008–1 August 2010, he served as the rector of the monastery of St. Joseph and the rector of the parish of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

Later, he was assigned as treasurer of the Lviv Redemptorist Province and served in this role until 30 December 2014.

From 31 January — 26 April 2015, he assisted in monasteries in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk.

From 27 April 2015 to 2020, he served as the vicar of the Ukrainian Catholic parish of Saint John the Baptist in Newark, NJ.

On 15 January 2020, he was appointed by Pope Francis as the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne, succeeding Bishop Peter Stasiuk.

On 7 June 2020 (the feast of Pentecost in the Julian Calendar), he was consecrated as bishop by His Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk in Saint George’s Cathedral, Lviv.

On 12 July 2021 (the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in the Julian Calendar), he was enthroned as the third bishop of the Melbourne Eparchy by His Grace Peter Comensoli, Archbishop of Melbourne, in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Melbourne.

On October 6, 2024, Pope Francis announced that on December 8, 2024, he will install Bishop Mykola Bychok as a cardinal.

Coat of Arms