"At first I thought it was a joke," said the Greek-Catholic bishop of the Ukrainian eparchy in Melbourne, Australia, in an interview with the US portal "The Pillar" on Wednesday.
However, he then checked the Vatican website and convinced himself of the authenticity of the information. "To be honest, I was shocked," the 45-year-old said verbatim.
When the appointment was announced in Rome last October, it was already late evening in Australia due to the time difference. "We had just eaten dinner and my phone was switched off. When I switched it on later, I saw many missed calls and messages congratulating me on my appointment as cardinal," Bychok continued. The "whole world" had already known about his appointment at this point, "but I only found out an hour later than everyone else".
"They could have thought of other bishops first - but certainly not of me"
Given his young age and the fact that he belongs to a new generation of bishops, his appointment as cardinal took many people by surprise.
However, it was also unusual for other reasons: "Previous cardinals in Australia have been Archbishops of Sydney, for example, so you might have expected the current Archbishop of Sydney to be made a cardinal," Bychok explained. "In other words, they could have thought of him first as a future cardinal, or of the other archbishops - but certainly not of me."
Bychok was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis at the beginning of October and was admitted to the College of Cardinals at a consistory on 8 December.
At the age of 44, he was the youngest of the newly appointed cardinals and one of the youngest cardinals of modern times.
The Redemptorist priest assumed his current role as Bishop of the Ukrainian Eparchy in Melbourne in July 2021.