St Thomas More Parish and Forum Annual Dinner 2026 - Cardinal Mykola Bychok

21st Annual St Thomas More Lecture. Keynote Speaker: His Eminence Cardinal Mykola Bychok

St Thomas More Parish and Forum Dinner 2026

Keynote Speaker
His Eminence Cardinal Mykola Bychok Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne for Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania

............

His Eminence was born on 13 February 1980 in the city of Ternopil.

He received the Holy Sacrament of Priesthood from Bishop Ihor Wozniak, CSsR on 3 May 2005 in the city of Lviv.

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

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, Bishop Mykola Bychok 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 December 7, 2024, His Grace Bishop Mykola Bychok, Eparch of the Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne for Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania, was elevated to the dignity of Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church by His Holiness Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

Synopsis

In October 1997, during a General Audience, Pope John Paul II said, “Whoever promotes the development of the family promotes the development of the person; whoever attacks the family attacks the person.” These words, spoken almost 30 years ago, are extremely relevant today. Today, when society is experiencing a profound moral crisis, it is precisely around the family and life that the decisive struggle for the human person and his dignity is unfolding.

The teachings of the Church have repeatedly emphasised that a strong family is the foundation of a healthy society. It is in the family that a person first discovers God, learns to pray, and learns to respect their neighbours, their native land, and their Church. All of this is part of the deep spiritual roots that the family passes on to its children. Therefore, the family is not just a “centre of formation” but a source of Christian tradition and spiritual continuity between generations.