Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Bishop Mykola about the Plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
May 12, 2024
From May 2 to 9, Bishop Mykola Bychok, Eparch of Melbourne, was in Sydney, where he participated in the Plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. We offer some thoughts from Bishop Mykola about this event and its significance.
— The Most Reverend Bishop Mykola, it is not the first time that you are participating in the Plenary meeting of the Conference of Catholic Bishops. Please tell us what kind of meetings they are and what their purpose is.
Yes, indeed, this was already my sixth meeting. The first time I participated in such a plenary meeting was after my arrival in Australia in November 2021. However, since there were anti-epidemic restrictions due to the epidemic of СОVID at that time, this meeting took place in an online format. Plenary meetings of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference are held twice a year, in early May and early November. All the Catholic bishops from all over Australia gather for these meetings. This is a special moment of God’s grace because the bishops are gathering in Sydney, in the retreat centre of St. Maria McKillop, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Most Sacred Heart, where the grave of this saint is located in the chapel. Therefore, all Australian bishops gather twice a year, near the relics of St. Mary McKillop, to make important decisions for the life of the Church of Christ in Australia.
— How do these meetings usually take place?
— Each such meeting begins with a joint Divine Liturgy, after which the official opening takes place, and then, according to the schedule, various discussions, debates, and readings of reports from various episcopal commissions. Today, on the Seventh Sunday after Easter, we remember the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, which was held in Nicaea in 325. Like the bishops gathered then to respond together to the challenges of the time for the church, so now the bishops are gathering together to seek answers to the challenges of today but also to make certain plans for the future, thanks to which the Church in Australia will be able to serve the faithful in the best possible way.
— What do you think is the significance of such meetings for the bishops themselves and for you personally?
— This is a special time when the bishops can meet together because there are very long distances in Australia. And sometimes only at such Plenary meetings of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference is there such a special opportunity to spend more time together, pray more together, get to know each other more, learn about the achievements of others, share experiences, and enrich ourselves from the experiences of others. For me personally, it is a great treasure that senior bishops come to these meetings, already emeritus, who are great role models, especially in today’s time, for those bishops who carry out this episcopal ministry today. After all, our time is a time of special challenges, a time when the secular spirit fills Australia.
— You gave a speech at this Plenary meeting; please tell us a little about it.
— After the full-scale invasion of russia into Ukraine began, I had the opportunity to speak and tell the truth about the situation in Ukraine at every Plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. I see that there is interest on the part of the Australian bishops in this topic, so I also try to tell a little more, not only about what is happening now but also to present the historical context. During my speech at the Plenary meeting in November 2022, I suggested that the bishops consider the possibility of sending a delegation to Ukraine as an act of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, among whom are the faithful of the Catholic Church. Six months later, in May 2023, I renewed my request, and already in August, the Delegation of Catholic Bishops of Australia visited Ukraine.
This year, during my speech, I called on the Australian bishops to support such an important event for Ukraine: the initiative of the Holy Father Francis and His Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav regarding the exchange of prisoners “all-for-all”.
Also, as a sign of gratitude for the support of Ukraine, I presented each bishop with the UGCC Catechism for Youth “We Walk with Christ” in English and asked them to continue to pray and support Ukraine and Ukrainian people.
Reference
According to the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church (1983), the Bishops Conference, a permanent institution, is the assembly of the bishops of a country or a particular territory, exercising together certain pastoral offices for Christ’s faithful of their territory. By forms and means of the apostolate suited to the circumstances of the time and place, it is to promote, in accordance with the law, that greater good which the Church offers to humankind (Can. 447).
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference meets at least annually. The Statutes were first approved by the Holy See on 21 June 1966, and definitively on 10 March 1979, and revised on 28 June 2001.
