Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Parish in Melbourne welcomes Bishop Mykola Cardinal Bychok
March 5, 2025
On Sunday, March 2, the Cathedral Parish of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Melbourne welcomed Bishop Mykola Cardinal Bychok. The celebration began with a Divine Liturgy, followed by a charity festival organised to support the parish.
Bishop Mykola Cardinal Bychok led the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in concelebration with the clergy of the Cathedral church and was accompanied by the parish choir.
In his homily, Bishop Mykola emphasised the importance of forgiveness in the life of a Christian and explained the meaning of Lent. “Our life is a constant journey. In our spiritual life, we also cover a certain distance. Lent is a special time. This is not a time of sadness but a time of joy because we will fight evil, we will fight sin, and we will eradicate all the evil that we have collected along our life’s journey. That is why we have to know the true way. Our way is the Lord.”
After the liturgy, a charity festival was held in the parish yard. Everyone present had the opportunity to socialise and taste traditional dishes prepared by the parishioners. Guests were treated to borsch, dumplings, sweets, and other dishes. The festive mood was maintained by performances by the cathedral choir under the direction of Mr. Volodymyr Holovko, the Rodyna ensemble, Fr. Andriy Mykytyuk, and the Lehenda school.
The church administrator, Fr. Andriy Mykytyuk, said, “We hope that this is not the last such festival in our parish and that in the future we will be able to organise many more such events together.” He urged everyone to come to the church more often for prayer and to actively participate in the events organised in the parish.
The funds raised during the festival were used to support the parish. A special expression of support was that Bishop Mykola also donated all the gifts he received that day to the parish.
