'Time of my life': Aussie cardinal's conclave insight
Cardinal Mykola Bychok - Australia's sole representative at the recently concluded conclave in Rome - joked that it was a relief to shut out the outside world for an extended period.
"That was the best time of my life," he told reporters with a smile on Friday afternoon, local time.
"Just try ... try to turn off your phone at least for 24 hours — my phone was turned off for two and a half days."
But he added the process did not resemble the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Conclave, which details the political machinations behind the selection of a fictional pope.
"I watched the movie, but actually it was controversial ... especially about prayer," Cardinal Bychok said.
"Have you seen in this movie any of the cardinals pray? Not one time, which is Hollywood style."
The closeted event, which concluded in Rome on Thursday, resulted in the election of US-born Robert Prevost as the first American pope.
He took the name Pope Leo XIV and is also the first native English-speaker to be appointed to lead the Catholic faith.
Only cardinals participate in the closed-door election process.
The Ukraine-born, Melbourne-based Cardinal Bychok was appointed to his senior post by Pope Francis in 2024 after other senior Australian Catholic church leaders were controversially overlooked.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has invited Pope Leo to visit Sydney in 2028 for the International Eucharistic Congress - an event set to attract tens of thousands of Catholics from all over the world.
It would be the first sovereign pontiff visit since Pope Benedict XVI came to Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008.
Pope Leo made several previous visits to Australia as leader of the order of St Augustine and had already developed a fondness for the country, one Sydney-based church official said.
"He loved being in the country," the Pope's long-time friend Father Tony Banks told Sky News.
"He loved the beaches, among the things he actually liked was driving between Brisbane and Sydney and the distance."
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said he hoped the pontiff would also travel west.
"If he comes, he'll certainly go to Sydney ... but if I get to speak to him between now and then, I'll certainly be inviting him to come to Western Australia," he said.
The archbishop said it was still unclear where the former missionary stood on various issues, but he described him as attentive and a deep listener.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher said the Chicago native's "missionary heart" would make him a unifier and peacemaker.
The nation's highest-ranking Catholic has provided a rare insight into the process of electing the new Pope, describing the secretive conclave as the highlight of his life.
Cardinal Mykola Bychok - Australia's sole representative at the recently concluded conclave in Rome - joked that it was a relief to shut out the outside world for an extended period.
"That was the best time of my life," he told reporters with a smile on Friday afternoon, local time.
"Just try ... try to turn off your phone at least for 24 hours — my phone was turned off for two and a half days."
But he added the process did not resemble the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Conclave, which details the political machinations behind the selection of a fictional pope.
"I watched the movie, but actually it was controversial ... especially about prayer," Cardinal Bychok said.
"Have you seen in this movie any of the cardinals pray? Not one time, which is Hollywood style."
The closeted event, which concluded in Rome on Thursday, resulted in the election of US-born Robert Prevost as the first American pope.
He took the name Pope Leo XIV and is also the first native English-speaker to be appointed to lead the Catholic faith.
Only cardinals participate in the closed-door election process.
The Ukraine-born, Melbourne-based Cardinal Bychok was appointed to his senior post by Pope Francis in 2024 after other senior Australian Catholic church leaders were controversially overlooked.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has invited Pope Leo to visit Sydney in 2028 for the International Eucharistic Congress - an event set to attract tens of thousands of Catholics from all over the world.
It would be the first sovereign pontiff visit since Pope Benedict XVI came to Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008.
Pope Leo made several previous visits to Australia as leader of the order of St Augustine and had already developed a fondness for the country, one Sydney-based church official said.
"He loved being in the country," the Pope's long-time friend Father Tony Banks told Sky News.
"He loved the beaches, among the things he actually liked was driving between Brisbane and Sydney and the distance."
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said he hoped the pontiff would also travel west.
"If he comes, he'll certainly go to Sydney ... but if I get to speak to him between now and then, I'll certainly be inviting him to come to Western Australia," he said.
The archbishop said it was still unclear where the former missionary stood on various issues, but he described him as attentive and a deep listener.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher said the Chicago native's "missionary heart" would make him a unifier and peacemaker.
The nation's highest-ranking Catholic has provided a rare insight into the process of electing the new Pope, describing the secretive conclave as the highlight of his life.
Cardinal Mykola Bychok - Australia's sole representative at the recently concluded conclave in Rome - joked that it was a relief to shut out the outside world for an extended period.
"That was the best time of my life," he told reporters with a smile on Friday afternoon, local time.
"Just try ... try to turn off your phone at least for 24 hours — my phone was turned off for two and a half days."
But he added the process did not resemble the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Conclave, which details the political machinations behind the selection of a fictional pope.
"I watched the movie, but actually it was controversial ... especially about prayer," Cardinal Bychok said.
"Have you seen in this movie any of the cardinals pray? Not one time, which is Hollywood style."
The closeted event, which concluded in Rome on Thursday, resulted in the election of US-born Robert Prevost as the first American pope.
He took the name Pope Leo XIV and is also the first native English-speaker to be appointed to lead the Catholic faith.
Only cardinals participate in the closed-door election process.
The Ukraine-born, Melbourne-based Cardinal Bychok was appointed to his senior post by Pope Francis in 2024 after other senior Australian Catholic church leaders were controversially overlooked.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has invited Pope Leo to visit Sydney in 2028 for the International Eucharistic Congress - an event set to attract tens of thousands of Catholics from all over the world.
It would be the first sovereign pontiff visit since Pope Benedict XVI came to Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008.
Pope Leo made several previous visits to Australia as leader of the order of St Augustine and had already developed a fondness for the country, one Sydney-based church official said.
"He loved being in the country," the Pope's long-time friend Father Tony Banks told Sky News.
"He loved the beaches, among the things he actually liked was driving between Brisbane and Sydney and the distance."
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said he hoped the pontiff would also travel west.
"If he comes, he'll certainly go to Sydney ... but if I get to speak to him between now and then, I'll certainly be inviting him to come to Western Australia," he said.
The archbishop said it was still unclear where the former missionary stood on various issues, but he described him as attentive and a deep listener.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher said the Chicago native's "missionary heart" would make him a unifier and peacemaker.
The nation's highest-ranking Catholic has provided a rare insight into the process of electing the new Pope, describing the secretive conclave as the highlight of his life.
Cardinal Mykola Bychok - Australia's sole representative at the recently concluded conclave in Rome - joked that it was a relief to shut out the outside world for an extended period.
"That was the best time of my life," he told reporters with a smile on Friday afternoon, local time.
"Just try ... try to turn off your phone at least for 24 hours — my phone was turned off for two and a half days."
But he added the process did not resemble the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Conclave, which details the political machinations behind the selection of a fictional pope.
"I watched the movie, but actually it was controversial ... especially about prayer," Cardinal Bychok said.
"Have you seen in this movie any of the cardinals pray? Not one time, which is Hollywood style."
The closeted event, which concluded in Rome on Thursday, resulted in the election of US-born Robert Prevost as the first American pope.
He took the name Pope Leo XIV and is also the first native English-speaker to be appointed to lead the Catholic faith.
Only cardinals participate in the closed-door election process.
The Ukraine-born, Melbourne-based Cardinal Bychok was appointed to his senior post by Pope Francis in 2024 after other senior Australian Catholic church leaders were controversially overlooked.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has invited Pope Leo to visit Sydney in 2028 for the International Eucharistic Congress - an event set to attract tens of thousands of Catholics from all over the world.
It would be the first sovereign pontiff visit since Pope Benedict XVI came to Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008.
Pope Leo made several previous visits to Australia as leader of the order of St Augustine and had already developed a fondness for the country, one Sydney-based church official said.
"He loved being in the country," the Pope's long-time friend Father Tony Banks told Sky News.
"He loved the beaches, among the things he actually liked was driving between Brisbane and Sydney and the distance."
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said he hoped the pontiff would also travel west.
"If he comes, he'll certainly go to Sydney ... but if I get to speak to him between now and then, I'll certainly be inviting him to come to Western Australia," he said.
The archbishop said it was still unclear where the former missionary stood on various issues, but he described him as attentive and a deep listener.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher said the Chicago native's "missionary heart" would make him a unifier and peacemaker.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Donald Trump buys $155 million in bonds in months since inauguration
Donald Trump has bought more than $US100 million ($155 million) in company, state and municipal bonds since taking office in January, new documents show. The latest disclosures posted by the US Office of Government Ethics also reveal the US president made more than 600 financial purchases since January 21, the day after he was inaugurated for his second term. The August 12 filing does not list exact amounts for each purchase, only giving a broad range. Among Mr Trump's purchases are corporate bonds in banks such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, as well as in other companies including Meta, Qualcomm, Home Depot, T-Mobile USA and UnitedHealth Group. Other debt purchases include various bonds issued by cities, states, counties and school districts as well as gas districts, and other issuers. The holdings cover areas that could benefit from US policy shifts under his administration. Mr Trump, a businessman-turned-politician, has said he has put his companies into a trust managed by his children. The White House on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. It follows the release of Mr Trump's financial disclosures for the 2024 calendar year in June, which showed the then-Republican presidential nominee earned more than $US600 million ($933 million) in income. That included from crypto, golf clubs, licensing and a number of other ventures. Despite having put his companies into a trust, the disclosure also showed that his income from various sources still ultimately accrued to the president. That fact has opened the US president up to accusations of conflicts of interest. A Reuters calculation shows the president has reported assets worth at least $US1.6 billion ($2.47 billion) overall. Mr Trump's three golf-focused resorts in Florida — Jupiter, Doral and West Palm Beach — and his private members' club at Mar-a-Lago generated at least $US217.7 million ($337 million) in income. Reuters
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Neighbours hurl anti-Semitic slurs at father of Georgia woman killed working for Israel's border patrol: video
A grieving father of an American woman killed while serving on Israel's border patrol was verbally abused by neighbors who shouted antisemitic slurs and mocked him for his daughter's death, according to the hurting dad and video. Sgt. Elisheva Rose Ida Lubin, 20, was stabbed to death by a teenage 'terrorist' while patrolling Jerusalem's Old City in November 2023. Rose was a 'lone soldier' living in Israel without her family after immigrating there in August 2021 and starting her mandated army duty in March 2022 — more than a year before the Israel-Hamas War officially began. Her father, David Lubin, hasn't known peace since his daughter's untimely death. Back home in Atlanta, where Rose lived with her family before moving to Israel, David said he's been frequently harassed by his vindictive neighbors who labeled the mourning father as a 'corrupt Israeli.' The simmering tensions between the two households came to a head when David posted signage honoring Rose across from his neighbors, who had other signs claiming support for Palestinians alongside bits covered with derogatory Jewish slurs, he said. Rose Lubin was killed after a teenage 'terrorist' stabbed her while on patrol in November 2023. Picture: Israel Police David went across the street to confront his neighbours, who defended the use of the slur. Picture: David Lubin David told Atlanta News First that he never took issue with his neighbors' signs, as they had a right to display whatever they wanted. He tried to shake off their comments, at first — until he said he heard the irate woman call him a 'k–e' and shout that 'your daughter deserved to die,' he told the outlet. David marched across the street and confronted his neighbors while they each filmed one another on their phones. David Lubin's neighbours called out to him from across the road. Picture: David Lubin 'You are calling yourself a k–e, you know what you are. You know what you are better than me. You are a corrupt politician with a daughter in the IDF that went there to kill, and has killed maybe in friendly fire because the Israeli soldiers kill each other all the time, and you know very well,' one of his neighbors, Anna Bouyzk, insisted as they argued over the meaning of the Jewish slur. Bouyzk and her husband Mark, the co-founder of the bought-out genetics company AKESOgen, went on to insist Rose's death was okay because 'she was fighting.' 'Do you realize when you say that how disgusting you are? You are disgusting. You are disgusting. You are the most disgusting person I've ever met. 'Because you're a Jew, you don't understand'? You are so confused,' David spat. Anna Bouyzk allegedly told David that Rose's death was his fault. Picture: David Lubin Bouyzk insisted that she isn't a 'Jew hater' because she has other 'Jew friends'. Picture: David Lubin Bouyzk later doubled down and told the outlet that she had no qualms about lobbing the detestable slur at David. 'I don't regret what I said, and I'll say it a million times again. And I'm not a Jew hater because I have Jew friends,' she told the outlet. Bouyzk admitted, almost proudly, that she called David on Monday and told him that he was responsible for his daughter's death. David, growing desperate, said he is considering reporting Bouyzk's harassment to local police. Originally published as Neighbours hurl anti-Semitic slurs at father of Georgia woman killed working for Israel's border patrol: video
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Matt Canavan delivers stark warning about Australia's poor growth, large debt after Sky News Real Economic Round Table
Australians are in for a 'major economic shock' if action is not taken to bolster growth and productivity while slashing government spending, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has warned. Mr Canavan and Sky News convened leading experts for the 'Real Economic Round Table' in response to the Albanese government's closed-door economic reform roundtable. While Labor's roundtable ruled many topics off the table, the Sky News forum left nothing out of bounds. Following the roundtable, Mr Canavan said changes to boost Australia's flailing productivity and efforts to reel in government debt and spending, which is $300b more annually than pre-pandemic, were both crucial to the health of the nation's economy. 'If we continue to have this stagnant productivity performance - in the last few years it's fallen off a cliff - (and) if that continues, we're going to suffer a major economic shock of some kind,' he said on Business Now. 'We're going to have a reckoning. There will be an economic reckoning of all the debt that's been built up over the last 20 years - both public and private - that can no longer be serviced if we don't have a strong growing economy.' He highlighted Australia's strong growth throughout much of the time since the start of the century which has allowed the nation to borrow. 'But not right now,' Mr Canavan said. '(Over the) last few years we haven't had that high growth so if that continues there's only so long it can continue before it ends.' Mr Canavan warned the writing may already be on the wall for Australia's economic downturn, as he pointed to major Australian companies that have recently announced job cuts or major layoffs. 'I do think our economy is hurtling down the pathway where it could look fine for a while and then suddenly it's off a cliff,' he said. 'This week, you've seen 3,000 jobs lost at CSL, we see the rise of AI, we see earnings fall for BHP (and) Woodside. 'There is a certain drum beat here that things aren't going that well and we'd be much better off fixing those issues while unemployment's still got a four in front of it and our economic growth is still positive, rather than in a year's time.' Alongside the discussion about debt and the nation's growth, the experts at the Sky News roundtable also laid out four actions the government needs to take to restore productivity in the economy. These were scrapping bracket creep, cutting government spending by four per cent, curbing new NDIS entrants and ditching net-zero emissions targets.
