The newest nomination to the rank of Catholic cardinal, Australia-based Mykola Bychok, says he was shocked to learn of his appointment but believes it may be a message of support for Ukraine from the Vatican.

Bychok, who holds the title “head of the Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne for the Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania”, said he would never forget the moment he heard the news of his nomination as a cardinal – the highest-ranking appointment in the Catholic Church below the Pope.

“[I] had my phone turned off during dinner. When I turned my phone back on, a flood of messages came through,” he said on Monday, from the Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Cathedral in North Melbourne.

“To be honest, at first, I thought that was a joke. It has taken some time for it all to begin sinking in. I am yet to know the particulars of the appointment,” he said.

Bychok said he should learn more when visiting the Vatican in December, where 21 cardinal-designates will be appointed as members of the College of Cardinals – the body which elects the pope.

The new appointees range in age from 99 to the 44-year-old Bychok, making him the world’s youngest cardinal when confirmed in December.

He said it was normal for the Pope to choose a cardinal from a region where there were fewer appointees, such as Oceania, where there were only three – Tonga, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

But he said his Ukrainian identity may have also been a factor.

“It will be some special sign for Russia as well,” he said as he stood beside a Ukrainian flag that was carried into battle in 2014 during the Russian invasion of Crimea and Donetsk.