The Khmer Rouge ruthlessly attacked the leaders of the Catholic Church and other religious leaders. The bishop at that time and eleven other church leaders have been proposed for canonization as modern martyrs for the faith. Pope Francis asked the present bishop, Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, in 2015 to start the process and it has just now concluded and the evidence and documentation required has been sent to Rome.
Bishop Olivier, Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh, solemnly closed the diocesan inquiry for the beatification of the Presumed Martyrs of Cambodia: The Servants of God, Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas and his 11 Companions. Here is his statement:
These Servants of God — bishop, priests, religious, and laity — gave heroic witness to Christ amid the Khmer Rouge communist genocide (1975–1979), a brutal regime that caused the deaths of an estimated 1.5 to 3 million Cambodians through execution, starvation, forced labor, and persecution of faith.
After 10+ years of work, nearly 2,500 pages of testimonies and documents — radiant signs of faith in the darkness — are sealed and will soon go to Rome.
Pray fervently that they may soon be recognized by the Universal Church as models of charity and martyrdom.
As Bishop Salas said before his exile and death:
“Speak of us to the world.”
50 years later, we still do.
