Author: Charles Dittmeier

Quarterly Meeting

Today we had our quarterly meeting of the priests of the Phnom Penh vicariate.  Cardinal Ling from Laos was with us at the diocese’s pastoral center.

Cardinal Ling explained about the state of the church in Laos. He was imprisoned for three years by anti-Christian forces in the government.
After talking with Cardinal Ling and then after a time of prayer in chapel, our group met with all the pre-school teachers of the diocese who were at the pastoral center for a three-day workshop.
The teachers showed us all the educational toys they made for their students in programs where there is no money to buy such resources.

Boat Ride for Clergy

This morning was the celebration of the Cambodian martyrs under Pol Pot and this evening was a boat ride and dinner on the Mekong River to introduce the Phnom Penh clergy to Cardinal Ling, the archbishop of Vientiane, Laos.

Boarding the river cruise boat at sunset.
Bishop Olivier recognizing Fr. Bob Wynne’s 80th birthday, 50th anniversary of ordination, an impending return to the United States.
A chance for the priests–spread out over the lower half of the country normally–to get together and talk.
The river provides a vantage point for a different view of Phnom Penh.

School Trip

Yesterday when I went to Tuol Kork for a mass at 6:15 AM, the second-year students were waiting outside for buses to take them to Kampong Som down on the coast.  The girls at the technical school, run by the Salesian Sisters, come from poor rural backgrounds and many of them have never seen the sea or other attractions like Angkor Wat so the school builds trips like this into the curriculum.