Post-meeting Photo

This afternoon Maryknoll Cambodia met with Bishop Olivier to discuss Maryknoll’s work and longevity in Cambodia. After a good meeting, we posed at a Khmer New Year display set up on the ground of the pastoral center. (L to R: Fr. Charlie, Bishop Olivier, Sr. Helene O’Sullivan, Sr. Regina Pellicore, Fr. Kevin Conroy, St. Paul)

Chrism Mass

Every year, in the week or so before Easter, the Catholic Church has what is called a “chrism mass” in each diocese in which the bishop blesses the holy oils used in the different sacraments. It is also an occasion for the priests of that diocese to renew the promises of their ordination. We had that chrism mass in Phnom Penh today. Here Bishop Olivier (with the microphone) addresses the people who attended. It was an especially joyous event because it had to be canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19.

Bill Burns Funeral

Our friend and lay missioner Bill Burns died here in Cambodia and his funeral was held 24 March 2022. Because of new environmental regulations, most cremations are prohibited within the city boundaries and even the ones on the edge of the city can only be held at night when the ashes in the air are supposed to be less of a problem. Bill’s funeral was held at the Church of the Child Jesus in the morning but the cremation was delayed until 6:30 PM in the evening at a Buddhist wat.

In the morning, after the funeral mass, Bill’s body was taken to Wat Dombok Khpuos to await the cremation in the evening.
Bill had taught English to some of the monks, and monks from that pagoda were familiar with many Maryknollers over the past two decades and so there was a Buddhist ceremony at the wat with about ten monks chanting their ritual prayers. The coffin is on a catafalque at the top of the stairs.
After the prayers the coffin was lowered into the pyre structure into a crematorium where it was burned out of sight. A symbolic coffin replaced it at the top of the funeral pyre. The smoke from the cremation can be seen coming from the white chimney pipe at the top of the structure.

Typical for Phnom Penh

Here is a typical scene–at least, not an unusual scene–on a major six-lane street in Phnom Penh at 4:00 PM. Two cars in the left-hand lanes and one car in the right hand lanes are backing up across traffic and blocking the street in both directions. No one thinks a thing about it….