Category: Church

The Catholic Church in Cambodia.

New Salesian Sister

Today Sr. Chantha (with bag) took her first vows as a Salesian Sister. She attended the Salesian vocational training school where I have mass on Mondays, graduating from there about 10 years ago and then going through the formation period to become a sister. Here she is with her parents (1st and 4th from left) who are Buddhists.

Lay Mission Meeting

The lay missioners from mission-sending groups from various countries get together each month in a type of support group. This month they met at the MEP house on the Bassac River.

The session started with a prayer/reflection session in the chapel.
Then there was a break while a projector was set up.
The business part of the meeting was on a large outdoor porch overlooking the Bassac River.
Sr. Pilar, who runs an NGO for women abused and at risk, explained her program.
We concluded our afternoon with a networking activity.

Coming Along

The new church at St. Joseph Parish is moving along. Now much of the outer building is in place although enough is missing that it is hard to visualize what the final structure will look like. Here workmen load cement into a large tub for a crane to lift it to the rear of the building.

June Lay Mission Meeting

Every month lay missioners from the different mission groups get together in a support and socialization group. This month they met at the Don Bosco Vocational Training School for Girls.

First, the Salesian Sisters took the group on a tour of the school, especially highlighting the new building for teaching commercial cooking, cosmetology, hospitality, and other skills.
The new building has a large commercial kitchen which can support groups meeting in the different gathering areas.
The sisters also explained the history and ministry of the Salesian Sisters in Cambodia and Myanmar.

Retreat: Saturday

Saturday was a departure day. We had mass at 6:30 AM and then breakfast and then almost everyone was on the road by 8:00 AM, heading back to their parishes throughout Cambodia.

Looking downhill toward the sea–which isn’t visible anymore because of development that has taken place.
Looking sideways across the hillside. Just four or five years ago, there was nothing taller than the red tile roofs of the retreat center buildings in the foreground.
St. Michael’s Church at the center is a distinctive building, designed by Cambodia’s foremost architect. It is noteworthy as one of two churches left standing by the Khmer Rouge in their four years of terror. They used the church as a barracks for their troops.
Bishop Olivier was genuinely pleased to offer a gift of a wooden statue of Mary, carved by Cambodian craftsmen, to Archbishop Julian Leow who gave us a wonderful retreat.

Retreat: Friday

I have a lot of good reflections and memories from this year’s retreat for priests. One of the best memories is meeting Archbishop Julian Leow from Kuala Lumpur. He is a Francis bishop and just what the church needs. He renews my hope.

Retreat: Thursday

This meeting room is so nice now compared to what it used to be. As you can see it is open on both sides and there usually is a breeze blowing across the room so it is fine without air conditioning.
Today Archbishop Julian continued his theme of relationships, talking about our relationships with society.
The food service students from the Don Bosco Vocational School are really busy all day. They will be glad when this week is finished and they can return to a more normal school day back in Phnom Penh.
The Catholic center is up high on a hillside, overlooking the sea. In past years the sea could actually be seen but now the view is obstructed by new construction.
From a far corner of the church property the port of Sihanoukville can still be glimpsed through the trees.

Retreat: Wednesday

At our services in the church, the guys have the option of sitting on the floor–as many of them do in their parish churches where they have no chairs–or sitting in chairs.
We do a bit of walking each day. These men are walking from the meeting hall a good distance away back to the residence buildings.
These young women come from the Don Bosco Vocational Training School where I have mass every Monday morning. The school offers commercial courses in food and beverage services. These girls are students cooking for the priests retreat to get real work experience.
There are 62 priests attending this retreat so the students prepare a lot of food.
The center hires some local people to wash dishes for the week. No stainless steel sinks in a sparkling kitchen for washing dishes here!

Retreat: Tuesday

Gathering for breakfast after morning prayer.
Later in the morning we were back in the dining area for a break after the morning talk.
This first mass of the retreat gathered all the Phnom Penh priests with Bishop Olivier as presider.
Bishop Olivier is keen on recording in photos and text all that goes on in the diocese and usually has several staff from the Catholic Social Communications office at events. Here one man takes still photos while another uses video.
In the afternoon session Archbishop Julian Leow continued his theme of relationships, talking today about our relationship with ourselves.
Kampong Som Province is the wettest of all the provinces and we have been having several showers a day, some of them real downpours drowning out the archbishop’s voice even though he is using a PA system.

Retreat: Monday

Four of us drove from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville this morning on the new highway just opened up. It is like the Interstate highways in the U.S. and cut the travel time from 5 or 6 hours to just 3 hours. A great improvement!
The highway is finished but the rest areas are not. This one had a functioning gas station but all the planned commercial sites were empty except for one coffee shop.
While no one could use the Catholic center during Covid, they did a lot of renovations. Because of my advanced age–not because of any significant achievements!- -I got a room in the VIP section where the four bishops stayed. This is a far cry from what it used to be with a small bed and bare concrete walls!
The first official act of the retreat was vespers together at 5:00 PM.
Then Bishop Olivier had a formal welcome for everyone in the outdoor dining area.
Then the electricity at the center went out. A generator powered three or four lights in the courtyard but our dinner was in darkness broken by phone lights.
The retreat sessions were held in a different building apart from the residence buildings. The meeting room, too, has been completely redone and is so much nicer now.