Category: Church

The Catholic Church in Cambodia.

Priests Retreat–Day 1

Traditionally all the priests of Cambodia had a retreat together the first week of June. Because of Covid there was a two-year hiatus, but this year the diocese of Phnom Penh organized a smaller gathering of only the Phnom Penh priests at the diocesan pastoral center on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Fr. Alberto, from the Kampong Cham diocese, presented a talk each morning of the retreat.
The afternoon session was led by Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler.
In the evening I sneaked out of the retreat to attend a farewell for Liz Pfifer, the outgoing country representative for Catholic Relief Services, and a welcome for her replacement. Marc D’Silva (c) organized the gathering.

Church Construction

Here are some photos of the construction of the new St. Joseph Church at the beginning and end of April, 2022.

3 April 2022: Progress is definitely being made.
30 April 2022:The end of the workday as dusk falls.
More 30 April: On the edge of the construction pit, a swarm of workers removed a section of the fence that had enclosed the worksite and leveled out the area with new dirt.
1 May 2022: the next morning a truckload of sections for a construction crane had been deposited on the site where the workers removed the fence.
1 May 2022: The crane will be assembled and operated in the area where the section of fence was removed.

Two years ago…

Recently we went over to World Vision to get some things out of our storage cabinets there that we could use for Holy Week. We had our weekly Saturday evening mass there for years. When I opened the missal for mass over there, it was set for the Second Sunday of Lent–the last Sunday we had mass in World Vision, in March 2020. After that mass the government closed all the schools, churches, etc. We haven’t been able to go back since then….

Phnom Penh pastoral center

Bishop Olivier has been a builder in his twelve years as bishop of Phnom Penh Diocese. He had to be because there wasn’t much church infrastructure when he took over.

One site he acquired and has developed is the diocesan pastoral center on the edge of the city. It has accommodations for retreats, rooms for meetings, and is a good place for the diocese to concentrate services and activities.

Here are some glimpses of some of the surroundings there.

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.